Great Southern Television’s Phil Smith on his hit shows The Casketeers, Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and more, and the future of our screen industry. Video / NZ Herald
The Casketeers sat on the shelf for almost a year and there were questions over who might fund anyone winning more than $250,000 in the Kiwi version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
Phil Smith knew that as soon as he met Francis and Kaiora Tipene, he had twomassive talents waiting to be unveiled on the small screen.
But it took almost a year for the founder and owner of Great Southern Television to convince a couple of people at TVNZ that his instincts for the pair - and a new show, to be called The Casketeers - were picture perfect.
While The Spinoff labelled the show an “instant classic” as soon as it aired in 2018, Smith reveals in today’s Media Insider podcast that a promo for the show sat on a shelf, gathering dust for months.
A couple of TVNZ people didn’t want the show to go ahead: “They just thought it was rubbish.”
“We did have our supporters within TVNZ,” says Smith, who adds that the network is a big champion of the show today. “There were just a couple of detractors.”
Francis and Kaiora Tipene. Photo / Michael Rooke
Smith reveals in today’s podcast the desperate tactic he used to get the show to air and the secret of its phenomenal success.
Smith is one of our most influential and important screen producers and media industry advocates - Great Southern Television has more than 70 titles to its name.
Mike Hosking comperes the first edition of the New Zealand version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? in 2008.
Alongside The Casketeers are the likes of comedy series Eating Media Lunch, drama series One Lane Bridge and Friends Like Her, and - back in 2008 - the New Zealand version of game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire? hosted by Mike Hosking.
Smith reveals in today’s podcast that insurance covered anyone winning up to $250,000 on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? After that, it was somewhat of a “grey” area.
Smith has a colourful and highly successful background in media, starting out as a cadet reporter at the NZ Herald before moving to London to work at the Financial Times, and becoming a foreign correspondent in Africa, where he witnessed the horrors of genocide.
He is a writer, a producer, an entrepreneur and a businessman.
Great Southern Television founder Phil Smith.
He thinks and cares deeply about New Zealand’s place in the world and opens up today on the state of the screen industry and the future direction of both it and the country generally.
“I am desperately worried that we are becoming a mute society,” he said last year. “There are no forums for lengthy, valuable debate. It’s dividing us. The Hui and Q+A are our only current affairs shows – politicians are not put under the heat lamp in long interviews often enough – preferring meaningless pre-rehearsed sound bites on TikTok. We need to hear their vision. And challenge it. Internationally, we are being frowned upon – where’s your fourth estate?"
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.
