Michael Bennett (film director)

{{Infobox person

| image =

| name = Michael Bennett

| birth_name = Michael Te Arawa Bennett

| birth_date =

| birth_place = Reefton, New Zealand

| death_date =

| death_place =

| death_cause =

| occupation = Director, writer

| yearsactive = 1994 – present

| spouse =

| website =

}}

Michael Te Arawa Bennett is a New Zealand writer, scenarist, author and director for film and television.{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0071935/|title=Michael Bennett|website=IMDb|access-date=15 December 2019}}

Career

Bennett is the co-creator, writer, show-runner and executive producer of TVNZ{{'s}} Vegas.

He is also the author of In Dark Places, a study of the wrongful conviction of Teina Pora for the 1992 murder of Susan Burdett, which won the 2017 Ngaio Marsh crime writing award.{{Cite web|url=https://thespinoff.co.nz/author/michael-bennett/|title=Michael Bennett|website=Spinoff|access-date=21 April 2021}} His 2022 crime novel, Better the Blood, was shortlisted for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at the 2023 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards{{Cite web |date=2023-03-08 |title=Ockham NZ Book Awards 2023 shortlists announced |url=https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2023/03/08/227905/ockham-nz-book-awards-2023-shortlists-announced/ |access-date=2023-03-11 |publisher=Books+Publishing}} and for the Best Novel at the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Awards.{{Cite web |date=2023-08-10 |title=Ngaio Marsh Awards 2023 shortlists announced |url=https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2023/08/10/235600/ngaio-marsh-awards-2023-shortlists-announced/ |access-date=2023-08-12 |publisher=Books+Publishing}}

Personal life

Bennett is Maori and is of Te Arawa descent. He resides in Auckland with his partner and three children,{{Cite web|url=https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Michael-Bennett/187707798|title=Michael Bennett|website=Simon and Schuster|access-date=24 October 2024}} and is the head of screenwriting at South Seas Film School.{{Cite web|url=https://www.penguin.co.nz/authors/michael-bennett|title=Michael Bennett|website=Penguin Books New Zealand|access-date=24 October 2024}}

Bennett is a cousin of actor Manu Bennett.

Partial filmography

Michelle's Third Novel (1994) (writer, short film){{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0071935/|title=Michael Bennett|website=IMDb|access-date=15 December 2019}}
Street Legal (2000) (writer, TV serial)
Cow (2002) (writer and director, short film)
Kerosene Creek (2004) (writer and director, short film)
The Lost Children (2006) (writer, TV serial)
Maddigan's Quest (2006) (writer, TV serial)
Outrageous Fortune (2005–2007) (writer and director, TV serial)
Matariki (2010) (writer and director, feature film){{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0071935/|title=Michael Bennett|website=IMDb|access-date=15 December 2019}}
In Dark Places (2018) (writer and director, TV film)
Vegas (2021) (writer and producer, TV serial){{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14438294/|title=Michael Bennett|website=IMDb|access-date=19 April 2021}}
The Convert (2023) (writer, film)

Bibliography

In Dark Places (2016, true crime book) - Won the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Non Fiction
Helen and the Go-Go Ninjas (2019, graphic novel illustrated by Ant Sang)
Better the Blood (2022, first in the Hana Westerman series of crime novels) - Won the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel, and also nominated for Best Crime Novel
Return to Blood (2024, second Hana Westerman novel)
Carved in Blood (TBA, third Hana Westerman novel){{Cite web|url=https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Carved-in-Blood/Michael-Bennett/9781398536807|title=Carved in Blood|website=Simon and Schuster|access-date=24 October 2024}}

References

External links

{{IMDb name|0071935}}
[http://www.nzonscreen.com/person/michael-bennett Michael Bennett - NZ on Screen]

Category:New Zealand crime fiction writers

Category:New Zealand film directors

Category:New Zealand writers

Category:Living people

Category:People from Reefton

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)