Douglas Brooks is a writer, director, actor and staunch community film advocate. He wrote and directed the New Zealand Film Commission Fresh Short Kōkako, a bilingual film about a young Māori woman’s search for whānau as she hunts for traces of an extinct bird.
With Maza White he co-directed the bilingual short Maryam, the story of an Iranian Kiwi struggling to bridge two cultures.
He was script supervisor on Gillian Ashurst’s 2021 short The Meek, and assistant director of the award-winning feature Blue Moon, starring Jed Brophy and Mark Hadlow, which was shot entirely on an iPhone. He also worked in transport for Dreamworks’ Light Between Oceans.
He is the director of the 2023 Top of the South Film Festival and co-founder of Top of the South Filmmakers, which began in 2014. He was its vice-president from 2016-18. He has also taught acting and coaches actors both on and off set.
In his acting career he is represented by Gail Cowan Management, with credits including a recurring role in Shortland Street (South Pacific Pictures), The Wilds (Amazon Prime), and Oddly Even (TVNZ). Advertising roles include those for Holden, Lightbox, and The Sweetshop.
Born in Nelson, Douglas is a descendant of Te Āti Haunui a Pāpārangi, Tūwharetoa, and Ngāti Kahungunu, with ancestry in Central Europe and Scotland.
