2025 NZ On Air John O'Shea Memorial Address: In Conversation with Stephen Stehlin

The 2025 NZ On Air John O'Shea Memorial Address: In Coversation with Stephen Stehlin, was the opening session of the 30th Spada Conference.

A producer with four decades experience in the Aotearoa New Zealand screen industry, Taualeo'o Stephen Stehlin spoke with Ngaire Fuata about his career, creating Pasifika stories for screen, and 38 years of Tagata Pasifika.

The John O'Shea Memorial Address is sponsored by NZ On Air, with CEO Cameron Harland providing the introduction. This conversation was recorded live during the 30th Spada Conference, held 20 & 21 November 2025 in Auckland, New Zealand.

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Transcript

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The 2025 NZ On Air John O'Shea Memorial Address In conversation with Taualeo’o Stephen Stehlin Was recorded live at the 2025 Spada Conference. John O’Shea championed an independent New Zealand screen industry from the beginning of his career as a co-director of Pacific Film Productions for over three decades, there’s a theme here, Three decades O’Shea’s name would become synonymous with Pacific Films. The company produced newsreels, training films, sponsored documentaries, road safety films, television commercials, and sports events. Pacific Films became a fertile training ground for young filmmakers. A sort of al fresco film School, as O’Shea put it. Many of the staff went on to win renown. Today's speaker has very, very many similarities to O’Shea. He's producing Tagata Pacific - he's produced Tagata Pasifika for over three decades, initially TVNZ and since 2018 through his and Ngaire and John's production companies, Sunpix. One of New Zealand's longest running shows, it is described as a Pacific voice by Pacific people. The program covers news, arts and politics involving Pacific people in Aotearoa. It has undoubtedly developed a huge number of young Pacific content creators over the years. Our guest has also been actively involved in many organizations, including the Pacific Islands Media Association and as a board member of both the National Pacific Radio Trust and the Auckland University of Technology Council. He holds the title of Taualeo’o from his grandmother's village, and he was awarded an MNZM honour for services to Pacific Arts and Television in 2008. Ladies and gents, I'm delighted to announce that today's John O’Shea Memorial Address is In Conversation with the wonderful Stephen Stehlin.(greeting) Ngaire Talofa lava! She's been here forever. I met you, on the drama department Xerox machine in 1988. You were 19 and I was 21. It's amazing. I think his memory might be a little bit off there, bit of wishful thinking. But anyway, it's lovely to be here, especially part of this, John O'Shea Memorial. It's a real privilege for us because we experienced his legacy. We did. We knew we knew him. And he would visit, Māori programs. And, And you knew him. Through Ernie and Whai Through Ernie and Whai and I got to know him because of his lifetime companion, who was my old friend that I grew up in Manurewa his name was Brendan Crosby. And Brendan, bless his soul He died in 2014, but, he, he taught me how to smoke cigarettes. And, you know, I just kept on trying to (not vomit) This is in Churchill Avenue in Manurewa He was three years older than me, so he's, I really looked up to him. And my last memory of John O'Shea was at a club, and I said, I'll see you boys later. And he said, I'm so glad you called me boy. So it was a long time ago. Yes, it was, So anyway, we're a bit like an old married couple, really, because we have worked with each other for so long, so there might be a little bit banter and stick, but, it's not disrespectful. No it's not. He can put up with it. I if I have to actually, I've got no choice. You know, we did a DNA test. Ah, when was it, ten years ago? 15 years ago? Yeah. And horror of horrors. Ngaire is from Rotuma So Ngaire’s father is from Rotuma. And then we were going through our list of DNA relatives, we found - we were related. How is this possible? The Pacific is small. It is! It's a small world. It's a bit like us. We’re right here. And the fact that we both know knew John and, and, on them on personal level. We know all you. And I'm looking around the room to see if there's anybody older than me. I'm so glad Tony Holden’s just over there. Robin Scholes is there, so I'm not the oldest. Okay, so should we kick in? I guess. I though you're going to bring your laptop? No. I'm not going to. We were late - she was making me sweat a little bit. Irene was calming my nerves. Yeah. Okay. All right. Okay. Talking about Tagata