Melanie Read

Teesh and Trude

Melanie Read

Susie Porter, Linda Cropper

Teesh and Trude is the humorous, yet biting story of two hard and damaged women living on a diet of soapies, frustration and sarcasm. It reveals the dysfunction, denial and desperation of two people trapped by circumstances, apathy and class.

Send a Gorilla

Melanie Read

Carmel McGlone, Katherine McRae

The girls and gorillas at a singing telegram company are overworked because it is Valentine's Day. A series of sub-plots - a sexist disc jockey loses his dog and the girls fine it; one of the girls fights for custody of her child; an aspiring opera singer gets her chance to audition; and evil developer demolishes the telegram company's offices, etc, which all adds up to a large dose of confusion.

Trial Run

Melanie Read

Annie Whittle, Judith Gibson

Housewife Rosemary Edmonds leaves her family to take up residence in a remote cottage on the Otago coastline so that she can conduct a photographic essay on the yellow-eyed penguin. No sooner has she moved in than she becomes the victim of a series of increasingly more malevolent attacks from an unknown assailant.

Them's The Breaks

Melanie Read

A dramatised documentary based on the experiences of a group of young Maoir women in New Zealand. The film tells the story of four street kids' encounters with various government departments, institutions and figures of authority. these include Social Welfare, Labour, Justice, Education, Police and parents. The film was shot on location in Wellington, New Zealand, but the social issues it raises are common to any big city.