Bryan Bruce (born 1948) is a New Zealand documentary maker and author. Born in Scotland in 1948, he emigrated with his family to New Zealand in 1956. He grew up in Christchurch and attended the University of Canterbury, where he graduated with an M.A. in sociology and philosophy. Bruce earned a Diploma in Teaching from Christchurch Teachers' College and taught for 10 years. He was a professional musician for 20 years before he took up a career as a documentary maker. Bruce now resides in Auckland, New Zealand.

Bruce's feature-length documentaries cover diverse topics, from natural history to crime.

Bruce wrote, produced ,and directed the real crime show The Investigator [1] that screened on TV ONE (Television New Zealand) and CBS Reality.

Publications

Bruce's published non-fiction works include the following:

  • A Taste of History (Batemans, 2007; ISBN 978-1-86953-614-5)
  • Hard cases (Random House, New Zealand, 2008; ISBN 978-1-86941-977-6)
  • Historia Smaku (Cartablanca, 2000); ISBN 978-83-61444-63-3
  • Jesus: The Cold Case (Random House, New Zealand, 2010); ISBN 978-1-86979-197-1
  • Jezus: Dowody Zbrodni (Cartablanca, Poland, 2011); ISBN 978-83-7705-043-9

Awards

Source:[2]

  1. 2015 New York Festivals Television Awards. Winner, Silver Medal (Passion in Paradise)
  2. 2014 New York Festivals Television Awards. Winner, Gold Medal (Mind The Gap)
  3. 2012 New Zealand Television Awards. Nominated, Best Director - Documentary (Inside Child Poverty). Nominated, Best Popular Documentary (with Richard Thomas) (Inside Child Poverty)
  4. 2011 Aotearoa Film & Television Awards. Winner, Best Popular Documentary or Documentary Series (Jesus: The Cold Case)[3]
  5. 2011 New York Festivals Television Awards. Winner, Silver and Bronze Medals in Religion and History categories (Jesus: The Cold Case)
  6. 2008 Qantas Film and Television Awards. Winner, Achievement in Directing - Factual/Entertainment Programme Series (The Investigator). Nominated, Best Factual Series (The Investigator)
  7. 2005 Qantas Television Awards. Nominated, Best Director - Non-Drama (A Question of Justice)
  8. 2003 New Zealand Television Awards. Winner, Best Narration Script - Non-Drama; shared with Ian Johnstone (The Lost Dinosaurs of New Zealand. Nominated, Best Director - Documentary (The Lost Dinosaurs of New Zealand)
  9. 2003 Banff Television Awards (United States). Finalist (The Lost Dinosaurs of New Zealand)
  10. 2003 New York Festivals Television Awards. Finalist (The Lost Dinosaurs of New Zealand)
  11. 2002 TV Guide NZ Television Awards. Winner, Best Director - Factual/Entertainment (Wild about New Zealand)[4]
  12. 2000 TV Guide Television Awards. Nominated, Best factual programme or documentary script, shared with Ian Johnstone (The Trouble with Ben).
  13. 1999 TV Guide Television Awards. Nominated, Best Director - Factual (Shaky Beginnings)
  14. 1997 TV Guide Film & Television Awards of New Zealand. Winner, Best Director - Factual (Inside New Zealand: Murder, They Said)[5]
  15. 1993 Film & TV Awards. Winner, Best Director - Documentary (Serious Fraud)

Controversies

Bryan Bruce's most controversial documentaries include Inside Child Poverty, which exposed the plight of children living in New Zealand's poorest homes on the eve of the 2011 election and contributed to the establishment of a Ministry for Children, The Children's Act and the setting of Child Poverty Reduction Targets.[6]

Another controversial documentary was Bryan Bruce's award winning Jesus: The Cold Case, which looked at the roots of antisemitism. TVNZ was initially reluctant to release the 90 minute documentary,[7] and after doing so, Bruce received criticism from some reviewers and members of the fundamentalist Christian community. In spite of this, it won the NZ AFTA for Best Documentary and was a Silver and Bronze Medal Winner in the Religion and History categories at The New York Festivals Television and Film Awards in 2011.[8]

Documentaries

A number of Bruce's documentaries are lodged at The New Zealand Film Archive.

Selected filmography

Documentaries

Source:[9]