Pasifika - Yes. How did it start for you? Well, I was working at Tolls, you know, do you remember Tolls when people would have to call an operator to make a call to Wellington or to. In 30 seconds Oh shoot. Okay. Yes, I got a I got a call to be a producer's assistant. Having failed to get in as a researcher for news, and, I was praying I got the job, and I was going to be a trainee producer's assistant. And I was praying because I didn't know where I was going to go. And they said, you're going into Māori Programmes because I thought they're going to put me into sport, and that would be a marriage made in hell for me. So I went in there and it was amazing. So are you hurrying me up, Ngaire Fuata? No, no. Like usual. Anyway, so I actually started on Koha and Ray -. Raymond Waru had just left, and, the late, help me here.... Morehu McDonald was my first producer. So, you know, they took me into into Māori Programmes which I heard guitars, singing, laughter, laughter! And they and they said, here's your desk I had a canon typewriter. Because I did some scripts. Here's your Canon typewriter. The others had manuals. And here's your phone and here's your ashtray. And I thought, I have died and gone to heaven. This is fantastic. Yeah. So that was my start in Māori Programmes. And then I thought, you know, what is this little show Tagata Pasifika And I, Michael Evans was the producer, so I, I said to Michael, because they were auditioning for a little, a little part of the program called Community Report And I said, oh, could I please audition? And he said to me, oh, no, no, no, you're the wrong race I went, sorry? He said, no, you're Māori. I went, ahhhhh I'm sorry to disappoint you. You know, but I'm actually Samoan, my dad’s Samoan So - But did you get it? No, I didn't, Ngaire. Thanks for bringing that up. Floor manager who will remain nameless, said to me, oh you may as well give up now. You'll never make it. So then I thought, well, if I can't do that, maybe I should be a producer. So that was the beginning. And how's it been over 40 years? Challenging. It has been challenging. And, You know, we get so used to our small world. So it's kind of great. I see Dana is in the audience. James is, is, introducing us so that, you know, our small world is beginning to, get bigger. So we're going global, but we've started in our own backyard, so, in the beginning, it was it was just New Zealand Pacific communities. But over time, we reached out into the Pacific. So that those relationships have been, a key, key thing for us. And they continue. I mean, I haven't been working for you. You tell me! That's really important, isn't it, for our Pacific community? Don't you think they feel like they own the show? Oh. They totally own the show. They didn't know. Even know what what platform it was on. It was their show. And I've got to thank, New Zealand On Air and, television manager by the name of Jane Wrightson at the time, I applied for extra funding to, to, to do video journalism with a High H camera and, and I said, and she said, why are you doing this? And I said, because there's news and current affairs expectations of the show, which was in those days, under special interest. And she said, prove it. So then I called the Ministry and I talked to the late and wonderful Louisa Crawley. And so we did a call out to the community. And, you know what, they came in there hundreds to, to support the show. And, we did that everywhere. And she was one of the first who taught me how to handle a crowd and how to pick out people. And she whispered, don't take any notice of that one. You know, let me handle let me, let me handle him. And, so it was, a very early lesson in how to, engage with your audience. So most I would - No, no, it's a bit of a generalization, but most, most producers don't meet their audience. And it was a face to face personal relationship, that other people found difficult to understand. But, you know, it was it was real. And it was, I would say it was personal because they they know your family I mean, it's horrifying. They go, who’s your Mother, who’s your father? So, and, it was, a marvelous progression from that, from those early days of of getting to know, the audience and, you know, and, and also change changing things up, you know, so, for example, one of the first, first things, that we had to deal with as a community was the AIDS epidemic. And how do you tell a conservative Christian, ongoing community, about condoms? Well, you could talk about it. And we did. So that was the beginning of my relationship with a friend of mine Karl Pulotu-Endemann who is still at 75 years old, still fighting, fighting hard for equity and, and, he's