Former TV boss shares top advice
Victoria Spackman has some strong theories about meetings.
FORMER Gibson Group chief executive Victoria Spackman has spent more than 15 years working in film and television and has been involved in theatre her whole life.
In 2016 she was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to film, theatre and television. We’ve recently opened the doors of Te Auaha New Zealand Institute of Creativity in Wellington and I’m loving how our students and staff seem to be loving it.
We’ve got dancers and barbers and journalists and writers and musicians and filmmakers and more all hanging out in the same building, learning and creating. There’s an incredible buzz around the place.
We have a mid-year intake of some courses, so there will be still more people to join us throughout the year. Fabulous friends, amazing food and high-quality stories (not always true stories). If it’s not too cheesy, I’d say my partner Stuart Coats.
He’s been a professional singer and performer for 20plus years now. It’s a hard road and his creativity, perseverance and professionalism inspire me every day.
He’s taken nothing for granted and he gives everything to his work. Recently I fell over on The Terrace in Wellington on a deceptively flat piece of footpath. That was pretty embarrassing. Do cats count? It’s probably more accurate to say that I am their possession.
My cats make me very happy. They hang out when I need them and they are always there for a snuggle and a purr.
They are quite chatty too, which is fun. In terms of taking a leap of faith, buying the Gibson Group with a couple of my colleagues was a big step into the unknown.
We’ve done really well with it and I’m super proud of all the great work the fantastic people there do, around the world in the screen and exhibition sectors – they really are genius storytellers. I’m full of life lessons. There is always someone who believes in you, even when you don’t. Especially when you don’t (it’s probably me.)
This one is for when they’re a bit older: Never go to a meeting that can start without you. Most importantly: The only thing you can change is yourself. I’d be a fulltime theatre director. It’s the best job in the world.