About Dave Mills

I started my tertiary training at the New Zealand Broadcasting School in Christchurch in 1991, topping my class and specialising in camera work and editing.

Before the course finished I had a job offer to work for a small but exciting company in Queenstown, the adventure capital of New Zealand. Action Video Queenstown produced everything from ski shows through to corporate videos as well as breaking news and Current Affairs; it was an excellent place to begin and learn from a small but highly experienced and versatile staff.

Television New Zealand (TVNZ) News and Current Affairs was next; I was accepted as part of the TVNZ internship program. Here I learned from the best in the News and Current Affairs business, working on TVNZs’ flagship shows like 60 Minutes, Newsnight, 20/20 and One Network News. Working at TVNZ was a hugely formative time which instilled invaluable lighting and journalistic skills while requiring highly efficient work habits.

Going freelance in 1995 was a leap of faith which I never looked back from. Being a freelance cameraman has taken me all over the world and IÂ’m humbled by the experiences itÂ’s provided. IÂ’ve flown jet fighters, lived above 18,000ft for months, dodged car-sized lava balls on the edge of a frighteningly active volcano and travelled through volatile countries visiting holy sites that were bombed weeks after we visited.

I now have a wealth of experience and knowledge producing material from concepts through to client delivery, including dealing with all the complexities in between. To this day I still get excited about telling stories with moving images and IÂ’d love to chat with you about making your project exceptional.