Small screen queen

By KAREN TAY - Sunday Star Times

FOR SOMEONE with a reputation of eating people for breakfast, Julie Christie looks surprisingly affable.

But the steeliness that saw her dubbed a "control freak" in a 2006 Metro magazine story comes to the fore barely 30 seconds into her interview with the Sunday Star-Times.

"Do you know much about me?" she quizzes, pleasantly, but in a tone that brooks no arguments.

It's mid-morning at Eyeworks Touchdown headquarters in Auckland and Christie is conducting the interview from behind a desk cluttered high with files, stacks of papers, a Blackberry and computer. Next to the table is a whiteboard scribbled with upcoming project deadlines.

She's an intimidating figure – she looks you in the eye, her handshake is firm and you learn quickly that she has a knack for cutting to the chase.

A few weeks ago, a rumour circulated that Christie had a younger lover. She had made a speech at a lunch for the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Award (she was the inaugural winner last year), and mentioned Madame Clicquot's taste for champagne and younger men, which was reported in the Sunday Star-Times' About Town column. Christie has obviously decided to make a pre-emptive strike.

"What they said in the Star-Times was incorrect by the way," she says. "I talked about Madame Clicquot, the widow Clicquot, and I made a joke about younger men – because she always had younger cellar boys and left a fortune to them when she died. And I said, `well, who wouldn't, you know'. Next thing you know, my own mother rings me up and I said `no, mum, I didn't actually say that. I made a joke'."

Much has been written about 47-year-old Christie over the years – how she went to journalism school in Wellington in 1979, graduating the day of the Erebus air disaster. How she started her career as a sports subeditor and helped design the pages of the very first Sunday Star in the 1980s. How she eventually moved into TV, working for production company Communicado in the early 1990s.

Christie left to form her own company, Touchdown, and in 2006 sold it for a rumoured $40 million to Dutch group Eyeworks. Instead of running off to buy a small Caribbean island with her pot of gold, she remained CEO.

A journalist who had previously interviewed her put it this way: "She loves television in a way that few people ever can." Even after 21 years in the business, Christie still watches every new show, local or international, that comes out on TV. Her favourite programmes are Judge John Deed, a British legal drama, and NCIS, a US police drama, but when pottering around home on weekends, she has Food TV (the Sky channel that she owns) on in the background.

She vets every show Touchdown buys, and tests the rough cuts of new reality series such as the recent TV2 hit NZ Smashes Guinness World Records on her two children – aged 15 and 13 – to test the younger market. Will her kids follow in her footsteps? She laughs. "None of them want to work in television. Yay! My son wants to be a medical doctor, but in research, and my daughter wants to be an architect. But they're young, we'll see."

At work, her gut churns every morning when the viewer ratings come in. "TV is really hard to make, and it's damned hard to make if no one's watching it. We're judged at 9.30 every morning... If nobody's watching it, it's over. It's instant, like a guillotine."

CHRISTIE WAS invited to be part of two high-profile boards this year: the 2011 Rugby World Cup and the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. One of her passions, she says, is "economic development". But despite the industry accolades, she's still defensive about the type of shows she makes.

"The word `real' is very fuzzy in our business and unscripted television tells you an enormous amount about ourselves culturally. Because it presents us, flaws and all. To me, it's completely reflective of our identity as New Zealanders. It tells them in an unsanitised way, more so than drama and often more than film.

"In this country, there's a little bit of snobbery in film and TV and we don't give the [reality] genre the credit it really deserves. Without a show like Survivor, there wouldn't be a drama series like Lost. There's plenty of drama that's derivative of reality now ... the understanding of how people react under pressure has come out of unscripted TV."

So where does Christie think the NZ television industry is going now?

"The most successful new companies are the ones that start out with an international mindset. I've heard this referred to as the `good recession', because it cleans things out. There were probably too many little production companies in this country and it has led to a degree of survival of the fittest, and that's a good thing. We have to learn that it's OK to work for other people ... format TV is where NZ can really kick butt in the international stage but as an industry, we don't think about that sort of thing when we're developing. We think about it later, when we accidentally have a hit. We need to widen what we think our cultural identity is – and when we're developing shows, think of their international potential."

AS THE fifth of seven children, Christie comes from a family of over-achievers. Her younger sister, Therese Gibbens, who lives in Greymouth, is a mother of four and co-owns Revingtons Hotel. She's also a member of the Catholic Schools Board of Trustees, chairs the Greymouth Area Committee of St John, manages the West Coast Cricket and Basketball Associations and is an outspoken member of the Coast Action Network, which opposed the-then Labour government's plans to ban logging on the West Coast.

Christie's brother Leo Molloy is a restaurateur and racing enthusiast who co-founded Auckland's Euro restaurant, Danny Doolan's and the Fat Lady's Arms pub franchise before declaring bankruptcy in 2003. He now owns Auckland bar Cowboy Pizza Kitchen. Another brother, Mike, is her business affairs director and co-owns Sky TV's The Living Channel.

It's an indication of Christie's influence that few would go on record about her without permission.

Marc Ellis, whom she's worked with on several shows since 1996, describes her as determined and focused.

"She's not particularly politically correct and calls a spade a spade. She's a bit of a hard stick, but you know where you stand ... it depends on your personality, she can come across as being a bit abrasive if you're not prepared to deal with someone who's a straight shooter, but I don't have any problems dealing with her."

Metro magazine editor Bevan Rapson went to journalism school with Christie 30 years ago and recalls her as "pretty feisty ... fun, obviously clever and willing to speak her mind".

