Janine Morrell-Gunn (Ngāti Kahungunu) has worked in television for more than four decades. One of Aotearoa’s most accomplished producers, she tells the Weekly that “producing isn’t just what I do, it’s who I am”. Born and raised in Christchurch, Janine’s career began in 1985 when she joined TVNZ as a trainee, working on everything from Foreign Correspondent to Spot On. She’s been deployed around the country, including seven years as executive producer of TVNZ’s Children’s Unit. For the past 21 years, Janine and husband Jason Gunn have produced What Now? under their production company Whitebait Media.
I’m a proud working-class girl from the sixties and I remember when the first television arrived in our street. It was wheeled out of a truck and all the kids crowded around, our noses to the window of the house it went into. My family didn’t get our first TV until 1974 when Christchurch held the Commonwealth Games. Colour TV was new and it was beautiful.
I wanted to be either a missionary or a current affairs producer.
Being a missionary started when my sister and I were made to go to Sunday School. And even though we were christened Anglican, we went to the Presbyterian church because it was closest. Every Sunday, Dad would call from the bedroom. ‘Put in a good word for your father,’ then my sister and I would trot off, and I loved it. My first production was for Jesus. I called it The Joy Club and every week I’d fit eight kids into my bedroom, where I’d teach them stories from the Bible.
At Hornby High, my love of a cause saw me fall naturally into producing.
In 1979, I organised a petition for girls to be able to wear culottes so we could ride our bikes to school without everything riding up. Mum made the first pattern and sewed the prototype, which was rolled out.
At my school, boys typically went to the freezing works or the steel plant and the best job for a girl was being a bank teller.
They say one person can make a difference and for me, that was my Mum. Who said I should go to university, which changed the course of my life forever. This is why I’ve always tried to use my position as a children’s television producer to make a positive difference to the lives of the tamariki who cross our paths, especially kids from lower socio- economic backgrounds. Because I can say, hand on heart, most of my schoolmates who left school at 15 and ended up at Tegel’s were a lot smarter than me.
At Canterbury, I studied politics and sociology. I was heavily involved in student politics.
There was no bandwagon too big or too small and I became president of the Student Union. I was especially proud of being able to keep photocopying at four cents a page and establish a preschool for under-twos on campus.
My first TV appearance was on the six o’clock news during the Springbok tour.
We were chased by the Red Squad, then arrested for sitting on and obstructing a carriageway on Colombo St. I was filmed being put into a police van and I used my one phone call to tell the Hornby Trust I’d be late for work. Luckily, Mum saw me on the news so she also knew where I was.
I worked at the Hornby Trust throughout my time at university.
I started as a cleaner, then became a housemaid, kitchen hand, waitress and eventually I worked in the house bar. Everyone stayed at The Hornby, from Les Girls to Miss New Zealand, Ranfurly Shield teams, poets and entertainers. Some guys could get a little tricky. For the difficult ones, I would suggest they had a flaming Sambuca, which could set their beard on fire! I would then pour an ice bucket over their head, for which they were eternally grateful.
One of my first trips on a plane was to Auckland.
I was still at university and because I wanted to be a current affairs producer. I walked off the street into TVNZ and a man called Rod Cornelius gave me 15 minutes of his time. He told me to finish my degree and for the next four years, I sent Rod a card every Christmas.
After graduation, I applied to be a trainee at TVNZ.
I was flown to Wellington for the interview and who should be on the panel but Rod. They asked about the lead story in the paper that morning. I was from Hornby, we couldn’t afford to have the newspaper delivered, but luckily for me, there were newspapers on the plane. They also asked if I would direct Miss New Zealand. I was able to say the BBC no longer found those programmes appropriate and weren’t making them. Finally, they wanted to know if I intended to work when I was married. It was the 1980s! I was called the wild card, offered the job and believe Rod and my Christmas cards played a part.
And so began a fabulous 40 years in the business.
From training on Eye Witness News, Foreign Correspondent and Viewfinder, to creating my first children’s show Life in the Fridge Exists and The Son of a Gunn Show. Bumble was the first show Jason and I made as Whitebait Media. We’ve gone on to produce more than 7000 hours of kids’ content, and be a springboard for hundreds of talented presenters and crew.
I love all the shows we have made.
You certainly don’t like to have favourites, but if I was, it would have to be What Now. The show is 45 years young next year and giving a voice to NZ kids, showcasing their talents and bringing joy – and gunge has been at the heart of it all! We’ve tried everything from teleops on rollerskates and Fill Ya Pants, to spiders and eels in the House of Pain, from Spinning Teachers to having live chickens laying eggs at the breakfast bar. Jase and I brought our own chickens in with our kids at 5am every Sunday morning for a while. It was controlled chaos.
I got serious about exercise in my forties after I fell asleep at a traffic light.
Louis was a baby in the back seat and that gave me a huge fright. Back then, we had four children, Whitebait was keeping us busy and I was so tired, when someone recommended a trainer. Everyone called her ‘Mean Jean’ and she’d come to the office and pull me outside, but I could barely run, so it was more of a shuffle. For a year, I didn’t have her number, so I couldn’t cancel, and she’d turn up and the team would say, ‘Janine, your lady’s here!’ I was always running late but Jean just sat there and said, ‘That’s okay, you’re paying for it.’ That really annoyed me, so I got into it and got more energy for the kids. Exercise became a part of my everyday life. I don’t have Jean now, but I do have my horse Joe.
Jase and I were together for 10 years before we got married at our home in Tai Tapu on New Year’s Eve.
It was bigger than Ben Hur and the most beautiful thing to have the children with us [Eve, 35, Grace 30, Faith, 26, and Louis 22]. This coming December 31, we’ll have been married 20 years and together for 30. We’re on 10 acres [four hectares]. Dad lived in the cabin till he passed and his tangi was here. Both girls had their weddings here and we’ve had many milestones from 18ths to 80ths. There’s been a lot of red wine spilled on the carpet, which has added to its soul. Our home is our sanctuary. The kids come and go. Our youngest is flatting and now we have two gorgeous grandkids [Gigi, four, and Milo, 20 months] over several times a week, which is just the best.
What Now is getting out round the country more with Gunge on the Road, showcasing our small towns and communities, as well as the TV show being on YouTube.
I’m still as passionate as ever about making local content for our kids and being on the platforms they like to watch their content. They love all the same things but view them differently. We must keep the windows for shows like What Now to build confidence, and bring laughter and lightness to our next generation. This is a legacy I in my own very small way would like to leave.”
