Sunday ` brought to you by Mazda. Tonight on Sunday ` he made his career putting his body on the line, but what happens when the game is over? Once you hang up the boots, then you're pretty much on your own. An All Black superstar... Oh, that's a super try! All around me, my world was crumbling. ...hits rock bottom. There's nothing classical now. It's just swing, isn't it? Fighting his way back,... I wouldn't have put myself in it if I felt that my life was in jeopardy. ...but at what cost? Would you be interested in finding out what, if any, affects concussion has on your brain? I wish I could just erase it. The real story... It never should have aired. ...behind the royal prank call that made world headlines. Can I play it to you? Can I play it to you? No, I don't want to hear it. Where are you going? Where are you going? Invercargill. Where are you going? Invercargill. Hop in. And he put NZ up on the big screen. GUNSHOT I don't give a <BLEEP> how people see it. Peter Jackson doesn't make NZ films. One of our film greats ` why he thinks enough is enough. I used to call it the cold and ugly. You know, I don't wanna make ugly pictures. Copyright Able 2014 Kia ora, I'm Mariama Kamo. Tonight, the much loved All Black who went from hero to zero is on a mission. Va'aiga Tuigamala or Inga the winger was renowned for his explosive acceleration on the field. He was a winner. But success post-rugby wasn't to be ` two failed businesses later, Inga was broke and fat, ballooning to 170 kilos-plus. A major health scare has seen Inga fighting back literally. But is a boxing career, after a history of knocks, the best way to comeback? John Hudson with a very honest Inga. Unless you are overweight like me. Unless you've lost everything. Unless your wife and, you know, had bolted out the door. Then they don't understand where I've been. Inga Tuigamala has been in a very dark place. But now, he's back in black. You know him as the winger ` Tuigamala is the swinger! CROWD CHEERS Boxing his way back into shape. He's not just fighting this fight, he's fighting for his life. He wants to bring awareness to men's health. But should Inga be fighting at all? He's been concussed at least three times playing rugby and league, and recently, he had a stroke. I know what my body's capable of. Only I know what I can handle and cannot handle. I wouldn't have put myself in if I felt that my life was in jeopardy. This is a sport where you set out to give your opponent brain damage. How can that be good for men's health? Boxing was just the` a choice that I made that allowed me to be focused on my journey. And what a journey it's been. When I first met Inga 20 years ago, he was a superstar. Oh, that's a super try by Inga the winger! If you forget about the money, which code would you play for? > If you forget about the money, which code would you play for? > I would say definitely rugby. An amateur All Black switching to professional league. This side will be strengthened by the arrival of the Inga Tuigamala from the All Blacks in NZ. Why did you decide to go to league? I've done this for my family. And although I'm proud to be an All Black, my family does come first. Inga had met his wife, Daphne, when they were teenagers. How old were you when you got married? I was 19. I was 19. Yeah. > I was 19. Yeah. > And you were 22. Yeah. Still young, eh? Yeah. Still young, eh? Still very young. And we had Jordan before we got married, so I was at home a lot with him, and I didn't really, um, like going to their after game stuff, so if I was going to his game, I used to come home straight away. Tuigamala coming in. Oh, what a marvellous run for the big fella. When Inga got married, he was one of the fastest sprinters in the country. He sailed through two or three ` still going! Big money lured him to Britain's Super League. Oh, crack, bang, wallop! It's Tuigamala. And later, a million dollar contract saw him switch back to rugby. It was good days. I mean, we missed our family back here. But, um, home was always gonna be home, so we'd come back here some day so we make the most of it, really, while we were there. < Oh, look at that. They had a fantastic time in the UK, but Inga has one regret. Once you hang your boots up and you call it quits, um, then you're pretty much on your own. You gotta find a way to` to provide an` an income and make a living. So unless you invest really really well, you know, you're pretty much doomed to` to struggle. So what should you have done to avoid struggling? Um, education. I` Seek help and ask for advice. Um, and just really put a good plan together. And not planning, not getting an education, Inga believes, cost him dearly. One of the biggest challenges that I had was I didn't want my family to see me as a failure. No one seeks out to go into business to fail. Nobody. Um, and so, as a` as a man of the house, the provider in the family, I` I wanted to continue to have that success follow me through into business. Um... so and obviously it didn't. The gym he set up went bust. The family funeral business was liquidated last July. Four months later, Inga's close friend, Peter Fatialofa, dropped dead at just 54. One of them shouted out, you know, 'Inga, you better get ready, cos you're the next one.' And we all laughed, we had a laugh, but, man, it got under my skin after a couple weeks, and I thought, 'Man, I've gotta do something here.' I cannot, uh, talk to people about health issues. I cannot talk to them about business when all around me, my world was crumbling. When Peter died, Inga was more than 170 kilos. All the physical evidence was a result of what was the battle that was happening inside. When you don't get what you want or you don't achieve what you set off, uh, to achieve, of course you're gonna get angry and disappointed and, um` and moody and stressed and depressed. Add to that sleep apnoea, high blood pressure ` Inga got so big, he couldn't tie his shoelaces. Eating was like my comfort to what I was going through. What are you having, Dad? What are you having, Dad? My usual. Look, I was going through some serious serious emotional, um, challenges as well. You had a stroke on the golf course. Surely that was a wake-up call? That didn't stop me at all. I just carried on doing what I wanted to do. I suppose in some ways, my whole pride, um, took over. You know, I wouldn't listen to the doctors Um, and even my medication, so I don't blame anybody. I blame myself. In the years since Inga retired from rugby, his health, finances and family suffered. It's challenging. It's damn tough. But the only person that can make this change was me. And the journey started. How long have you been coming here for? How long have you been coming here for? Since I was 12. But I` I didn't come for the fruit and vegetables. I came for the pies and the` and the hot dogs. But today he's at the Avondale market just for the fruit and veggies. Oh, thank you. Part of his plan to lose 70 kilos by cutting meat out of his diet. I really sympathise with those who are obese, that have high blood pressure, who are depressed. I know what it's like to be in a dark, dark place. It's an ugly place to be. But there's always hope. Inga believes had he prepared for a life after rugby, he might not have failed his community; his family. But could there be another explanation for his downward spiral? I've had three major, uh, concussions in, uh, rugby league that I know of. After the break ` could Inga have brain damage? The more concussions you have in your sporting career, the greater your chance is of developing it. 1 For more than 80 years, doctors have known that concussion from boxing can cause long-term brain damage. Recent studies have shown concussion in other contact sports can also lead to long-term brain damage. He was out before he hit the ground. If you've played over 10 years of football, right now over 95% have shown positive for the disease. WOMAN: Sorry, who's this? WOMAN: Sorry, who's this? This is Chris Nowinski from Boston University. In April, Sunday screened a story about Dr Chris Nowinski and his team of scientists who have been studying the brains of American footballers, discovering time and again, a disease known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy or CTE. Essentially it kinda causes your brain to rot, like memory problems, impulse control issues, depression and that eventually you may get dementia if you live long enough. The Boston study focused on the brains of dead American football players. But now they've shown CTE can also affect rugby and league players. Roberts ` he was one of the key players. And the research on the long-term effects of concussion is continuing in Auckland. Well, we know for sure that in some individuals who've had multiple concussions playing sport, um, that ultimately they can develop this condition which is associated with depression and anxiety, mood issues, um, and subsequently, dementia. So could Inga have CTE? I've had three major, uh, concussions in, uh, rugby league that I know of. Uh, others probably have been minor con` concussions but, um` but there is a pattern. Would you be interested in finding out what, if any effects, concussion has had on your brain? Of course. You'd be a fool not to. Just recently my wife said, 'Hey, you know you're forgetting a lot of things?' (LAUGHS) If you had a patient who had three serious concussions during his football career and was now planning to get into the boxing ring, what would your advice be? I would do` be doing my utmost to dissuade him from boxing, but I think it is a very dangerous