Meet: The Coastwatchers - Operation Pacific Production Team

Mihingaarangi Forbes - Producer | @Mihi_Forbes

In mid-2019, Mihingaarangi picked up a Facebook message from Willie Cuthers asking her to take a look at his research about Pacific Island Coastwatchers. Forbes, who is from Waikato and Hauraki and whose ancestors fought against enlisting for WWI following mass confiscations of their lands just decades earlier, had never been interested in the stories of war until now. She knew nothing about the Pacific Island contribution to the war effort and felt motivated to help Willie Cuthers tell the story of his people.

She's proud of the team she has brought together, who have collectively been able to bring the voices of the Pacific alive to have these untold stories finally added to our nation's war history. She said, "History is powerful. Having your voice included in New Zealand's collective historical memory is imperative. No one should feel left out."

Mihingaarangi Forbes is an award-winning journalist and documentary-maker who created the NZ Wars series—Stories of Waitara and Stories of Ruapekapeka. Stories of Ruapekapeka won Best Documentary at the NZTV Awards 2018 and Best Innovation in Digital Storytelling at the Voyager Awards.

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Cameron Bennett – Director

Wit Cameron's passion for New Zealand history and Annabelle's empathy and compassion for people, this was always going to be a winning duo. Both award-winning journalists and producers, the two learned on each others' expertise to produce a compelling and powerful story. With the careful eye of director of photography Arthur Rasmussen, they collectively created a stunning piece of television.

Cameron Bennett is an award-winning journalist, writer, and producer. He field-directed both episodes of NZ Wars and produced the documentaries Echoes of Gallipoli and A Line in the Sand.

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Annabelle Lee-Mather – Director | @huihoppa

Annabelle Lee-Mather is the producer of The Hui, a Māori current-affairs show, and the executive producer of Casketeers, NZ Wars, and Matangireia.

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Willie Cuthers

Willie Cuthers is a police officer who has served for 18 years, first in Counties Manukau and later in the Waikato District. Willie currently studies te reo Māori on Te Tohu Paetahi at the University of Waikato. He became interested in research when he was researching the Pacific as part of his Bachelor's degree. Since then, he has completed a Master's degree and had five academic publications on the topic of the indigenous identity. He hopes to successfully complete Te Tohu Paetahi and in future undertake further studies.

| Twitter: @AotearoaMedia | Mihingaarangi Forbes @Mihi_Forbes | Annabelle Lee-Mather @huihoppa |

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