Gerben joined the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation (NZBC) in 1966 where he trained as a set designer. He then became Design Supervisor at CHTV3 during the Commonwealth Games in 1974, which coincided with the changeover to colour television in New Zealand.

After being awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council grant to study overseas, Gerben graduated from the Nederlands Film Academy in 1979 and went on to work for the British, Belgian, Dutch and American film industries.  He then returned to work in NZ as a director.

After initially directing documentaries for South Pacific Television, Gerben formed his own production company.  Arcadian Films produced more than 200 commercials and promotional videos.

Gerben's other NZ directing credits include the action adventure series Skycrane and Flying Kiwi and the successful children’s series Space Knights and The Early Bird Show. From 1999-2001 he was Executive Producer for three series of Suzy’s World children’s science programmes for TV3.

Kathy came to the South Seas Film & Television School in December 2001, having spent the previous 10 years in an Auckland Chartered Accountants’ practice preparing annual accounts and tax returns for a wide range of businesses.

Her role at the school involves tracking student fee transactions, payment of wages and suppliers, day to day banking transactions and preparing accounts for management and annual audit purposes.

Lauren joined the South Seas team in April 2006. She comes to us with a varied employment history, most recently in the print media industry. Lauren is a part of our marketing team, the high school & STAR liaison officer and an integral member of our administration staff.









Nerida has worked as Production Manager and Supervisor on numerous television commercials, corporate videos and documentaries, and has also worked as Production Manager for TV3 Children’s production department.

In 1993 Nerida returned to South Seas studios to take over both the Business Management and Administration of South Seas Film and Television School.









Tonie started in November 2007 as the receptionist at South Seas.  Her smiling face is usually the first one to greet students and visitors when they come to the South Seas campus.

Tonie’s job includes answering the phone, welcoming visitors, keeping track of where students and staff are during the day, and generally keeping the South Seas wheels running smoothly.







Kent comes from a strong IT background and joined the South Seas team at the end of 2009. He enjoys team-working closely with Matt Dwen to ensure that the schools IT requirements are met and trouble-shooting where his illogical logic comes in handy.
Kent also enjoys working on challenging projects for business or creative media application, just for fun.