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Platforms Editorial Manager, Whakaata Māori

Nō Pouto ahau, ko Ngāti Whātua te iwi, ko Jaime Smith tōku ingoa. I am privileged to be the Platforms Editorial Manager at Whakaata Māori. With a background in creative content strategy and a passion for connecting audiences to authentic voices, I love championing narratives that challenge, inspire, and reflect diverse realities. My focus across Whakaata Māori platforms is on uplifting storytellers and exploring content that elevates indigenous voices. Outside of mahi you’ll find me enjoying our beautiful Te Atatū Peninsula coastal walks with my tamariki or watching movies new and vintage on the couch with the husband.

Steve Newall is the editor of Flicks. Managing a talented team of contributors, he writes and commissions editorial on cinema and streaming content for millions of readers across Aotearoa and Australia, and can be heard weekly on 95bFM and Newstalk ZB. Steve also produces and programmes the biennial NZ International Fraud Film Festival, and fights for the future of live music venues as a founder and committee member of Independent Music Venues Aotearoa.

Stu Turner is an Emmy-nominated New Zealand casting director whose passion for storytelling and thoughtful casting has shaped acclaimed projects like Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Sweet Tooth, Chief Of War, and The Lord  of the Rings: Rings of Power. In 2002 he launched Catch Casting, which has grown into New Zealand’s premier casting agency. Upcoming projects include Taika Waititi’s adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun, Zoe Kazan’s limited series adaptation of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden for Netflix his current slate of projects include Evil Dead Burn for Ghost House Pictures and two local series for Whakaata Māori & Sky TV. He continues to play a pivotal role in bringing Aotearoa’s diverse talent to screens both at home and around the world. 

Alix Whittaker (Hot Candle Wave, Candlelit Pictures) is a feature film and series producer with a prolific background in music videos and short films, notably including THUNDERLIPS' Sheep, Dog & Wolf 'Glare' music video, THUNDERLIPS' 'Help, I'm Alien Pregnant' short film, and Claire van Beek's DANIEL short film. Alix’s latest feature film 'Mum, I'm Alien Pregnant' by THUNDERLIPS is in post at the moment, and will be coming to a cinema near you in 2026. Alix’s body of work celebrates and embodies distinctive voices, ambitious creative vision, and strong thematic premises. 

Jackie is a New Zealand writer/director/actor/producer. With a background in comedy theatre, Jackie premiered her first feature The Inland Road in competition at the 2017 Berlin Film Festival. Her second feature The Breaker Upperers (created with Madeleine Sami) premiered to rave reviews at SXSW and opened the 2018 Sydney Film Festival. Nude Tuesday (created with Armagan Ballantyne) premiered at the 2022 Sydney Film Festival, received a 5 Star review in the Guardian and played as the Central Gala film at the Edinburgh Film Festival.

Jackie co-created the award winning TVNZ series Educators which was dubbed by the NZ Herald as "morbidly hysterical...and funny as f**k". As an actor she is best known as the desperate familiar in Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi's What We Do in the Shadows, cynical heartbreaker Jen in The Breaker Upperers and neurotic gibberish-speaking Laura in Nude Tuesday.

She has directed on television series - Wellington Paranormal (TVNZ), What We Do In The Shadows (FX) and Time Bandits (Apple). Jackie collaborated with Julie De Fina to develop The Office Australia (Amazon). She is a writer, set up director and EP on the series.

Multi-award-winning  filmmaker Louis Sutherland works all over the globe. A father of six, he has been called “the child whisperer” for his innate ability to connect with children, drawing out their inherent personalities and spark for film. His eye for street casting delivers  raw, unique performances - with many of the talent going on to award-winning international careers.

Louis  got his start in the film industry shooting documentaries. He combined his love of acting and storytelling while studying performance at Toi Whakaari. It’s here Louis began developing his narrative films based upon his own experiences growing up as a bicultural dyslexic kid in 1980’s Kapiti Coast, New Zealand. His films are lauded internationally and have been awarded at Cannes, Sundance, and the like, with his  first feature, “Shopping,” premiering at Sundance and winning the Grand Prix at the Berlin International Film Festival.