John Laing

Director

New Zealand

Biography

John Laing is a director, producer, editor and writer from New Zealand. He directed his first feature film Beyond Reasonable Doubt in 1980. He has worked in both television and movies in New Zealand as well as in the United Kingdom and Canada.

Filmography

7.6

Xena: Warrior Princess

Xena is an infamous warrior on a quest to seek redemption for her past sins against the innocent. Accompanied by her comrade-in-arms Gabrielle, the campy couple use their formidable fighting skills to help those who are unable to defend themselves.

7.1

Power Rangers

A team of teenagers with attitude are recruited to save Angel Grove from the evil witch, Rita Repulsa, and later, Lord Zedd, Emperor of all he sees, and their horde of monsters.

7.0

Hercules: The Legendary Journeys

The legendary son of Zeus journeys across the earth fighting monsters and helping people.

6.3

The Hitchhiker

A young hitchhiker introduces characters who are about to experience a frightening and sometimes supernatural incident of some kind in this moody anthology series.

6.2

Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior

It is the story of an average, popular American teenager named Wendy Wu who discovers that in order to win the coveted crown she must first learn the way of the warrior. Wendy Wu has a one track mind, and that track leads directly to the title of homecoming queen -- no unscheduled stops, and no unnecessary detours. When a mysterious Chinese monk named Shen arrives to mold Wendy into a fearless kung fu warrior, however, her royal aspirations suddenly jump the track as she desperately attempts to juggle her boyfriend, her homework, and of course, the fierce competition to become homecoming queen. Now, as Wendy begins to train her mind, body, and spirit in the ancient tradition of the martial arts and her inner warrior gradually begins to emerge, the girl who once obsessed over popularity finally begins to put that popularity into perspective as she gradually realizes what truly matters in life.

7.4

The Blue Rose

When office temp Jane discovers that Rose, the PA she is replacing, died under mysterious circumstances, she joins forces with Rose's best friend Linda to get justice for Rose. Along the way, they find others who need their help, victims of fraud, theft and injustice, and soon Jane, Linda - and a team of unlikely co-workers - are taking on the corporate bullies, fighting for justice and using their unique powers for good.

6.0

Abandoned

In 1989 the trimaran Rose Noelle set sail from Picton, New Zealand, bound for Tonga with four crew. After a freak wave capsized the yacht, they drifted for 119 days before landing on Great Barrier Island.

7.7

Other Halves

A Polynesian street-kid and a much older middle-class housewife are both incarcerated in the same mental hospital - she for attempted suicide and he for habitual crime. A friendship grows between them such that she offers him a place to stay upon his release. However, difficulties arise with his continued criminal activities and dependence on her for support - then his gang moves in with them. The film is based upon Sue McCauley's award winning autobiographical novel.

4.0

The Lost Tribe

Anthropologist Max Scarry mysteriously disappears while doing excavation/research of a lost New Zealand tribe on a remote island. His wife and his twin brother Edward are clueless as to what could have happened, a situation complicated by their city's police suspecting that one of the brothers murdered a local prostitute who was found with a strange tribal charm on her body matching one found in Max's abandoned hut. What most certainly isn't helping matters is the strange behavior of Max's daughter as she seems to have visions beyond possibility, warnings of a supernatural threat and her uncle's fate - and she's the film's narrator, to boot. Edward decides to go to the island to find out exactly what happened, but the deeper he goes into the mystery the more perilous and unknowable his world becomes, leading towards a shocking fate that raises more questions than it answers. (cont. http://view-from-the-paperhouse.blogspot.de/2014/10/the-threat-of-ancient-echoes-lost-tribe.html)

5.4

No One Can Hear You

Families are dying and reporter Trish (Kelly McGillis) finds herself reporting on a serial killing spree. After her daughter Lisa's (Kate Elliott) best friends are killed, she fears that her family may be on the killers list. Sheriff Webster (Barry Corbin) is not listening to her concerns, which leads Trish to wonder is he or his deputy might be involved. Then Lisa, her boyfriend Ben and her sister Amy receive threats.

9.0

Greenstone

A majestic tale of drama, love, mystery and the clashing of cultures in early 1800's New Zealand.

N/A

Venus and Mars

When an attack on a Palmerston North fraud detective made headlines in October 1996, the New Zealand public followed the media reports with fascination. They read like a plot of a Hollywood film or detective novel. Poison pen letters, satanic worship, a police hate crime, and a mysterious and violent pyromaniac. But little did the public know that as the truth emerged, the story was going to get far more bizarre, and the police would turn the focus of their investigation on one of their own.

5.0

Safe House

Safe House is the story of a struggle for survival in an unfamiliar and threatening world, based on the true life experience of a woman in the early days of the witness protection programme in New Zealand. TV Movie

6.7

Beyond Reasonable Doubt

A docu-drama covering one of the most famous cases in New Zealand history, the murder of Harvey and Jeanette Crewe in 1970.

8.0

Absent Without Leave

In 1942 Wellington, Daisy Edwards, 16 and pregnant, relies totally on her just-wed husband, Ed, who is little older than she. Ed is suddenly drafted into the army and is to be sent overseas to battle while Daisy is sent to her father in Auckland. When Ed's leave is cancelled at the last minute he takes the dangerous decision to go absent without leave to be with Daisy on her journey home. As a deserter, Ed is hunted, captured and imprisoned. Life inside is bad enought without the worry of what is going on outside. The film is based upon a true story.

6.7

Power Rangers S.P.D.: Zapped

The pace quickens when the academy receives a message from the future warning of impending doom. It seems that Devastation (the most wanted criminal in the galaxy) along with brother, Shorty, and sinister sidekick Morgana have returned to conquer Earth for imminent destruction. It's an SPD Emergency as the team of elite warriors morph into their superhuman multi-hued spandex to take on intergalactic minions. Just when the fury circle is tightening, a mysterious Force from the Future materializes, riding a giant Omegamax Cycle.

8.0

Cody: Bad Love

Cody’s investigation of an art theft leads him to Claudia who works at an art gallery where the certificate of the stolen painting is held. His judgement may be clouded when he discovers the federal police suspect Claudia of smuggling the paintings.

6.0

Dangerous Orphans

Three orphaned boys - O'Malley, Rossi and Moir - become blood brothers. When they grow up, they plot revenge on the crooks who got away with shooting O'Malley's father. The crooks are doing very nicely importing heroin and laundering money. The boys begin by killing one of the crooks, stealing his indentification and cleaning out the guy's Swiss bank account. But their revenge does not stop here... And the American end of the operation is getting very curious.

N/A

A War Story

In 1997, Osama bin Laden declared war on the USA and Pulitzer Prize winning CNN correspondent Peter Arnett embarked on a mission to locate and interview him. A War Story follows the dramatic events leading up to the interview and the Kiwi journalist's horror on 9/11, as he recalled bin Laden's veiled threats.

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