Gabriel Reid
Encyclopedia
Gabriel Luke Reid is a New Zealand
director working in television, film and theatre. His doctoral thesis examines the impact of digital technologies on feature film production.
in Film, Television and Media Studies from the University of Auckland
. His thesis presents a history of digital film production technologies as they have been developed and applied, primarily in the mainstream American cinema. It includes case studies of The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia
, interpreted as instances of film making that are at once consequential for the development of digital production techniques and as ambiguously positioned between the local (N.Z.) and the global. Other case studies centre on projects for which all images are computer generated (i.e. animated feature films) and projects for which live action images are acquired via digital camera systems. A distinctive feature of this study stems from Reid's success in securing interviews with key figures in film making. He conducted research at renowned studios and visual effects companies, including Animal Logic
, Blue Sky Studios
, Industrial Light & Magic, Park Road Post
, Pixar Animation Studios and Weta Digital
. His interviewees included Andrew Adamson
, Pete Docter, Bill George
, Donald McAlpine
, Barrie M. Osborne
, Tim Johnson
, Chris Wedge
and Dean Wright.
Reid graduated with a Bachelor of Arts
in 1997 and a Master of Arts
(First Class Honours) in 2000. His M.A.
thesis examines film adaptations of works by Shakespeare. Conducting research at the Royal Shakespeare Company
, the Royal National Theatre
and Renaissance Films, his interviewees included John Barton
, Hugh Cruttwell
, Adrian Noble
, Trevor Nunn
, David Parfitt
and Imogen Stubbs
.
Prior to university, he attended Auckland Grammar where he was president of the Senior Film Society and a member of Bel Canto choir, led by David Hamilton
. At university, as vice-chair of Theatre Workshop, Reid oversaw productions of Salome
, The Revenger's Tragedy
and As You Like It
, which featured Toa Fraser
and Oliver Driver
.
As a grandson of Mercury Theatre
founder Professor John Reid
, Reid's interest in the performing arts was nurtured from an early age. He worked as a child actor on stage and television alongside such stalwarts as Deryck Guyler
, George Henare
and Billy T. James
. At sixteen he directed a season of Godspell
and, years later, his work as a theatre director was garnering excellent reviews. Of his production of Amadeus
, The New Zealand Herald
wrote: "The multi-talented Mr Reid...directs with scrupulous care and refreshing enthusiasm." Reviewing his production of The Crucible
, The Strip magazine wrote: "Gabriel Reid is a clever, tightly disciplined, diligent director, with a bold and clear eye for design. This totally satisfying production coaxed new subtleties from the script — which could become far too dramatic for its own good in the hands of a less questioning director — yet diluted none of its power. It was craft and precision that fused this production into an example which could inspire even more experienced directors."
Reid was invited to join the staff of Auckland Metropolitan Opera (now known as New Zealand Opera) for the company's inaugural production (Die Fledermaus
starring Dame Malvina Major at the newly opened Aotea Centre
). Over a period of years he worked on opera seasons featuring renowned artists, such as Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Sir Donald McIntyre
. Subsequently, Reid was an assistant director on notable television and film projects, including The Chronicles of Narnia
. As an actor he has played featured guest roles in television series and films, including Shortland Street
, Street Legal
, Outrageous Fortune
and We're Here To Help
. His short film, As Dreams Are Made On
, was invited to screen at several international festivals.
In 1999 Reid founded Pageant Films. The company has produced numerous industry-acclaimed campaigns for New Zealand's largest television broadcasters; TVNZ, MediaWorks and their subsidiary networks (TV One, TV2, TVNZ6, TVNZ7, TVNZ Heartland
, TV3
and C4). Reid's work has earned multiple nominations at Promax
/BDA Australia, winning Gold in 2010, and has featured some of New Zealand's most notable artists, such as Temuera Morrison
and Karl Urban
. Pageant is developing a range of projects, including a feature film to be shot by the acclaimed cinematographer Donald McAlpine
. Andrew Adamson
and Mark Johnson are the project's executive producers.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
director working in television, film and theatre. His doctoral thesis examines the impact of digital technologies on feature film production.
Life and career
Dr. Gabriel Reid holds a Ph.D.Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in Film, Television and Media Studies from the University of Auckland
University of Auckland
The University of Auckland is a university located in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest university in the country and the highest ranked in the 2011 QS World University Rankings, having been ranked worldwide...
