Mike is a freelance director in Australia and owns Waitemata Films in NZ.

​

He graduated from Victoria University in Wellington New Zealand with a degree in Theatre and Film. He came out thinking he wanted to act but then realised he also liked to eat...

 

Mike started his career as a runner. He worked his way up, eventually moving into a stint as one of New Zealand’s busiest casting directors before taking the leap into directing.

 

Mike's ability as an actor, and his years of experience as a casting director, has given him the perfect background for his career as a performance/comedy focused director. Mike has enjoyed great success as a director of commercials, working on major campaigns for companies like IGA Supermarkets, Oporto, RAC, Nestle, PepsiCo, AA Insurance, NZ Police, Sanitarium, BP, Dominion Breweries, Fisher & Paykel, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Lotteries, Ford, NIB Insurance along with many, many others.

 

He directs stories for various media platforms and is just as at home making long format viral content as he is making a traditional 30 sec TV commercial.

 

Mike loves creating and developing strong characters for storytelling/performance based scripts.

 

He also quite likes it if they’re funny…