sport. Um, and certainly if you've already had previous concussion, um, I would, uh, strongly discourage somebody from doing that. You've had multiple concussions. You were out for several minutes at one stage. You've had a stroke. Do you think it's a wise thing to be getting into the ring? You know, I think the` the only person probably saying that it's a stupid thing to do, but I knew what I was in for. I` I totally knew, hence the reason why I made sure I trained really really well to` to protect myself at all times. We ask you this through Jesus Christ, our Lord and saviour. Amen. ALL: Amen. There was a time when Inga's depression, aggression, memory loss got so bad his wife took the children and left. Why did Daphne leave you? Why did Daphne leave you? I made all the decisions without, uh, asking her for her views. All these years, I` I thought that me and her were on the same frequency, you know, like a radio. But, uh, I didn't realise that how mistuned I was in my relationship. I'm not proud of walking away from our marriage at one point, but because at the end of the day, our kids suffered. I remember saying to Daphne, I said, 'Man, if you're gonna leave me, leave me for other reasons that, uh, warrant, you know, that you can justify, like, uh, beating you up or doing drugs and being drunk and gambling, all that.' But she` she stopped me in my tracks. She said, 'But you have. You've beaten me up through your words. 'You've beaten me up with the things that you should have said that you didn't say.' Yeah. Communication was` was, uh, not there at all. She said that, um, you know, I had all the control, and she was right. Um, but I knew no better. I, um` I was brought up in a really strong Samoan family with strong Samoan values. I assumed that, um, I have to make all the big tough calls and, you know` and make the final decision on everything. What brought you back together? I took him back purely on my trust in God. < I believe that he wanted us to come back together. And I said` And ever since then, there's been a big change from him too. And, um` And it's just wonderful to see the healing process now that's happening between all of us, really. So what's changed in your relationship? Definitely the communication is much better. # How sweet the sound # that saved a wretch like me. Faith in God remains at the centre of the Tuigamala's lives. # I once was lost... Daphne and Inga are part of a pastoral care team with the Word of Life Church. # but now I see. # But if God comes first, boxing is a close second. Sons Jordan and Bubba both professional boxers. And tonight for the first time, a father and two sons are fighting on the same card. This is a backup plan. Like, I said to my boys, if you see your dad struggling, jump in. You knew about his stroke and concussion. Did you worry about him getting in the boxing ring? A little bit. But, um, you know, he was` he was so keen to do this, I thought it was a good idea that he` if that's what it would take for him to` to do something about his weight, then yeah, why not? CHEERING It's nothing classical now ` it's just swing, isn't it? Fortunately for both men in this bout, none of the haymakers connected. Out of the red corner ` Inga the swinger Tuigamala! Inga's told me he's fought his last boxing bout. Is that a relief? Yay. (LAUGHS) I don't know, I'll have to wait and see. < Wait and see whether it's true or not? < Wait and see whether it's true or not? Wait and see if it's true, eh? Oh, no, I can tell you right now on camera, that's the` it's` it's finished. But Inga's journey continues. There's still another 35 kilos to lose and the Auckland Marathon to run in November. I'm not proud of what I went through. I'm not proud of what I put my family through. I'm not proud of, um, the way it affected my` my community and my family. Um, but I've got a` I've got an opportunity to do something about it while there's still time. What a brave journey he's on. Inga says he's going to have that concussion check-up later this month. Now after the break ` the royal hoax phone call which ended in tragedy. For the first time, the radio DJ at the centre of the public's outrage explains what happened that day. I'm ashamed of myself. PHONE RINGS PHONE RINGS MAN: I just` I hope this happens. I should have tried harder to not let that prank call air. IMITATES THE QUEEN: Oh, hello, there, could I please speak to Kate, please, my granddaughter? I felt like the worst person alive, and that feeling hasn't really gone away. It was the worst of radio jock pranks ` a silly phone call to a hospital on the other side of the world. A Sydney DJ pretending to be the Queen and speaking to a nurse about the pregnant Duchess. And in the wave of publicity that followed, a nurse took her own life. Now, Mel Greig, one of the two Djs involved, tells the truth about the royal prank call, her regrets and where she's at now. Here's Mel Doyle with the story. I guess because I want this to be me. This is not scripted. This is not someone telling me what to do or what to say. This is just me now, and I want to keep it as real as I can. And this is how I feel at the moment, like, crying. Why do you want to talk to me? Why don't you want to pack up, go away, cut your hair, change your name? Because people will always have unanswered questions. 