  • Safer Sex (1989) - Producer, Presenter, Writer
  • Peter Blake (1990) - Director, Producer
  • 1981 The Tour. Ten Years On (1991) - Director, Producer, Writer, Presenter
  • Whina, Te Whaea O Te Moto - Mother of the Nation (1992) - Director, Producer
  • Stand By Your Man (1993) - Director, Producer
  • Breaking Barriers (1993) - Director, Producer
  • 17 - Snapshot of a Generation (1994) - Director, Producer
  • You're Soaking In It[10] (1994) - Director, Producer, Editor
  • Serious Fraud (1995) - Director, Producer
  • Beyond a Joke (1995) - Director, Producer
  • The Coach (1996) - Director, Producer
  • Murder, They Said (1996) - Producer
  • In Cold Blood (1997) - Director, Producer, Writer
  • First Impressions (1998) - Director, Producer
  • Heavy Petting (1999) - Director, Producer
  • Shaky Beginnings (1999) - Director, Producer
  • The Trouble With Ben (1999) - Director, Producer, Writer
  • State of Mind (2000) - Director, Producer, Writer, Editor
  • Workhorse to Dreamhorse (2001) - Director, Producer, Writer, Editor
  • The Bughouse[11] (2001) - Director, Producer, Writer
  • The Sir Howard Morrison Story (2002) - Director, Producer, Editor
  • The Bridge (2002) - Director, Producer, Writer
  • The Last Place On Earth (2002) - Director, Producer, Editor
  • The Lost Dinosaurs of New Zealand (2002) - Director, Producer, Writer, Editor
  • Just a Little Mad (2003) - Director
  • Trial By Ordeal (2004) - Director, Producer
  • A Question of Justice[12] (2005) - Director
  • Monsters of the Deep (2005) - Director
  • What's Your Verdict - Mark Lundy[13] (2005) - Executive Producer
  • Child Poverty[14] (2011) - Director, Producer, Writer, Presenter
  • Jesus: The Cold Case[15] (2011) - Director, Presenter
  • Mind the Gap[16] (2014) - Director
  • Who Owns New Zealand Now?[17] (2017) - Director, Producer, Writer, Presenter
  • World Class? Inside New Zealand Education - A Special Report[18] (2016) - Director, Writer, Presenter
  • A Question of Justice[19] (2022) - Producer, Presenter
  • Inside Child Poverty Revisited[20] (2022) - Director, Producer
  • The Food Crisis[21] (2023) - Director, Producer

Documentary Series

Source:[9]

  • Wild About New Zealand (2000-2001, 2013) - Director, Writer, Producer
  • The Investigator[22] (2007-2011) - Presenter, Writer, Producer, Director, Editor
  • Passion in Paradise: A Sexual History of New Zealand[23] (2014) - Director, Producer, Writer
  • A Question of Justice (2022)[24] - Director, Producer, Writer

References

  1. ↑ http://www.listener.co.nz/issue/ 3517/features/9729/who_killed_kayo.html – 20k -
  2. ↑ Screen, NZ On. "Bryan Bruce | NZ On Screen". www.nzonscreen.com. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  3. ↑ "Jesus The Cold Case". afta.co.nz. Archived from the original on 20 December 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
  4. ↑ "2002 Winners - TV Guide NZ Television Awards". www.lonely.geek.nz. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  5. ↑ "1997 Winners - TV Guide Television Awards". www.lonely.geek.nz. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  6. ↑ "Strong reaction to damning TV child poverty doco". NZ Herald. 5 December 2023. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  7. ↑ PEPPERELL, SUSAN (17 April 2011). "TVNZ sits on controversial Jesus doco". Stuff. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  8. ↑ http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv/4897546/TVNZ-sits-on-controversial-Jesus-doco For one of numerous examples of critique: http://www.beretta-online.com/wordpress/2011/jesus-the-cold-case/ Archived 9 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine http://tvnz.co.nz/close-up/jesus-christ-ultimate-cold-case-3446019
  9. 1 2 Screen, NZ On. "Bryan Bruce | NZ On Screen". www.nzonscreen.com. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  10. ↑ "YOU'RE SOAKING IN IT!". www.ngataonga.org.nz. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  11. ↑ Screen, NZ On. "Ruud Kleinpaste: The Bug Man... | NZ On Screen". www.nzonscreen.com. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  12. ↑ Croot, James (13 October 2022). "A Question of Justice: Don't expect answers from Prime's fascinating, but flawed legal series". Stuff. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  13. ↑ Screen, NZ On. "Credits | What's Your Verdict - Mark Lundy | Television | NZ On Screen". www.nzonscreen.com. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  14. ↑ "CHILD POVERTY. A SPECIAL REPORT". www.ngataonga.org.nz. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  15. ↑ "Major Gong for Maker of Controversial Jesus Documentary". infonews.co.nz. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  16. ↑ Smithies, Grant (24 August 2013). "Mind the Gap: Why most of us are poor". Stuff. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  17. ↑ HAWKES, COLLEEN (11 September 2017). "'Who owns New Zealand now?' New doco tackles our housing crisis". Stuff. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  18. ↑ BELFIELD, JAMES (18 May 2016). "World Class: Bryan Bruce doco investigates New Zealand schools and how to fix them". Stuff. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  19. ↑ "A QUESTION OF JUSTICE". www.ngataonga.org.nz. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  20. ↑ Nealon, Sarah (16 November 2022). "Inside Child Poverty Revisited: Bryan Bruce's sequel documentary". Stuff. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  21. ↑ Croot, James (2 September 2023). "The Food Crisis: The urgent, timely documentary every Kiwi voter should watch". Stuff. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  22. ↑ TELEVIEW, Jane Bowron- (3 June 2011). "Slick investigator sheds light on case". Stuff. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  23. ↑ "TV preview: A Sexual History of New Zealand". NZ Herald. 9 December 2023. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  24. ↑ Croot, James (13 October 2022). "A Question of Justice: Don't expect answers from Prime's fascinating, but flawed legal series". Stuff. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
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