Bryan Bruce

Bryan Bruce (born 1948) is a New Zealand documentary maker and author. Born in Scotland in 1948, he emigrated with his family to New Zealand in 1956. He grew up in Christchurch and attended the University of Canterbury, where he graduated with an M.A. in sociology and philosophy. Bruce earned a Diploma in Teaching from Christchurch Teachers' College and taught for 10 years. He was a professional musician for 20 years before he took up a career as a documentary maker. Bruce now resides in Auckland, New Zealand.
Bruce's feature-length documentaries cover diverse topics, from natural history to crime.
Bruce wrote, produced ,and directed the real crime show The Investigator that screened on TV ONE (Television New Zealand) and CBS Reality.
Publications
Bruce's published non-fiction works include the following:
A Taste of History (Batemans, 2007)
Hard cases (Random House, New Zealand, 2008)
Historia Smaku (Cartablanca, 2000);
Jesus: The Cold Case (Random House, New Zealand, 2010);
Jezus: Dowody Zbrodni (Cartablanca, Poland, 2011);
Awards
2011 Winner Aotearoa Film and Television Awards Awards Best Documentary- Jesus: The Cold Case.
2008 Winner Qantas Awards Achievement in Directing. Finalist: Best Factual Entertainment Series.
2003 Finalist New York Festivals Television Programming Awards(Writer, Director Producer for The Lost Dinosaurs).
2003 Banff Television Festival Award Finalist (The Lost Dinosaurs).
2002 Winner- Best Director Factual Entertainment (New Zealand Television Awards)
Jesus: The Cold Case: A 90-minute documentary for TVNZ. Won AFTA for Best Documentary plus Silver and Bronze Medals in Religion and History categories at The New York Festivals Television and Film Awards. Awarded despite apparent initial TVNZ reluctance to release, and subsequent criticism from some reviewers.
Documentaries
A number of Bruce's documentaries are lodged at The New Zealand Film Archive.
Selected filmography
Documentaries
Source:
Safer Sex (1989) - Producer, Presenter, Writer
Peter Blake (1990) - Director, Producer
1981 The Tour. Ten Years On (1991) - Director, Producer, Writer, Presenter
Whina, Te Whaea O Te Moto - Mother of the Nation (1992) - Director, Producer
Stand By Your Man (1993) - Director, Producer
Breaking Barriers (1993) - Director, Producer
17 - Snapshot of a Generation (1994) - Director, Producer
You're Soaking In It (1994) - Director, Producer, Editor
Serious Fraud (1995) - Director, Producer
Beyond a Joke (1995) - Director, Producer
The Coach (1996) - Director, Producer
Murder, They Said (1996) - Producer
In Cold Blood (1997) - Director, Producer, Writer
First Impressions (1998) - Director, Producer
Heavy Petting (1999) - Director, Producer
Shaky Beginnings (1999) - Director, Producer
The Trouble With Ben (1999) - Director, Producer, Writer
State of Mind (2000) - Director, Producer, Writer, Editor
Workhorse to Dreamhorse (2001) - Director, Producer, Writer, Editor
The Bughouse (2001) - Director, Producer, Writer
The Sir Howard Morrison Story (2002) - Director, Producer, Editor
The Bridge (2002) - Director, Producer, Writer
The Last Place On Earth (2002) - Director, Producer, Editor
The Lost Dinosaurs of New Zealand (2002) - Director, Producer, Writer, Editor
Just a Little Mad (2003) - Director
Trial By Ordeal (2004) - Director, Producer
A Question of Justice (2005) - Director
Monsters of the Deep (2005) - Director
What's Your Verdict - Mark Lundy (2005) - Executive Producer
Child Poverty (2011) - Director, Producer, Writer, Presenter
Jesus: The Cold Case (2011) - Director, Presenter
Mind the Gap (2014) - Director
Who Owns New Zealand Now? (2017) - Director, Producer, Writer, Presenter
World Class? Inside New Zealand Education - A Special Report (2016) - Director, Writer, Presenter
A Question of Justice (2022) - Producer, Presenter
Documentary Series
Source:
Wild About New Zealand (2000-2001, 2013) - Director, Writer, Producer
The Investigator (2007-2011) - Presenter, Writer, Producer, Director, Editor
Passion in Paradise (2014) - Director, Producer, Writer
References
1948 births
Living people
New Zealand film directors
New Zealand television directors
21st-century New Zealand non-fiction writers
People from Wellington City
New Zealand people of Scottish descent
Scottish expatriates in New Zealand
University of Canterbury alumni
21st-century New Zealand male writers