George Andrews
George Andrews first went to China in 2004 on a Prominent Person’s Tour. He succeeded Cecil Fowler as President of the Auckland branch in 2007. Drawing on his experience as a television producer he conceived the idea of a documentary series following young Maori who spend three weeks at a Chinese school and living with Chinese families.
That series called Kia Ora Nihao was made in 2007 and screened on Maori Television in 2008 around the Beijing Olympics. He has also worked with young Chinese members in Auckland to deliver a series of video projects for the NZCFS including a music video One Promise and a singing birthday card to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the founding of the Peoples’ Republic which screened at the NZ Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo.
George was born in Wellington in 1943 and attended Wellington College, Victoria University (B.Com 1967) and the University of Aix-Marseilles in France. He began his screen career as a writer for the British film company Associated British Pathé before returning to NZ to join the first generation of television reporters and directors.
He is a three-times winner of the best documentary award and was one of the founders of the independent television network TV3. In 2002 he became the first New Zealander to be made an officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to television. In April 2012 he was invited to the Beijing Film Festival after his project for an animated feature film based around story of migrating godwits stop over in China was selected for their international pitching competition.
