“Haere mai, welcome to Reel Talent Tips and Tales podcast, based in New Zealand and celebrating the diverse film community behind many of the films and television shows we’ve loved over the years.

The podcast is a spin-off of my book The Reel Deal: Real Talent, Tips and Tales, both aim to inform students and anyone interested in joining the screen industry by sharing career journeys, practical advice, behind-the-scenes stories, and lessons learned from people working across film and television.

Today, we are interviewing Celia Jaspers, an award-winning NZ-based writer, director, producer, and script supervisor for TVNZ and more.

 She has contributed to many NZ films and television series over the years. More recently, she has worked on A Dog’s Show and the highly acclaimed series Secret at Red Rocks. The Secret earned three Emmy nominations in the Children & Family categories, including Outstanding Writing and Outstanding Editing for a Live Action Program, and it won the music category.

Although I have not worked directly with Celia, she has generously shared photographs for use in my book, The Reel Deal. She is an excellent photographer, and I am so grateful for her willingness to contribute to that project and now for her taking the time from her busy schedule to share with us.