Jason Gunn knows the power of connection. He’s built an entire career out of it. Since being a constant presence in Kiwi kids’ lives as a children’s television presenter in the 1990s, he still remains one of New Zealand’s most recognisable celebrities. But Jason, 53, insists anyone can live the extraordinary life he has, so long as they learn how to connect.
“I was a very ordinary child growing up,” says Jason. “There was nothing extraordinary about me and yet I’ve lived this amazing life. I still can’t believe the people I’ve met and things I’ve got to do. People come up to me and remember me from their childhood and I’m so humbled by that.”
Now he’s co-written a children’s book with his brother, writer Andrew Gunn, which draws from Jason’s own remarkable journey through life.
The titular character, Jason Mason, is an average kid who must deal with the realities of school – including the school bully. But when he’s invited to take over from his great-uncle Bill as a secret agent, his life transforms into a non-stop hilarious adventure. The similarities don’t stop there, tells Jason.
“Jason Mason, much like Jason Gunn, is always going off on all sorts of tangents,” he laughs. “I have big questions about little things. I’ve always been like that. Jason Mason is the same. He’ll stop in the middle of whatever he’s doing, and wonder aloud why flammable and inflammable mean the same thing.”
Jason and Andrew can see their character being in the movies!
Luckily, Jason has always had the grounding force of his brother to keep him on track. Otherwise, he says, the story wouldn’t have made it into the shops.
“Andy’s always had the answers for me,” he explains. “His knowledge is immense. He’s always able to explain everything in a way that never makes you feel less than.”
It’s this connection to his older brother which allowed him to translate ideas from his head to the page.
“When writing this together, we’d meet up and I’d go off on some random tangent, then he’d go away and come back and go, ‘Do you kinda mean this?’ and I’d go, ‘Yeah, I do, that’s exactly what I mean!’ We have a very similar sense of humour, being brothers, you know?”
The two have often worked together, ever since Jason starred in children’s TV show What Now, where Andrew, 57, worked as a writer. That led to The Son of a Gunn Show, The Rich List and many more. Fast-forward to today and the brothers now co-own production company Whitebait Media, and Andrew occasionally helps out in Jason’s communications company, Easily Said, which focuses on helping people to connect with their staff and clients.
Jason says connection was always the aim when the two of them decided to write the book. It’s something he learned all those years ago in children’s television.
Meeting their hero: Kids’ favourite Jason presenting What Now alongside some young talent.
“Back then, I loved the power of connecting people through a lens and making kids feel like you were only ever talking to one person, making them feel important and reminding them how awesome they are,” he shares. “I wanted to be that thing that was consistent because, for a lot of kids, there wasn’t a lot of consistency. There weren’t great things going on at home.”
Jason Mason and the World’s Most Powerful Itching Powder is the first of three books in a series that the brothers are writing together, and the plan is to use their production company to eventually turn Jason Mason into a movie or television series, to reach a wider audience.
Reaching out to anyone is something we seem to be losing in the days of smartphones and other devices, he says.
“When we connect, I think the world’s a better place,” he asserts. “Right now, there’s never been more people talking at us and less people connecting with us. But if you’re not connecting with people, especially kids, you’re completely wasting everybody’s time.”
For Jason, nothing has really changed since his days in children’s television, even as his audience has grown bigger.
“In my speaking now, I say to clients, ‘Somewhere, someone wants to hear what you’ve got to say.’ It’s the same with this book. Of course, I’d love it to sell millions of copies, but if one adult reads it with their child and they have a laugh together, job done. It’s the greatest book I’ve ever written. It doesn’t get any better than that, right?”
