Visionary, compassionate producer
WHILE making preparations for his own funeral, television executive and producer Michael Andrew Stedman, who died on July 30 aged 74, told a friend: ‘‘I never thought the last production I would be involved with would be my own.’’
The veteran producer was commander of Dunedin's Natural History Unit and head of programme production for TVNZ at the same time.
In 1997 he helped arrange a deal that saw the unit sold to
Fox Television and renamed Natural History New Zealand (NHNZ), while still keeping its main base in New Zealand.
Mr Stedman became its managing director and turned it into one of the world's largest producers of wildlife and factual programming.
Despite being an ‘‘icon of the industry’’, he was a man of humble beginnings and he never sought fame or recognition.
Mr Stedman was born at St George’s Hospital, in Christchurch, on December 20, 1947 — the fourth of Samuel and Geraldine Stedman’s five children.
From his first breaths, he struggled.
His oldest brother Ray Stedman said Michael suffered from asthma and had a dose of whooping cough, which in those days was treated by a highaltitude flight in a small unpressurised plane.
‘‘His asthma was really bad — there were tense times.
‘‘An aunt who had been a nurse experienced in child care spent hours with him at some of the worst of these. Sadly these treatments were unable to help much.’’
Doctors in Christchurch suggested the family move to Dunedin, where the climate might be better for his health.
So towards the end of 1949, the family briefly moved to Corstorphine and then settled in Wakari, where the climate and the environment suited him better.
‘‘The new location allowed Michael — as it did all of us — to push boundaries as we escaped into the wild.
‘‘At age 4, Michael received a little wooden wheelbarrow for Christmas.
‘‘With this barrow, he took up gardening and busied himself helping Fr Loughnan, the parish priest, break in some turf.
‘‘During one of these missions, Fr Loughnan stopped to have a rollyourown. History does not relate how the bottom of Michael’s bubble pipe came to be burned out.’’
Because of his health, Mr Stedman missed a lot of school, which caused angst among his teachers.
It was not helped by his mother, who had an alternative set of priorities which painted a broader picture.
She was a highly educated woman versed in the classics, literature, music, theatre and the arts, and sought to make museums, music, the theatre and galleries part of her children’s experience.
It rubbed off on him, and, as he grew, he became active in the Scouts and theatre — particularly the Globe — and learned ballet and classical guitar.
‘‘It was a pity that the school vocational guidance councillor, in a fit of inexplicable insight, suggested a career in retailing would set him up nicely,’’ Ray said.
‘‘He was quite good at it, and was very helpful to his customers.
‘‘He even pursued a shoplifter along George St, recovered the goods and sat on the miscreant until the constabulary arrived. ‘‘However, he hated it.’’ As strange as it might seem, it was his mother and two brothers who suggested he try to find work in television.
‘‘He got a job at DNTV2, and the rest, as they say, is history.’’
By age 22, he was producing programmes like Spot On, University Challenge and Fair Go.
In 1979, he was appointed executive producer of New Zealand's Natural History Unit.
Step by step, nature filming grew until the team was producing fulllength documentaries, including a landmark trio of films chronicling the rescue of the black robin.
Many of the early documentaries were screened as part of awardwinning series Wild South.
In 1981, he took up a new opportunity as head of television training for the Australian Film and Television School.
When he grew restless, he spent time as head of features at Australian network ABC, created his own production company, and worked as a media consultant for the United
Nations.
In 1987, he was offered an executive position at TVNZ and he agreed to take it, on the condition he was allowed to pick up the Natural History Unit and grow it.
Within six months, he was asked to become programme production director at TVNZ as well.
The Natural History Unit’s shows were winning audiences and awards, but trends in wildlife documentaries were changing.
In late 1997, Fox Television Studios bought the company, which was renamed Natural History New Zealand Ltd, and he was given total freedom over what programmes to make, so long as they made a profit.
Documentaries were made both for the partly Foxowned National Geographic, and competitor Discovery Channel, and NHNZ became one of the world's largest producers of wildlife programming.
During his career, he won numerous industry awards, was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2004 (for services to television) and received an honorary doctorate of laws from the University of Otago.
He retired from NHNZ in 2013.
His successor, Nature Film managing director and former NHNZ managing director Kyle Murdoch said he first met Mr Stedman after joining TVNZ’s Natural History Unit as a library researcher in 1997.
‘‘Michael was always the boss and in charge with a sharp authority that you might expect from chief executives of that era, but I would come to learn that, under that veneer, he was unlike any other CEO I have ever met.
‘‘He was lightning quick and smart.
‘‘The same lightning sharp intellect that could cut people off at the knees also equipped him with one of the smartest production and storytelling intellects around.
‘‘And he put a great team around him — John Crawford, Peter Hayden, Rod Morris, Max Quinn, Marilyn Copeland, Gerry Brown, Robert Brown, Neil Harraway, Ian McGee, Mike Single — all legends and idols for a young producer learning my craft.’’
