Raymond Richard Waru (born 1952) is a New Zealand
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
radio and
television director and producer.
Early life
Waru spent his childhood in
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
. He was educated at
St Peter's College.
Career
Waru obtained positions in radio and television from the 1970s. In 1980, he headed the original
Television New Zealand
, type = Crown entity
, industry = Broadcast television
, num_locations = New Zealand
, location = Auckland, New Zealand
, area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the Solom ...
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
production unit. Waru directed a broad range of Māori programmes, including the first ever full
Māori language
Māori (), or ('the Māori language'), also known as ('the language'), is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. Closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, and ...
drama project, ''Te Ohaki a Nihe'', and items on the
Te Māori exhibition.
In the 1980s Waru produced and directed a revolutionary documentary series, ''The Natural World of the Māori'', various film and television productions in New Zealand and in Australia, as well as an
IMAX
IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating.
Graeme F ...
production under the
East-West Center
East West (or East and West) may refer to:
*East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture
Arts and entertainment
Books, journals and magazines
*'' East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salm ...
in
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
. In the 1980s he was appointed as chief executive of the
Aotearoa Māori Radio Trust, charged with the development of a national Māori radio system.
In the 1990s Waru was co-producer of the major history series, ''
Our People, Our Century'', a winner at the 2000
New Zealand Film and TV Awards
New Zealand film and television awards have gone by many different names and have been organised by different industry groups. As of 2017, New Zealand has relaunched a standalone New Zealand Television Awards after a five-year hiatus. The film awar ...
, and he produced
Toro Mai, a 25-part serial drama in
te reo.
In 2005 Waru co-produced the New Zealand historical series, ''
Frontier of Dreams, The Story of New Zealand''
In the
2006 Queen's Birthday Honours, Waru was appointed a
Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit
The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...
, for services to radio and television.
In 2012 Waru published "Secrets & Treasures" which consists of "stories told through the objects at
Archives New Zealand
Archives New Zealand (Māori: ''Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga'') is New Zealand's national archive and the official guardian of its public archives. As the government's recordkeeping authority, it administers the Public Records Act 2005 and ...
"
[Ray Waru, ''Secrets & treasures : our stories told through the objects at Archives New Zealand'', Random House, Glenfield, Auckland, 2012 ().] and which "delves into the archives to tell a very human story of New Zealand, a story that involves love, death, war, immigration, disaster, protest, defiance, censorship and hokey pokey".
[''Secrets and treasures'', Back cover.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Waru, Ray
1952 births
Living people
People from Auckland
People educated at St Peter's College, Auckland
New Zealand Māori people
New Zealand television directors
New Zealand television producers
New Zealand Māori broadcasters
Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit