Biography

I have been around the film for as long as I can remember. As a child, I grew up amongst the creative chaos of Blerta. My father Geoff Murphy and uncle Bruno Lawrence became key role models that guided my future in film. What began with helping out, turned into working professionally on films like Goodbye Pork Pie (1980), Carry Me Back (1982), and Utu (1983). In the late 80's I was establishing myself as a key grip for feature films and television, later working on projects such as The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and King Kong (2005) in the early 2000s.

Moving into a director role, in 2000 I wrote and directed the short film SOX. I then had the opportunity to direct on a Cloud 9 children's TV drama The Tribe (1999), which led to a four-year stint directing the reality series Sensing Murder (2004) - a show with one of the highest ratings in New Zealand at the time.

In 2007 I dove head-first into directing and producing my first feature film Second Hand Wedding (2008). My two fellow producers and I raised 200k privately, and with the support of an experienced and enthusiastic cast and crew, we created a NZ Box Office hit. Second-Hand Wedding brought in almost $2 million and played in cinemas for 17 weeks. Securing the 7th spot in NZ Box Office records, it was also invited to numerous festivals and competitions, including Shanghai International Film Festival and Heartland Film Festival. We also picked up Best Female in a Leading Role and Best Female in a Supporting Role at the 2008 Qantas NZ Film and Television Awards.

I quickly followed up my debut film with the romantic comedy Love Birds (2011). Filmed in 2010 and released in 2011, starring Rhys Darby and Sally Hawkins. It was well received and although ticket sales were compromised by a national disaster at the time, it still became the 3rd highest grossing NZ film that year. It went on to have a successful festival run winning the Best Director of a Foreign Film Audience award at the prestigious Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Festival in China.

Over the years I have been involved in developing many projects ranging from horror, drama, thriller, to comedy. My latest film project Lowdown Dirty Criminals (2020) was an action comedy that follows Freddy, a naive young man who believes the way to a better life is through crime. A series of calamitous events propel him and his long-term buddy Marvin from one hair-raising moment to another. It has delved into a film genre that NZ has seldom dipped its toes into.

In recent times I have been lured back to my Gripping roots, specializing as a Dolly Grip, which is a role I love as I get to collaborate in the storytelling process through the movement of the camera.
- IMDb mini biography by: Paul Murphy