Others described him as compassionate with a great sense of humour, a visionary, a trendsetter, a hard but fair boss, a teacher, a person who could connect with people across all cultures, and someone who put a high priority on looking out for those who worked alongside him.
Most of all, he was modest.
His natural instinct was to always praise the work done by others.
Mr Murdoch said his language skills and his nuanced understanding of people and culture allowed him to make an impressive set of relationships and lasting friendships — particularly while making documentaries in Asia.
‘‘Michael conducted meetings with both the Chinese and Japanese like a maestro.
‘‘He understood the cadence of a meeting like noone else.’’
He said the most memorable meetings he witnessed was during a set of coproduction talks between NHNZ Ltd, CCTV of China, and NHK of Japan in 2012.
‘‘We found ourselves in Beijing during a particularly heated time of antiJapanese sentiment in Beijing.
‘‘Protesters were setting fire to Japanese cars, and our colleagues from NHK were feeling more than a little uncomfortable.
‘‘During the meeting which was hosted by CCTV, Michael understood the need for him to take charge, considering the riots were just blocks away from our office.
‘‘This innate understanding of culture and the way he was regarded by both parties helped them to avoid losing face — and behind closed doors, the international politics that were dominating the news cycle did not affect the outcome of our meetings.’’
Arguably noone has done more to help the international community to betterunderstand China than Mr Stedman has.
It was his vision, passion and dedication that changed the views, and even the lives, of so many people.
Chinese Ambassador to New Zealand Chen Mingming said Mr Stedman was always open and warmhearted, and his enduring sense of humour was contagious.
‘‘Together we added to the vitality of ChinaNew Zealand cultural ties.’’
Despite his busy work life, he did a remarkable job of leaving his work at the door when he came home each day.
He was unwaveringly supportive of his sons Tristan and Tio.
Tristan said his father used whatever means available to support their interests.
‘‘Nearly all of our summer holidays growing up were spent in wild places around the South Island — Fiordland in particular — exploring by boat, foot, and tent.
‘‘Many of our current interests are the development of seeds that dad planted: outdoor exploration, music, travel, photography, boating and sailing.’’
Mr Stedman had a strong practical side.
At home, he spent a lot of time in his workshop and, through a combination of perseverance and careful thinking, was able to realise almost whatever he put his mind to.
‘‘Perseverance has been a red thread through the whole of his life.
‘‘It was clearly evident in his working life, and remained so until the absolute end where, despite his poor health, he managed to retain completely independent living, and remained supportive and engaged with his friends and family.’’
Mr Stedman died in Dunedin, aged 74.
His wife Peggy predeceased him and he is survived by sons Tio and Tristan, and grandchildren Matilda and Oskar.
LOUISE Fletcher was a lateblooming star whose riveting performance as the cruel and calculating Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest set a new standard for screen villains and won her an Academy Award.
Fletcher died in her sleep on September 23 aged 88 surrounded by family at her home in Montdurausse, France, her agent, David Shaul, said.
After putting her career on hold for years to raise her children, Fletcher was in her early 40s and little known when chosen for the role opposite Jack Nicholson in the 1975 film by director Milos Forman.
At the time, she did not know that many other prominent stars, including Anne Bancroft, Ellen Burstyn and Angela Lansbury, had turned it down.
‘‘I was the last person cast,’’ she recalled in a 2004 interview.
‘‘It wasn’t until we were halfway through shooting that I realised the part had been offered to other actresses who didn’t want to appear so horrible on the screen.’’
The character was so memorable she would become the basis for a Netflix series,
Ratched, 45 years later.
Cuckoo’s Nest went on to become the first film since 1934’s
It Happened One Night to win best picture, best director, best actor, best actress and best screenplay.
Clutching her Oscar at the 1976 ceremony, Fletcher told the audience, ‘‘It looks as though you all hated me.’’
She then addressed her deaf parents in Birmingham,
Alabama, talking and using sign language: ‘‘I want to thank you for teaching me to have a dream. You are seeing my dream come true.’’
She was nominated for Emmys for her guest roles on the TV series Joan Of Arcadia and Picket Fences, and had a recurring role as Bajoran religious leader Kai Winn Adami in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
She played the mother of musical duo The Carpenters in 1989’s The Karen Carpenter Story.
Fletcher married producer Jerry Bick in the early 1960s and gave birth to two sons in quick succession. She decided to put her career on hold to be a stayathome mother and didn’t work for 11 years.
She divorced Bick in 1977 and he died in 2004.
Watching movies as a child convinced Fletcher she wanted to act. She was further inspired, she once said, when she saw the movie Lady In The Dark with Ginger Rogers.
That and other films, Fletcher said, taught her ‘‘Your dream could become real life if you wanted it bad enough’’.
Fletcher is survived by her two sons, John and Andrew Bick. — AP