And now back to Wellington...

Dave would have been a teacher if a Bolex 16mm movie camera hadn’t got in the way. Lured by the alchemy of documentary-making, he set up Gibson Film Productions in 1977 (later Gibson Group). Over the following decades, he produced feature films and television programmes that aired in more than 80 countries. Shows ranged across all manner of dramatic, comedic, documentary and children’s territory, including the satirical puppet show Public Eye

Series (1988- 89), New Zealand’s first urban cop show Shark in

the Park (1989- 91), police drama series Duggan (1997- 99) arts and issues show Backch@t (1998-2000),

and drama series The Strip (2002

03) and The Insider’s Guide to Happiness (2004). But that’s a mere smidgen of Dave’s output and industry reach. So significant was his contribution to the screen that when he left Gibson Group in excellent hands and health in 2012, Dave was made an officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for services to the film and television industry.