. His thesis presents a history of digital film production technologies as they have been developed and applied, primarily in the mainstream American cinema. It includes case studies of The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia
The Chronicles of Narnia (film series)
The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of English fantasy films from Walden Media that are based on The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of novels written by C. S. Lewis...
, interpreted as instances of film making that are at once consequential for the development of digital production techniques and as ambiguously positioned between the local (N.Z.) and the global. Other case studies centre on projects for which all images are computer generated (i.e. animated feature films) and projects for which live action images are acquired via digital camera systems. A distinctive feature of this study stems from Reid's success in securing interviews with key figures in film making. He conducted research at renowned studios and visual effects companies, including Animal Logic
Animal Logic
Animal Logic is an Australian digital visual effects company based at Fox Studios in Sydney, Australia and Santa Monica, California. Established in 1991, Animal Logic's core business has traditionally been the design and production of high-end visual effects for commercials and television programs,...
, Blue Sky Studios
Blue Sky Studios
Blue Sky Studios is an American CGI-animation studio which specializes in high-resolution, computer-generated character animation and rendering. It is owned by 20th Century Fox and located in Greenwich, Connecticut...
, Industrial Light & Magic, Park Road Post
Park Road Post
Park Road Post is a 10,200 m² motion picture post production facility, located in Miramar, New Zealand, a suburb of Wellington. Formerly the state-owned National Film Unit, the new facility was renamed Park Road Post upon completion in 2005...
, Pixar Animation Studios and Weta Digital
Weta Digital
Weta Digital is a digital visual effects company based in Wellington, New Zealand. It was founded by Peter Jackson, Richard Taylor, and Jamie Selkirk in 1993 to produce the digital special effects for Heavenly Creatures. In 2007 Weta Digital’s Senior Visual Effects Supervisor, Joe Letteri, was...
. His interviewees included Andrew Adamson
Andrew Adamson
Andrew Ralph Adamson, MNZM is a New Zealand film director, producer and screenwriter based mainly in Los Angeles, where he made the blockbuster animation films, Shrek and Shrek 2 for which he received an Academy Award nomination. He was director, executive producer, and scriptwriter for C. S....
, Pete Docter, Bill George
Bill George (visual effects supervisor)
-Biography:During his teens, Bill George was a dedicated and talented model maker. He used to forage through the dumpsters outside the Van Nuys, Los Angeles facility of Industrial Light & Magic, hoping to find souvenirs. In 1979, he began his career, building miniatures for Greg Jein in Los...
, Donald McAlpine
Donald McAlpine
-Early life and career:Before his film career, McAlpine was a physical education teacher in Parkes, New South Wales, Australia. He began using a 16mm Camera to film athletes preparing for the Melbourne Olympics....
, Barrie M. Osborne
Barrie M. Osborne
Barrie M. Osborne is an American movie producer, executive producer, production manager and director.Osborne was born in New York City, New York, the son of Hertha Schwarz and William Osborne...
, Tim Johnson
Tim Johnson (film director)
Tim Johnson is an American animation director specializing in CGI animation. Johnson has directed in many films such as Antz, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas and Over the Hedge.-Career:...
, Chris Wedge
Chris Wedge
Chris Wedge is an American film director, best known for the films Ice Age and Robots.-Early life and career:Wedge was born in Binghamton, New York. He attended Fayetteville-Manlius High School, graduating in 1975...
and Dean Wright.
Reid graduated with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in 1997 and a Master of Arts
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
(First Class Honours) in 2000. His M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
thesis examines film adaptations of works by Shakespeare. Conducting research at the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
, the Royal National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
and Renaissance Films, his interviewees included John Barton
John Barton (director)
John Bernard Adie Barton CBE is a theatrical director. He is the son of Sir Harold Montagu and Lady Joyce Barton. He married Anne Righter, a university lecturer, in 1968....
, Hugh Cruttwell
Hugh Cruttwell
Hugh Percival Cruttwell was an influential teacher of drama and principal of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.-Biography:...
, Adrian Noble
Adrian Noble
Adrian Keith Noble is a theatre director, and was also the artistic director and chief executive of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1990 to 2003.-Education and career:...
, Trevor Nunn
Trevor Nunn
Sir Trevor Robert Nunn, CBE is an English theatre, film and television director. Nunn has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed musicals and dramas for the stage, as well as opera...
, David Parfitt
David Parfitt
David Parfitt is a film producer and actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1998 for Shakespeare in Love....
and Imogen Stubbs
Imogen Stubbs
Imogen Stubbs, Lady Nunn is an English actress and playwright.-Early life:Imogen Stubbs was born in Northumberland, lived briefly in Portsmouth, where her father was a naval officer, and then moved with her parents to London, where they lived on an elderly river barge on the Thames...