from a nursing background and, Fa'afafine background of bringing light to these, you know, these people who are, live in the shadows. So that was a big thing for me, you know, being gay myself, I, I thought, oh, my gosh, how can I possibly do this? And and then I've suddenly got this notoriety, and that, but we were kind of lucky in a way, because we were flying under the radar. So, these days where we come under journalism. But in those days, we were a community show, which mean we could do anything. Really? Yeah. So, I mean, we incorporated drama. Yes. Comedy. Tali’s Angels. Oh, yes. Bertha and Buckweat. The Brownies. The Brownies. What else did we do? Oh. We did a lot of things that you would not say were journalism, Well the Tala Pasifikas Oh the Tala Pasifikas. So that was a conversation with the late, That is the brother of, the great Ramona Papali’i, who was the first presenter of See Here. She's still in Kaitaia. I tried to beg her to come down for our 20th Anniversary and she said, oh, I'm so in the country now with because she was married to Pete Smith and they were living somewhere around. Up North Away up north Ahipara, somewhere around there, she said. The nearest I get to is, to, outside contact is when the horse puts its head through the kitchen window. So, Yeah. So she was great. So Poumau said to me, we come from a storytelling cultures, but we have no we have no dramas on air. So then I thought, I said Poumau we should just do it. We should just get some people we know we've got the writers. And so we we had this terribly laborious steering committee, and we got people who knew how to write, people like Rachel from Shortland Street. Brian Edwards - Help me - Jude. Jude Callen and so we did we developed some scripts and then what we did was, well, we couldn’t do it. Well, I had no experience, so we handed it over to Don Selwyn and He Taonga Films. And then they created opportunities. So it was kind of like going out of our patch, but also creating opportunities for young, Pacific directors. Or even if they weren't directors, they could just sort of tagalongs I'm thinking. It was the starting place for a lot of careers. Oh, it. Was. Yeah. So Lisa Taouma and Mario and, Shimpal Oh, gosh, the Browns. Yeah. So, yeah. So I guess, when you get into our small world and you think of creating opportunities and going global and that it, it was really just in the beginning, it was just getting out of Auckland was nice. Well, I don't know how many people said to us Oh you’re not Tagata Pasifika you’re Tagata Aukalani or Tagata Hamoa or Tagata Hamoa that’s the other thing, seven, seven Pacific groups who were unevenly distributed. And so it has been challenging, over time that. How important has language been in the show? So when you've got seven languages, it's important, but it's hard. So, but I, I think you might remember sometimes the most moving stories are the most simple stories. And if you remember Folole Muliaga the woman who died after her electricity was cut, and, you know, there was all of this in high news value and, and the poor husband. was always having a difficult time, expressing himself. So I got my cousin who could speak really, really well, and she was she's actually quite empathetic at times when I give her a bit of pressure. So, yeah, there's my cousin Rita, and, so we did kind of like a two camera shoot, and we did a whole half hour. It was just this poor man who up until now had been portrayed as, unable to express himself. But he wasn't portrayed as that, but because his English was so poor. But when he could speak his own language, he was poetic. And it was one of the most moving, memories I have of, of our community. Yeah, yeah. And how have you, you know, we've you've pushed through you've, we've managed to do a lot within those 38 years. What's what's kept driving you? Oh, well, survival. But also, those early days of meeting the community, you know, I've hardly been to Wellington, let alone, you know, Auckland. But when I had, when I had, the, Ministry people with me and, and they had my back. And then I saw these people and we continually asked them, well, what do you want? And they continually told us we want more and in prime time! And so every, you know, these, these community meetings became bitter. You know, people were getting angry. So what do we do Ngaire? You tell us. We kind of have the questions. We said, if you want to have any questions, come and see us. But in the meantime have something to eat and something to drink. So it became a party basically It became a party, just come and meet us. So it was kind of nice to, put that on. In its time. And I remember once TVNZ said to me yes, you can