Pūkeko People

The five time Academy Award© winning Design and Effects Supervisor draws upon 27 years of working in the creative industries. Richard has also won 35 other international and domestic entertainment, business and community awards for his endeavours in the film and television disciplines including four British Academy of Film and Television Awards and two Visual Effects Society awards.

In 2010 he was awarded a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his services to film and two years later he was named Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year.  He and Tania are Patrons for the Neonatal Trust in New Zealand.

Richard started Weta Workshop over 20 years ago with Tania as it was their dream to establish a special effects facility to enhance and support the New Zealand film and television industry.  Richard has also been working in China for the past 17 years and brings a strong working relationship with the Chinese creative industry to his endeavours at Pukeko Pictures.

A life-long Thunderbirds fan, Richard is the Executive Producer of the new series Thunderbirds Are Go.

She further applies her talents and passion for creativity, artistry and professionalism in associated businesses as one of the partners in the Roxy Cinema as well as Co-Owner and Director of Stardog LP.

Tania is passionate about creating the best quality children’s television possible and as such was the Executive Producer on the company’s pre-school series The WotWots.

She is a patron of the Neonatal Trust.

Since it was first published in 1986, the Jane and the Dragon book series has never been out of print. His publishers include Scholastic, Walker Books, Greenwillow, Penguin and Reed Methuen.

Martin has worked in stage, radio and TV as a Producer, Director, Actor, Screenwriter and Script Editor.

He created the Jane and The Dragon TV series based on his books and co-created The WotWots with Richard Taylor. He is Executive Producer on Cleverman.

In previous roles he was a director and executive for professional services firms over 11 years. He spent 4 years as a Trustee and Chair of a Charitable Trust running Creative Festivals and lived and worked in China for 4 years as the Financial Controller of a Global Manufacturer.

He is a Chartered Accountant and member of the Institute of Directors.

Past executive producer credits include: “ Happy Running”(2008) and “Fantastic Adventure” (2013). He is also the Vice President of the Beijing Film, TV & Animation Association . His strength in production management led his own animation studio, Dream Animation, to become overall one of the most efficient studios in China. In 2015, Kris co-founded Shambala with Xianmin and was determined to create high-concept Chinese content, utilizing a Chinese workforce – which is also the reason why he simultaneously co-founded Shambala’s CGI production house, Blossom Pictures, with Zhiyi in 2015.

A technical pioneer, Jeremy began his industry career developing the first Academy Award-winning digital film compositing system at Computer Film Company that heralded the beginning of digital CGI effects. Jeremy has always been at the forefront of film technology, aiding the development of digital intermediate and helping to create and define the process of shooting full-length live action features in digital 3D stereo that led to the advent of stereoscopic feature film production and paved the way for 3D cinema.

Jeremy has previously worked at Jim Henson’s Creature Shop in the UK and was a founder of One Animation in Singapore, where he developed and produced original animated television series and the award-winning Rob The Robot, Oddbods and The Insectibles.

He started his career designing the puppets for Peter Jackson’s puppet film Meet the Feebles, was head of design for the children’s department at TV3 network in New Zealand, created and directed the stop motion TV series Oscar and friends, directed the stop motion short film Life on Ben, created and directed the animated TV series Bottle Top Bill, worked as a producer and director on the sci fi series Sindbad & the 7 Galaxies, worked as a producer on several Veggie Tales productions, including Celery Night Fever and Veggies in Space, was head of productions at Huhu studios in New Zealand for many years, worked as a director and producer on the preschool series Kiddets and as a producer on the animated feature film  Mosley.

Cameron is currently working as head of productions at Pukeko Pictures and is responsible for planning and overseeing all productions.

 At Pukeko, Duncan is responsible for the all technical systems including VFX pipelines and corporate operational systems.

He is a chartered accountant and a member of the New Zealand Institute Chartered Accountants.