JOHN KIRWAN

John Kirwan is regarded as one of the greatest All Black wingers of all time – for the best part of a decade he made the black No. 14 jersey his own. He played 96 games for New Zealand between 1984 and 1994, winning a World Cup in 1987. John Kirwan coached the national Rugby team of Italy between 2002 – 2005. In 2007, John Kirwan became Head Coach of the national Japanese Rugby team.

Kirwan has openly spoken of his battle with depression, and is actively involved in mental health and depression awareness campaigns in New Zealand. For his services to these causes, Kirwan was appointed as a Member of the Order of British Empire in 2007.

Dan Carter on John Kirwan

Ever since I could walk, it seemed that rugby was a huge part of my life. I grew up loving the All Blacks, wanting to be one and following everything about them.

I was only 4, but can still recall watching the first World Cup and being pulled along by all the hype of the occasion as the All Blacks secured the greatest prize in their rich rugby history.

Along with the rest of the nation, I was dragged in by the whole tournament, and top of my favourites was John Kirwan.

That try he scored in the opening game against Italy was breathtaking and it just seemed right he should score another in the final to kill off the French. There was no argument. JK was my special hero – I wanted to play like him and score tries like he did. I followed his career through to its conclusion with the All Blacks. Whenever I played, I tried to impersonate JK. He just stood out.

Later on I marvelled at the exploits of others like Andrew Mehrtens and Graeme Bachop, but even when JK switched his allegiance to rugby league late in his career, I continued to follow his progress.

I was lucky enough to meet him in the early stages of my All Black career. We became good friends and I have stayed with him and his delightful family in Italy.

It was reassuring to discover that my hero on the field was equally special off the field. Too often people find out their idols are very different in real life, but JK was very down-to-earth, a very genuine, caring sort of bloke. He makes time for people and he was very helpful to me, talking about his experiences and discussing how to handle being in the limelight.

The first time I met him, he had come down to my shop in Christchurch to do an interview for television. We did the job and he stayed around afterwards to chat, and we found we were on a similar wavelength. He gave me his details and suggested we get together again in the future.

JK was the marquee player of his era. He revolutionised wing play with his power and speed. His deeds were just magnetic at that first World Cup and beyond. I did not necessarily want to play on the wing, but I did want to play like him. He wanted the ball, he was always about scoring tries with his mix of strength, sidesteps, fends and pace.

During his career JK also managed to indulge his love of surfing and has even managed to persuade me of the benefits.

I started to learn and was looking forward to getting away to some spots like Biarritz a few times during my time in Europe, until I got injured.

While JK was a marvellous All Black, he has also shown me how to keep a good balance in my life, the importance of keeping my mind occupied with a variety of things away from rugby. He is a busy coach, but he values his family networks in Italy and New Zealand. He also eases the clutter when he goes surfing. I would suffocate if I was breathing rugby 24/7. You have to keep things fresh to deliver your best work.

- Excerpt from My Sports Hero, by Wynne Gray, Published by Trio Books

JULIAN SHAW

Julian Shaw is the acclaimed young director of the feature doco Darling! The Pieter-Dirk Uys Story, which won him a British Film Institute Award and IF Independent Spirit Award. Darling!, which Shaw commenced production on at the age of sixteen, was released theatrically in South Africa and won a Panorama Audience Award at the Berlin International Film Festival, as voted by 20,000 cinema-goers.

Shaw authored the groundbreaking photo novel Modern Odysseus.

Shaw wrote and directed the dramatic short Clearing the Air, starring AFI Winner Marcus Graham and AFI Nominee Rhys Wakefield. For this work he won the prestigious Best Young Australian Filmmaker of the Year Award, 2010 – bestowed by the BBIFF and Sydney International Film School. Shaw also stars as All Black legend John Kirwan in the biographical drama All Blacks Don’t Cry.

He is currently completing the feature documentary Cup of Dreams in association with Screen Australia. Four-years-in-the-making, the film is a highly personal and emotionally charged account of New Zealand’s national team The All Blacks in the build-up to the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Shaw has been a professional film journalist since the age of 15, winning a 2002 Australian Film Institute Award for his work.

As a journalist he has interviewed some of the most famous, and infamous, names in showbiz including Jim Jarmusch, Richard Kelly, Anne Hathaway, Christina Ricci, Britney Spears, David Duchovney, Hugh Jackman, Eric Bana, Zac Efron, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, John Cena and David Cronenberg.

Visit: www.julianshaw.com.au

JONATHON GREEN – EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Jonathon’s wide ranging business interests currently include; artist management as Managing Director of EM Voices Pty Limited, retail property investments and management of his company Green Light Productions Pty Limited which has a long history in film and television production.

A film graduate of The University of NSW, The University of California, Los Angeles and the Australian Film Television and Radio School, Jonathon worked on dozens of films and television productions, including a three year stint producing Qantas Inflight Entertainment. Aside from projects with Julian Shaw, Jonathon’s producing credits include; the feature film Angst, the documentaries Family Business and Kosky in Paradise and a host of commercials, shorts and other filmed entertainment. Projects produced by Jonathon have won awards at events including; The Berlin Film Festival, IF Awards, Cork, British Film Institute, DocNZ, Tropfest and have been selected for dozens more. Jonathon is a recipient of an Australian Film Commission Fellowship Award. He also worked in the management of Tropfest from 1995 to 1997.

Jonathon has collaborated with Julian Shaw on most of his projects including producing the documentaries Darling! The Pieter-Dirk Uys Story and Cup of Dreams, as well as Julian’s short film Clearing the Air.

Jonathon is currently producing the upcoming feature film, Redd Inc.