The Greenstone TV Turns 30 Collection contains over 60 titles and many viewer favourites. Insights into the production company’s history are delivered through written backgrounders from Rachel Antony, CEO of Greenstone TV and former owner and company founder John Harris.
Formed in 1994, Greenstone TV remains one of Australasia’s most successful independent production companies. In its three decades, Greenstone has produced over 2500 hours of original New Zealand content, which screens both here and in more than 100 countries worldwide.
Antony positions the company’s factual screen output: “So, what is a “Greenstone show”? Our team refer to it as “smuggling documentary into primetime” – a bit like melting cheese on your veggies…We’ve told acclaimed stories of Kiwi scientists, cops, kaumātua, entrepreneurs, students and skydivers, and have unique access to the work of multiple government agencies.”
Observational reality series within the collection include beloved New Zealand staple Neighbours at War, which graced our screens for a decade. Seven-year winner of the TV Guide Award for Favourite Documentary Series, The Zoo is represented with 10 full episodes of Best of The Zoo, plus an episode of the spinoff show, Zoo Babies. New Zealand’s longest-running reality programme Motorway Patrol follows police officers who patrol Auckland’s motorways, while Dog Squad follows working canines and their handlers who protect our streets, prisons, borders and mountains. Included is an episode of Trans-Tasman hit, and Greenstone’s most-successful show, Border Patrol. As John Harris states in his backgrounder: “In many ways, these ‘obs docs’ are just as valid as one-hour documentaries, in that they show us real Kiwis in the raw.”
One-hour documentaries include the award-winning Back from the Dead – The Saga of the Rose-Noëlle, which tells the story of four men who survived 119 days adrift at sea in an upturned trimaran. DNA and You examines the fast-growing science of DNA testing, while Godzone Sheep takes a thoughtful, yet humorous, approach to New Zealand’s relationship with our ovine friends. True life tales of heartbreak, tragedy and resilience are under the spotlight in Ben and Oliva: The Search for Truth, Kirsa: A Mother’s Story, Cave Creek: The Full Story of a National Tragedy and Five Days in the Red Zone. A window into the lives of some of our most celebrated personalities is offered in the documentaries Hudson and Halls – A Love Story, Hone Tuwhare, Crump and History Man (a documentary about author Michael King). Creator and show presenter Paul Gittins uncovers hidden secrets, romantic tragedies, and fatal love stories in the documentary series Epitaph. Gittens also revisits notable shipwrecks from New Zealand’s maritime history in Shipwreck.
Scripted drama, comedy and children’s television have been a more recent addition to Greenstone’s slate. Examples in the collection include the debut episode of underworld crime drama Vegas and an excerpt from the highly successful detective series My Life is Murder with Lucy Lawless. Apocalyptic sci-fi adventure The Cul de Sac presents a world where all the adults have disappeared. Named Best Children’s/Youth Television programme at the 2004 Qantas Media Awards, Secret Agent Men gives the spy genre a comedic twist, while superheroes are the order of the day in The Amazing Extraordinary Friends.
There is so much more to explore in the Greenstone TV Turns 30 Collection. Find it on NZ On Screen here.
NZ On Screen celebrates 30 years of Greenstone TV with a new collection.