.
Prior to university, he attended Auckland Grammar where he was president of the Senior Film Society and a member of Bel Canto choir, led by David Hamilton
David Hamilton (composer)
David Hamilton was born in 1955 in Napier, New Zealand and is a contemporary composer.Hamilton was head of music at Epsom Girls' Grammar School in Auckland until 2001 but now spends much of his time on composing. He has composed well over 100 works for choirs with orchestra or organ...
. At university, as vice-chair of Theatre Workshop, Reid oversaw productions of Salome
Salome (play)
Salome is a tragedy by Oscar Wilde.The original 1891 version of the play was in French. Three years later an English translation was published...
, The Revenger's Tragedy
The Revenger's Tragedy
The Revenger's Tragedy is an English language Jacobean revenge tragedy, in the past attributed to Cyril Tourneur but is sometimes considered to be the work of Thomas Middleton by "Middletonians"...
and As You Like It
As You Like It
As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
, which featured Toa Fraser
Toa Fraser
Toa Fraser, born in Britain in 1975, of a Fijian father and a British mother, is a playwright and film director. His second feature film, Dean Spanley, starring Sam Neill, Jeremy Northam and Peter O'Toole, premiered in September 2008.-Life:...
and Oliver Driver
Oliver Driver
Oliver Driver is a New Zealand actor, director, broadcaster and television presenter.-Television:Driver was the host of Let's Be Frank, and the Creative Director of New Zealand's only alternative music television station, ALT TV, The channel is now no longer on air...
.
As a grandson of Mercury Theatre
Mercury Theatre (Auckland)
The Mercury Theatre is a theatre in Auckland, New Zealand, located on Mercury Lane, off Karangahape Road. It was built in 1910, by the architect Edward Bartley and is the oldest surviving theatre in Auckland. Built in the English Baroque style, it was initially known as the Kings Theatre. However,...
founder Professor John Reid
John Reid (professor of English)
Professor John Cowie Reid was a New Zealand professor of English and founding chairman of the Mercury Theatre.-Biography:...
, Reid's interest in the performing arts was nurtured from an early age. He worked as a child actor on stage and television alongside such stalwarts as Deryck Guyler
Deryck Guyler
Deryck Guyler was an English actor, best known for his portrayal of officious, short-tempered middle-aged men in sitcoms such as Please Sir! and Sykes.-Early life:...
, George Henare
George Henare
George Winiata Henare, CNZM, OBE is an acclaimed New Zealand actor with a distinguished career spanning more than three decades.-Biography:In 1988, he was awarded an OBE for Services to Theatre...
and Billy T. James
Billy T. James
Billy T James, , born William James Te Wehi Taitoko, was a New Zealand entertainer, comedian and actor. He starred in numerous TV shows and variety programmes and performed on stage and in motion pictures.-Career:...
. At sixteen he directed a season of Godspell
Godspell
Godspell is a musical by Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak. It opened off Broadway on May 17, 1971, and has played in various touring companies and revivals many times since, including a 2011 revival now playing on Broadway...
and, years later, his work as a theatre director was garnering excellent reviews. Of his production of Amadeus
Amadeus
Amadeus is a play by Peter Shaffer.It is based on the lives of the composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, highly fictionalized.Amadeus was first performed in 1979...
, The New Zealand Herald
The New Zealand Herald
- External links :* * *...
wrote: "The multi-talented Mr Reid...directs with scrupulous care and refreshing enthusiasm." Reviewing his production of The Crucible
The Crucible
The Crucible is a 1952 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatization of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay during 1692 and 1693. Miller wrote the play as an allegory of McCarthyism, when the US government blacklisted accused communists...
, The Strip magazine wrote: "Gabriel Reid is a clever, tightly disciplined, diligent director, with a bold and clear eye for design. This totally satisfying production coaxed new subtleties from the script — which could become far too dramatic for its own good in the hands of a less questioning director — yet diluted none of its power. It was craft and precision that fused this production into an example which could inspire even more experienced directors."
Reid was invited to join the staff of Auckland Metropolitan Opera (now known as New Zealand Opera) for the company's inaugural production (Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée.- Literary sources :...
starring Dame Malvina Major at the newly opened Aotea Centre
Aotea Centre
The Aotea Centre is a performing arts and events centre / theatre in the Auckland CBD, Auckland City, New Zealand. Located at the western edge of Aotea Square, off Queen Street, the centre provides cultural venue space in the heart of the city and is managed by 'The Edge'...