use the atrium, but be careful of that grand baby grand piano. So I left, I left to go downstairs and I came back and, Lisa's dad, Pita Pita Taouma was playing the piano, with a drag queen sitting on top and a row of beer cans, I was like, oh, shit. I'm gonna. I'm. I'm just so gonna die. With TVNZ that happened a couple of times, actually. It's happened. It happened. Oh, God. What we were doing. Oh, yeah. The Laughing Samoans We would get in trouble a bit. The Laughing Samoans was sort of crying Samoans sometimes because, you know, we needed a sequence in a very fancy boardroom. So I begged sales and marketing, if I could use their very flash Boardroom and, and they were, they were. It was two comedians talking to Suzanne Paul. And they ended up having a food fight and I couldn't fit in there. And I went into this boardroom that I promised to be pristine. And there's food all over, chocolate cake all over the table. Anyway. Anyway, I paid, I paid the cleaners to please make this pristine. So I was often stressful. Yes. And fun. It was. But, you know, how did you keep sane? I didn't? Sometimes I, I have to tell you the truth, I was, severely challenged, and, But, he’s not here. But Adrian Stevanon always call me the last man standing. So you can take from that what you will. So you've helped so many people along the way. If you think about it, you've also been Heartbreak Hotel. Oh, God. I've had. I think my, my mother or my grandmother wanted me to be a priest. So I've - But you were. Kinda like a confessional, of TVNZ, of of of our little group and, and Māori Programmes very protective of Māori Programmes because they were the ones who gave me a, a a start. But yeah, it was. And how important was that in terms of being included with Māori in, We couldn't have done without being riding on the coattails of that Māori department. Whai, Ernie. But Whai, you know, six months into my three month contract, they made the producer of the first producer was Michael Evans, who was, made redundant. So I cheekily applied to be producer, and Whai was so kind to actually give me an interview. He said, just wait a bit. Yeah. You’re a wee bit green. Yeah, yeah. And what else? What were the biggest challenges for you, do you think, Oh, balancing up the needs of the community. Also, You know, in those days, people metres were around and we never figured in the people metres. Never. And then, you know, try and get sponsorship from people the commercial operations would ask, well, what are your ratings? I was too embarrassed to tell them so. So then I thought, why are they so poor? And I and I, kept on asking, how many Pacific homes are you measuring? You know, you've got 400 people metres around the country. How many Pacific homes? And they dodged and, you know, so I forget who the company was. It's changed so many times. But in the end, they told me it was seven. And I said, well, they could all be at the same funeral and we'll just have nobody watching it. Yeah, but I guess times have changed. And now we can actually with the internet, we we are global within. You know, our show is, you know, items and, how you know, we know that we can see the, the figures tick over, but we can also see it when we go out to the islands and we go out to the community. Well, that's true. And the first time was the first time I realized that was that, you know, like people will say to me, oh, Tagata Pasifika I've heard of that, but I’d really watch it but I don't understand the language. I say, oh, don't understand English. But anyway, I the my first instance of, you know, the pull of the show was going to Christchurch with Susana Hukui and we were mobbed in Christchurch because of her, and she was picked up by Sitiveni Rabuka in Queensland because she was known in the Pacific as well. So, there was, there was that, there was a time I went to Whakatane And I don't know why we were recording sports. Sports or rugby or something. And then I heard ‘Tagata Pasifika Tagata Pasifika!’ And it was your father. And he came running up, and he kind of recognized us. So weird. He was such a big fan of the show. Yeah, because in a little town, like, Whakatane Yeah. So what about going live? We went live so many times. Can you remember any sort of really. Well, the reason why when I went live, we went live because we we used to record the show on a Friday and we'd go to air on a Sunday. So our news was probably at least a week old by the time I got there. And, in Tahiti, they were having, demonstrations and they set fire to the, to the airport. And Marae, Derek Wooster bless his sole, was going live to, to Tahiti. And I thought ‘we should be doing that’. So that's how we became live. I thought, well, there are expectations that we should be covering this, and I can't cover it if I'm not live. But it's changed a bit since then because the internet’s even more live. Yeah. You know, now that you kind of, you stepped back a little bit, but you're still part of the company and you're still doing work out there, and you've been E.P. for this fabulous feature film, Mysterious Ways. And you've also had an award winning cameo performance as a next to Michael Hearst. Stop it please. Ngaire! Ngaire! And also you EP for the new, Tenor. It’s Dana over there She she roped me in. There's also Samoan world domination going on here, but, thank you. Dana, it's, it's, I if you say the Pati brothers, it doesn't really mean much. But if I told you it was about Sole Mio you'll know, who these brothers are and they’re at the top of their game now. This, documentary is taken three years. It is global. It is amazing. And, you know, during during Covid, Cam I, I, I can't remember, but I think we went down to NZ On Air and I say, well you’ve got a Rautaki Māori where’s your Pacific strategy? And he said, well, good question. Why don't you write it? I went, oh, shit. Okay, okay. So, I'm really grateful for the opportunity to work on, big feature documentary like this. So, Rebecca, Rebecca has, managed to, keep ahold of this beast called Tenor My Name is Pati, and I'm really grateful for the opportunity to work on it, because every time I watch it, I just get moved. And when’s it released? March, March of next year. So, look out for it. Tenor. It is a worldwide, release, and it's also a it's a worldwide story. So it's, it's about two brothers from Samoa, raised in Mangere, Who are now in such demand, they you never know where they're at. So the documentary goes from Paris to London to Berlin to San Francisco to the Met in New York and Mangere. And Samoa, it's it's a marvelous thing. And how important are those partnerships? Well, I think that are incredibly important, as, Irene said, that, you know, on a much more grand, grander scale. That is the only way we can do it. And in our small world, we have been going to the FIFO conference, representing TVNZ. I don't know, TVNZ That was a long time ago. I don't know if TVNZ knew that. That's what I said we were doing. And, but we forged alliances with. those Europeans. And in those days, this film fest, it's a documentary film festival. It was basically Europeans coming to, Tahiti for a holiday in the middle of winter. It's it's become, a truly indigenous, film festival. So that's how we’ve become a little bit global. And it's just looking into our own front yard, which is the Pacific. And how important has Pacific storytelling become here, in Aotearoa? I you know, I think, you know, I'm so old. I'm not. Well, I think I'm even older than Irene. Irene wrote on recently wrote, somewhere must be on Facebook or something. She said, you know, the thing is, you've got to realize that we were born 50. I think you said 15 years after the Second World War and, yeah. No. Well, I was born 12 years. So there’s - So math was not his strong point Oh did you know Ngaire Fuata? Did you know that, You know, Mrs. Fraser here doesn't have a brain. She's she's got. She just got a she's got a spreadsheet in there. What? Everybody else has a brain. She's got a spreadsheet that can look at a budget and go No. That's wrong. That's wrong. Except I don’t know what time we’re at. I don't know why that, have we bored you? let us know. So we were born then, so we were almost excusing ourselves for being you know, you know, my early memories of working at Westfield Freezing works is finding an overstayer and taking him to my grandfather, who was, the trade commissioner for Samoa at the time. And he said, come here. he said, don't you ever do that again. You put him in danger and you put me in danger. Bring him to me at home. So, it was kind of from that, from the Dawn Raids that we all know about now, and remember, you know, good on Oscar for writing the play. The playwrights and, the the expression of our identity is, is manifested in many different ways, but it starts there. Yeah. And, you know, films like Sione’s Wedding and I think Tree Wise Cousins And now Tinā, have found that - And Inky Pinky Ponky You know, in and Inky Pinky Ponky have found this global audience, you know, what do you think the future is for Pacific storytelling on that big screen? You know, so I, I think it's it's much more democratized, but at the same time it's lower cost. And so they're trying to find, find a way in there, like, forcing the big streamers and that to actually contribute something to us, to, to, our industry is, is important. And, yeah. Who