Rapson wrote the 2006 Metro profile on her – which Christie admits she likes – and in it, described the then 17-year-old from Greymouth as a "diminutive but combative young woman with black curly hair". Today, clad in a smart blazer, boots and with glossy golden tresses, she couldn't look any more different.

But Christie has her detractors too. Charlotte Dawson, who worked with her on shows such as Celebrity Treasure Island and The Player, paints a picture of a volatile person, the "fat cat in the office with her cowboy boots". The two fell out when Dawson called Charlotte's Lists, produced by Touchdown for Prime in 2007, "diabolical crap" on a blog, and publicly claimed she only did it because she was under contract.

Christie fired off an angry email and the two parted on bad terms. Dawson, speaking to the Star-Times from Australia where she now works for Foxtel, has not forgotten the rift.

"I don't think a lot of people like talking about Julie because she's a bully and she terrifies people. Because the NZ television market is so completely tiny, there's only a couple of production companies and people think if they fall foul of Julie, she'll destroy their careers, and she's definitely threatened to do that to me," she claims.

Is this a fair assessment?

Andrew Backwell, director of production and programming for Channel Nine in Australia, dubs Christie "the best in the business" and speaks of her solid reputation across the Tasman.

"When you've had someone produce the number of hits that she has, it's our job to know who she is. There are very few NZ producers who would even have a profile here and she's the number one producer in NZ. Her X-factor is that she understands audiences, she understands production and she's got that creative spark."

Backwell says he finds Christie a pleasure to deal with, but "there's no doubt she's fiery".

"I do understand there's been a fair bit of staff turnover at Touchdown, but I think she pushes her staff as hard as you need to if you're going to be successful in business. Creative people always have a bit of an edge to them and she's done well because she hasn't taken a step back. If you're going to be timid, you're never gonna cut through."

IN AN industry where 60-hour weeks are normal, Christie admits she puts in a lot more. But she also accepts, begrudgingly, that times are changing. "We're facing a generation that isn't going to be prepared to work the hours that we work. I even notice it in my employees. People won't do night shifts, won't work weekends, it's not what it used to be. I wouldn't expect anyone to do that over a long period of time but certainly when I started in TV, I thought it was normal."

Christie's next project brings out her girly side, as she enthusiastically describes New Zealand's Hottest Home Baker, a co-production between TV3 and Food TV. "Our offices are just loaded with cakes, scones and lamingtons. The reason we love it is because baking is such a quintessentially Kiwi thing. People bake overseas, but they don't bake like we do and there's going to be a real NZ humour about it."

So has Christie done everything she set out to achieve? Is an early retirement in the cards?

"I've had a career where I've been enormously criticised, and you think what an easy life it would be just to make documentaries. It wouldn't have mattered if they were any good, but it's a lot easier genre. But then you think, well, in the end, I've developed a sustainable business that I'm proud of. As long as I still feel emotionally attached to the industry, then it's a good thing for me to still keep doing it. Will I be doing it when I'm 60? Absolutely not. I'll be living in my bach down in the West Coast of the South Island, where there's no cellphone reception."

VEUVE CLICQUOT AWARD: THE SEARCH FOR THAT SPECIAL SOMEONE

Julie Christie was the first winner of New Zealand's Veuve Clicquot Business Woman Award, in 2008. The award, launched in France in 1972, embodies the values of Veuve Clicquot and its pioneering entrepreneur, the indomitable Madame Clicquot.

The Sunday Star-Times is proud to support the award, and now the search is on for the 2010 winner – a successful and inspirational business woman from any field. This year's judges include Catherine Savage, managing director of AMP Capital Investors, Rosanne Meo, chairwoman of Briscoe Group Ltd, AMP New Zealand and deputy chair of Baycorp Advantage, Sally Synott, the founder of Pumpkin Patch, Sarah Kennedy, former managing director of Healtheries New Zealand, and Richard Yeomans, general manager of Moet Hennessy NZ.

So what qualities are the judges looking for? Synott, who started Pumpkin Patch at age 25, says she's looking for "an original... someone who beats to the sound of their own drum".

"What I hope is that someone will find me by leaping off the page because of their energy, flair, passion, people skills, genuineness, vision. Someone who loves others to succeed and therefore succeeds themselves, someone generous and, of course, have a successful venture on their own or be one of the key players in a successful venture."Yeomans, who moved to New Zealand in 2006 to help establish the Moet brand here and who previously worked for beauty conglomerate L'Oreal, also wants to find "an extraordinary business woman".

"I'm looking for someone who breaks the mould a bit, with business endeavours outside the norm. Success is obviously a key criteria but this is as much a reference to the ability of our nominees to overcome challenges and obstacles along their way to success, as it is a reflection of their company's balance sheet. One of the other key areas I'm looking for this year is corporate social responsibility ... I believe those who find time to give back tend to rise to the top. This means giving back not only in terms of their business ... but also their ability to create a positive influence in the wider community."

A tall order, but definitely worth it. The award winner is flown to Champagne, France, and joins other winners from 18 countries around the globe at a special forum. She also receives an exclusive La Grande Dame Champagne every year thereafter, has a vine christened in her name and is enrolled as a Friend of the Widow.

As an added incentive to make a nomination, the nominator of the winner will also receive six magnums of Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut. Winners are announced at an award ceremony in Auckland in March, 2010.

Nominations close on December 11.

www.veuveclicquotaward.co.nz