). Over a period of years he worked on opera seasons featuring renowned artists, such as Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Sir Donald McIntyre
Donald McIntyre
This page is about the singer. For others of similar name see Donald MacIntyreSir Donald McIntyre, CBE is a celebrated operatic bass-baritone. He made his formal debut as Zaccaria in Nabucco, at the Welsh National Opera, in 1959...
. Subsequently, Reid was an assistant director on notable television and film projects, including The Chronicles of Narnia
The Chronicles of Narnia (film series)
The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of English fantasy films from Walden Media that are based on The Chronicles of Narnia, a series of novels written by C. S. Lewis...
. As an actor he has played featured guest roles in television series and films, including Shortland Street
Shortland Street
Shortland Street is a New Zealand prime-time soap opera, first broadcast on Television New Zealand's TV2 on 25 May 1992. It is the country's longest-running drama and soap opera, being broadcast continuously for over 4500 episodes and 19 years, and is one of the most watched television programs in...
, Street Legal
Street Legal (2000)
Street Legal is a New Zealand drama focused on the lives of a small group of lawyers. A total of 52 episodes were aired and reruns currently can be seen around the world...
, Outrageous Fortune
Outrageous Fortune (TV series)
Outrageous Fortune was a New Zealand comedy/drama television series, which was created by James Griffin and Rachel Lang and was produced by South Pacific Pictures...
and We're Here To Help
We're Here To Help
We're Here To Help is a 2007 Kafkaesque comedy film written and directed by Jonothan Cullinane and produced by South Pacific Pictures.- Plot :...
. His short film, As Dreams Are Made On
As Dreams Are Made On
As Dreams Are Made On is a short film, written and directed by Gabriel Reid.Ian Hughes plays Reuben Mills, a talented but impoverished actor feeling much pressure to nest. With his acting company about to tour he finds himself at an emotional crossroads. The time has come to choose his path.Gabriel...
, was invited to screen at several international festivals.
In 1999 Reid founded Pageant Films. The company has produced numerous industry-acclaimed campaigns for New Zealand's largest television broadcasters; TVNZ, MediaWorks and their subsidiary networks (TV One, TV2, TVNZ6, TVNZ7, TVNZ Heartland
TVNZ Heartland
TVNZ Heartland is a pay TV channel operated by TVNZ featuring 100% New Zealand made shows, most shows are re-runs of classic shows previously screen on New Zealand TV as well as some more recent shows. While TVNZ channels are traditionally available free to air TVNZ Heartland is available...
, TV3
TV3 (New Zealand)
TV3 is a New Zealand commercial television network, owned by MediaWorks New Zealand. Launched on 26 November 1989, the first private television network in New Zealand...
and C4). Reid's work has earned multiple nominations at Promax
Promax Awards
PromaxBDA Awards honor design and marketing work in the advertising and promotions business from a company or individual that is broadcast, published or released in their respective markets....
/BDA Australia, winning Gold in 2010, and has featured some of New Zealand's most notable artists, such as Temuera Morrison
Temuera Morrison
Temuera Derek Morrison is a New Zealand-born actor. He has become one of the country's most famous stars for his roles as the abusive Jake "the Muss" Heke in 1994's Once Were Warriors and as bounty hunter Jango Fett and the Clone Troopers in the Star Wars series...
and Karl Urban
Karl Urban
Karl-Heinz Urban is a New Zealand actor.He is known for playing Éomer in the second and third installments of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy in the 2009 film Star Trek and Julius Caesar on Xena: Warrior Princess...
. Pageant is developing a range of projects, including a feature film to be shot by the acclaimed cinematographer Donald McAlpine
Donald McAlpine
-Early life and career:Before his film career, McAlpine was a physical education teacher in Parkes, New South Wales, Australia. He began using a 16mm Camera to film athletes preparing for the Melbourne Olympics....
. Andrew Adamson
Andrew Adamson
Andrew Ralph Adamson, MNZM is a New Zealand film director, producer and screenwriter based mainly in Los Angeles, where he made the blockbuster animation films, Shrek and Shrek 2 for which he received an Academy Award nomination. He was director, executive producer, and scriptwriter for C. S....
and Mark Johnson are the project's executive producers.
External links
- Gabriel Reid at the Screen Directors Guild of New Zealand http://www.sdgnz.co.nz/mem.asp?id=774
- Pageant Films