would have thought that little TP would have such enormous numbers on, on our, which we still don't own our YouTube page That’s another story But anyway, it's, it's really, reinforced what we knew beforehand that there is an audience out there. They are interested. It's just getting getting through, with partnerships. And one of the biggest partnerships that we have is with with Pasifika TV. So we end up being EP's on, you know, development of Pacific broadcasters. If you think TP is poor, try being in the Cook Islands and you're doing the news and you’re and you’re trying to do, a funded show, not funded by New Zealand On Air, funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade. Yeah. So, and and that just shows you so, Pasifika TV, which used to be the the old Pacific service is funded by, by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade. And that, is kind of like a soft power, soft diplomacy in the Pacific. And that's important. And the only reason it became important was because the Aussies started giving up free content. And in the Pacific, so, And we contribute a lot. We do Aotearoa Amazing, amazing amount, you know, look at Barbara Dreaver But she's constantly doing tacking on an extra couple of days. She's in the Solomon Islands, for example, trying to upskill people and give them an opportunity, which is probably been our stories from. And so for any young burgeoning producer, what advice would you give? Don't! For something else to do! Look, you know, I'm, I'm gonna, I get I get a little bit tortured by this, but, you know, these young hopefuls, I always have a cup of coffee with them and try to find out what they're really interested in. And when. It's when when it's. I want to be a writer or I want to, have a skill like that. But if I want to be a presenter, you know, don't don't bother. The competition is so high, but, but you can do stuff in your own bedroom these days and still get a huge and paying audience. Well, you've always been an early adopter of technology. Which is definitely helped the progression of the show. What do you think of AI? oh, I think it's another tool. But, yeah, I'm not sure I'm a little bit nervous about it, you know, what do you think about ChatGPT and putting in a proposal into Cam? Oh, I love it. Yeah. So, no, I think that it's just another tool. And I think that it's really easy to see AI slop around the place. Really easy. What do you think the future is going to be like for the industry? Yeah. So I think - How do you feel? Well, you know, I've had the good fortune to work through, the good times and the shrinking times. And, so I just think we're just changing shape at the moment. But I think everything, all our work is predicated on our relationships. And if you can't keep a relationship going, then, you know, you can't do it by you can't do anything by yourself. I could not do TP without you, you know. Isn't that nice we’re having a little mutual admiration. Society He doesn't do that that often Yeah. So I think we're, I think, well, are we done? Are we done 40 minutes yet, Irene? Yes, you are done You’re going to say something profound and then James will wind you up. Oh, thank you. There you go Stephen, say something Something profound. It might be a bit hard, but, 38 years. Oh my goodness. it's been a long time. No, I think, I just say to the the kids coming through who are trying to get a chance. Just keep at it and follow your dreams. And and don't give up. You know, if I was, I would if a taumau like me could get a job and and and managed to hoodwink a whole lot of people into being a producer, anybody can do it. Well, you know, thank you for all your service. And your work. You know, you've opened the doors for so many of us, you’ve produced incredible things, you’ve pushed through. And we are very grateful. Oh, thank you For everything that you’ve done. Thank you Ngaire I'll pay you later.(applause) Fa’afetai, uncle, they were saying, can you go, just stand by the side and rush them off. I say, are you aware of the Samoan rules? That is a chief on stage. I can't brush him off. Besides, he's about to drop some of the most important industry wisdom we've ever heard. If you do stuff in your bedroom, you can get a huge audience. Stephen Stehlin. 2025, young producers out there take notes. Also, just to clarify, The Brownies are a comedic comedy duo from the early 2000s. Vela Manusuate and Canada Brown. I saw some of you tense when they're like. And of course The Brownies, they're like, we can say that now? Like it's yes, they were the very important in the history of Pacific performance. Yeah. Vela, Vela and Canada. Thank you. Thank you Ngaire Thank you Stehlin.