Staff & Board

Tash Christie

President

Tash is the Head of Factual and EP across Greenstone’s diverse documentary and entertainment production slate. With over 25 years screen experience under her belt, Tash has pretty much helmed it all – feature docos, premium factual, kids’ content and some of our favourite reality series. The Women of Pike River, Origins, NZ Opera’s Semele, K-Pop Academy, Border Patrol, Artefact and Go South, New Zealand’s first SlowTV event, are a small snapshot of the content Tash has championed. Telling Aotearoa’s stories lies at the heart of all her work and she is an advocate of collaboration across the industry. Tash has strong relationships with both local and international platforms and funders. Her ssuperpower is maintaining a sense of humour, even in the toughest of circumstances.

Vanessa Wells

Co-Vice President

Vanessa Wells is a filmmaker and theatre practitioner who has worked in the arts industry for over 20 years.  Her current feature documentary in post-production is about three remarkable women and their scientific work in Antarctica.  

Vanessa has travelled to the Ice three times and this has led to a significant body of work, including an educational children’s play, content for Sesame Street, and the short documentary Te Whakairo - which premiered at Show Me Shorts Festival 2019 before touring festivals worldwide.

Vanessa's debut feature, the documentary film East to East, about teenagers completing the Coast to Coast multi-sport event, premiered at NZIFF 2018. 

With her production company Elanti Media, Vanessa has created a further 8 short films for Sesame Street, amongst work for other clients, including co-directing award-winning interactive work Give Kate A Voice with Vendetta Productions and Vanishing Point Studio.

Vanessa joined WIFT in 2007 and has been on the board since 2015.

Anchali Anandanayagam

Board Member

Anchali is a partner at Hudson Gavin Martin, a corporate and commercial law firm that specialises in media, technology, telecommunications and intellectual property (IP). Over the last 20 years Anchali has advised a range of media clients, including high profile studios, established media companies and production houses, VFX and post-production companies, and independent producers, directors and writers. Anchali’s work includes advising on content production and licensing, IP commercialisation, digital media, subscription video on demand or other ‘Over the Top’ services, supply and services arrangements, and corporate structuring. Anchali is particularly passionate about the intersection between technology and the screen, and the role that technology can play in diversifying the screen sector. Anchali is also a keen advocate of purpose driven organisations.

Samantha Jukes

Board Member

Samantha is a Post-Production Executive Producer/Senior Producer who works across film, television and advertising. She has previously co-run Envy Studios, where she created their video post department, and produced at Images & Sound. 

She is currently on hiatus from producing while spending time with her young children. Samantha continues her work as a voice artist, and occasional actor and presenter.

Since 2012 Samantha has been a contributing WIFT NZ member, having created, hosted and moderated many WIFT NZ events.

Samantha brings steerage skills and experience from her time as Chairperson of Bowel Cancer New Zealand. She considers BCNZ’s most significant achievement during her tenure to be gaining government commitment to roll out a national bowel cancer screening programme.

Sophie Cherry

Board Member

With over 16 years in the film industry, in both live action production and VFX, Sophie is currently a VFX Producer at Wētā FX working with clients such as Disney, Netflix, and Warner Brothers. Liaising with top filmmakers, Sophie is responsible for creating and managing multi-million dollar budgets for films such as Lady and The Tramp and The Batman.

Sophie started her VFX career on the TV show, Spartacus. After working at Wētā Digital, Sophie moved to Vancouver, Canada. There, she worked on various projects including, The Walking Dead, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Thor: Ragnarok, and Antman and the Wasp.

Sophie is experienced in on-set production and as an Assistant Director. She has produced several short films which screened at Claremont Ferrand Film Fest (Experimental Section), Vladivostok, and NZIFF.

Sophie has been a longstanding WIFT member after being awarded the Robin Laing WIFT NZ Scholarship in 2007. Grateful for the opportunities that her WIFT membership provides, Sophie would like to provide the same service to up-and-coming women in the industry.

Sharon Menzies

Chair, Producers Professional Programme

Sharon Menzies (Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki) Chair, Producers Professional Programme 

Sharon Menzies' governance experience spans over 15 years and includes chair roles, board positions and advisory positions at national level in both New Zealand and Australia.  

Most notably, Sharon was the Co-President of New Zealand Screen Production and Development Association (SPADA) for close to five years where one of her key achievements included proactive discussions with NZFC around the New Zealand Screen Production Grant (NZSPG) criteria, film policy and development funding.  

Sharon is also well-known in the film and television industry for her time as Managing Director of Fulcrum Media Finance, the market leading cashflow financier in Australia and New Zealand, having provided cashflow finance to over 450 film and television projects since its inception. 

In 2020, Sharon was awarded the WIFT Imagezone Entrepreneurship Award and in 2016 Fulcrum was awarded the Services and Facilities Business of the Year by Screen Producers Australia. 

Recently, Sharon has become a member of the Institute of Directors and has completed their Company Director’s Course. Sharon’s extensive experience during her time as the Managing Director of Fulcrum Media Finance has allowed her to establish a balanced and fair approach to governance with an emphasis on stakeholder outcomes through performance of people and processes. Understanding key stakeholder motivations in a business environment has positively influenced Sharon’s governance leadership style to focus on inclusivity and accountability. 

Currently, Sharon is Chair of Film Bay of Plenty which is focused on growing the film and television industry within the region.