Maxine Fleming: At the heart of a good story...

Maxine Fleming has been a writer on many of New Zealand’s most-loved TV shows. The beginning of her television career was a baptism of fire as a writer on soap opera Shortland Street. She went on to create or co-create a number of shows including Being Eve, Agent Anna, Burying Brian and 800 Words. Other writing credits include Outrageous Fortune, Mercy Peak and The Chosen. In 2016, Fleming was lured back to Shortland Street as its producer.

In this ScreenTalk, Fleming talks about:

The steep learning curve of her first screen gig, writing for Shortland Street
Learning how to compromise with the network on The Chosen
Why Being Eve is one of her favourite shows
Trying to wrangle the Naked Samoans during the making of bro’Town
How Outrageous Fortune became a “tricky beast” to write for
The challenge of a one-room set on the drama Interrogation
How a real life hen’s party led to comedy-drama Burying Brian
Hearing of emotional reactions to Trans-Tasman drama 800 Words
Feeling grown-up enough to take on the job of producing Shortland Street