MARK WILLIS (Co-Writer/Director)
Mark discovered his love for films while working in a video store back in the 1980s. A few years later, he became the FX creator/supervisor for Robert Sarkies’ Nightmare Productions, showing off his creative streak on such award-winning short films as Dreammakers, Flames from the Heart and Signing Off. In 1999, he wrote 13 short horror episodes entitled ‘From Under the Bed’ for the children’s show, What Now?
That same year, while working on Robert Sarkies’ first feature film Scarfies, Mark conceived the idea for his first short film Splinter, which was completed with funding from Creative NZ. Since then, he dedicated himself to furthering his skills as a scriptwriter / director while embarking on his first feature film, Blind Panic.
MATTHEW MAWKES (Co-Writer/Producer)
Matthew arrived in Wellington in 2000, at a time when the city was fast becoming New Zealand’s filmmaking capital. There he attended a crash course at Avalon Film & TV School before launching into producing films.
In Wellington Matthew met Mark and started a collaboration that has led to Blind Panic. With a wide range of experience on all levels of production, Matthew is always looking for opportunities to get involved with exciting film and TV projects. Some recent projects include short comedy Burst and a heavy metal music video for Wellington band Bulletbelt directed by Jason Howden (Deathgasm, Guns Akimbo).
JEFF HURRELL (Co-Producer/Editor)
Having obtained a BA in film studies at Victoria University in Wellington in 1994, Jeff co-founded Martinsquare, a production house dealing in a wide range of television and film projects, establishing him as a talented and much in-demand editor.
The first short film he edited, The Hole, was invited to the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival. This led to Jeff editing a myriad of other shorts, such as Splinter, Eel Girl and Lambs. He also developed a collaboration with documentary filmmaker Bryan Bruce, editing the hugely successful The Investigator TV series.
His feature film credits include genre films such as The Devil’s Rock, Deathgasm and local musical Born to Dance. And look out for Jeff who plays Prescott’s henchman in Blind Panic.
APRIL PHILLIPS (Co-Producer)
April Phillips is a writer, director, story consultant, and producer of films.
Her company Godiva Productions executive produced the award-winning short films R.E.M. and The Last Man on Earth and co-produced the films Letter for Hope, Utu Pihikete and The Odds.
Like everyone associated with our movie, you can also spot April in Blind Panic.
