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ScreenTalk: Neil Harraway

Producer/director Neil Harraway helped set up the Natural History Unit for TVNZ, which later became company NHNZ. Harraway worked for them for the next three decades, making spectacular nature documentaries including Under the Ice, Emperors of Antarctica and Journeys across Latitude 45 South. These days Harraway runs his own wildlife tourism business in Dunedin.

In this ScreenTalk interview, Harraway talks about:

  • Being in at the beginning of the Natural History Unit at TVNZ
  • Facing pressure from network executives over the slow pace of filming
  • The birth of highly successful TV series Wild South
  • Spending three months filming in the "incredible" subantarctic Auckland Islands
  • The challenges of making Journeys across Latitude 45 South
  • An unforgettable visit to the top of Tongariro for series Journeys in National Parks
  • How deep cold made for some hairy moments while filming Emperors of Antarctica
  • Close calls under the Antarctic sea ice, while making Under the Ice
  • Finding ways to film dolphins underwater for Dolphins of the Shadowland

This video was first uploaded on 29 August 2016, and is available on YouTube to embed and distribute via this Creative Commons licence.

NZ On Screen: Camera and Editing – Andrew Whiteside