'What really happened that day?' 'Why did you let that happen?' I just want to answer everything, so, hopefully, everyone can move forward. And I think of the Saldanha family all the time, and I just want them to see that I'm sorry, cos I care so much about Jacintha and what she did and what happened, and I'm so sorry. < Is it your fault that she's dead? At the start, when this first happened, I absolutely blamed myself. 100%. And I felt like I had failed as a human being ` to make someone feel that way, enough to take their own life. I'm slowly learning that it's not all my fault, but... (SNIFFS) it's going to take me time to get to that point, to not feel at fault for her death. Can I, um, play it to you? The prank call? The prank call? Yep. The prank call? Yep. No, I don't want to listen to it. No. I don't want to hear it. Have you listened to it since? Have you listened to it since? No. I never want to listen to it again because it... I'm ashamed of myself. I should have tried harder not to let that prank call air. It never should have aired. Come into the studio. I'm going to dial this number` Come into the studio. I'm going to dial this number` This is fun. I mean, this is fun. I mean, this is fun. Yes. Yes, yes. It came from this Sydney building, the headquarters of Today FM; the prank call heard right around the world. Yeah, yeah. So, you're going to be the Queen. Yeah, yeah. So, you're going to be the Queen. POSH VOICE: Hello. I'm the queen. IMITATES PRINCE CHARLES: Hello. Prince Charles over here, Mummy. IMITATES PRINCE CHARLES: Hello. Prince Charles over here, Mummy. Charles, I like your ears. And Ben and Em are going to be the royal corgis, so let's-let's give this hospital a call. PHONE RINGS Mel Greig and her Hot 30 Countdown co-host, Michael Christian, had only been working together for one week. She had started in community radio and never dreamt she'd come this far. For me, being 31, I felt like my time had passed. When I was told I had the job, I just couldn't believe it. It was absolutely a dream come true. Everything was perfect and everything was finally going right for me. I'd worked so hard for this moment, and I was going up and up. And then in one moment, one... How could you lose everything just like that? All gone. Catherine, the duchess of Cambridge, is resting tonight in a London hospital. REPORTER: The media pack outside the hospital is enormous. WOMAN: The acute morning sickness which landed her in hospital... A royal pregnancy and extreme morning sickness saw the world's media stake out this London private hospital. Visitors came, visitors went, and information was scarce. REPORTER: The statement from St James Palace confirmed that Kate is on the mend. While Prince William was leaving the hospital, back in Sydney, the team at Today FM were thinking it would be funny to ring it. It was never about getting information. It was about using our stupid voices. That's all. We were meant to be hung up on after 10 seconds. We were never meant to talk to anyone. It was not that kind of prank call. PHONE RINGS I hope this happens. PHONE CONTINUES RINGING JACINTHA: Hello. Good morning. King Edward VII Hospital. MEL: (POSH VOICE) Oh, hello there. Could I please speak to Kate, please, my granddaughter? Oh, yes. Just hold on, ma'am. Oh, yes. Just hold on, ma'am. Thank you. WHISPERS: Are they putting us through? WHISPERS: Are they putting us through? Yes. (LAUGHS) We didn't even know who answered. I didn't know Jacintha was a nurse at the start. I had no idea we were speaking to a nurse. Hello. Good morning. King Edward VII Hospital. Oh, hello there. Could I please speak to Kate, please, my granddaughter? Oh yes. Just hold on, ma'am. Oh yes. Just hold on, ma'am. Thank you. Then when we got through to the second person, who started to sound like a nurse, we looked at each other and started to think, 'Is this...? Is this real?' If this has worked, it's the easiest prank call we've ever made. If this has worked, it's the easiest prank call we've ever made. (SNIGGERS) 'Are we actually speaking to a nurse about Kate's condition?' NURSE: Good morning, ma'am, this is a nurse speaking. How may I help you? Hello. I'm just after my granddaughter Kate. I want to see how her little tummy bug is going. MICHAEL: Mummy? Mummy? MICHAEL: Mummy? Mummy? NURSE: She's sleeping at the moment, and she has had an uneventful night. Did you ever think to yourself this woman's under three months' pregnant; maybe this is a no-go zone. No. Because we didn't think we'd get anywhere near her. We didn't think we'd actually speak to anything to do with Kate. She would never know about the phone call because it was meant to be something silly. POSH VOICE: OK. Well, I'll just feed my little corgis, then. POSH VOICE: OK. Well, I'll just feed my little corgis, then. MAN BARKS Em. So what time`? When is a good time to come and visit her, cos I'm the queen, so I need a lift down there? We tried to make it even more unbelievable as time went on, and when I heard the nurse say 'retching'... NURSE: She's-She's quite stable at the moment. She hasn't had any retching with me since I've been on duty. I wrapped it up, because then I felt that maybe she would go too far, and I wrapped it up. The call lasted only two minutes, 11 seconds. The two DJs and their production team celebrate their amazing scoop. No one can quite believe what they've just done. What was your mood? Were you high-fiving each other? What was your mood? Were you high-fiving each other? Absolutely. Then that excitement for me faded when I thought about it properly. If this was real, there's gonna be consequences. Did you feel bad that you could potentially make a couple of professional people ` nurses ` look and sound stupid? look and sound stupid? (SNIFFS) Absolutely. That's why I expressed certain concerns, and I suggested that it should be played a different way, but that is something that will come out in the inquest. POSH VOICE: Oh, hello there. Could I please speak to Kate, please... The call was recorded at 4.30pm on the 4th of December 2012. On the 5th, realising their scoop, Today FM played it over and over. And with the world's worst accent, the-they put us straight through. By the 6th, it was headline news in Britain and much of the world. I think it was a pretty poor trick to play. On the 7th of December, Jacintha Saldanha, who put the call through to Kate Middleton's ward, was found dead in the nurses' quarters of the hospital. It was late evening in Australia when the news broke. Mel was at home with her boyfriend, Stephen. Tell me what happened, how you found out that-that Jacintha Saldanha had taken her life. That's a very dark place to visit. I was in bed, and my boyfriend, Stephen, was going on Twitter and Facebook, just having a look as he normally does. And he saw the tweets coming through that I had blood on my hands, that I was responsible for someone's death. As I went through more and more of them, I was, like, 'Something's happened here and it's...' Yeah. I was starting to get a bit worried. And I saw Mel's phone ring, and it was someone from her work, and I asked, you know, is what I'm reading true? They said, 'Yes. You're going to need to wake Mel up.' I felt like the worst person alive. And that feeling really hasn't gone away. So as you've heard, the story was everywhere and sadly nurse Jacintha Saldanha took her own life. She left a note saying she held the radio hosts Mel Greig and Michael Christian responsible. The duo were taken off air. But while Michael returned to work two months later, it was Mel who became the target for public outrage. That's next. There was anger all over the world towards Mel. Yet the facts ` If the world had known the facts, I think the world would have taken a completely different view towards her. Can I help you? Can I help you? You know what this guy's problem is? What? What? He's so busy planning and building things for his customers that he's overlooking his most important project. that he's overlooking his most important project. Which is? His life ` planning and building his own business. Maybe he needs to talk to someone. He just needs to take the first step. ANZ has more local business bankers with the expertise to help you make your business a success. It was a prank call that made headlines all around the world ` the Australian radio hosts pretending to be the Queen who were put through to the hospital ward where Kate Middleton was suffering with severe morning sickness. The prank call played on air and the nurse who fielded the call tragically took her own life. One of those announcers, Mel Greig, took most of the heat, but was it fair? As her legal team now claims, Mel didn't want that call to air. Last September at the last minute, the London inquest into the death of nurse Jacintha Saldanha was dramatically postponed by the coroner. At the time, Mel Greig was packed, ready to fly and ready to give evidence. We were meant to leave tomorrow for the inquest. I've packed my bags. I had my countdown board where I would say` I mean, 'It's one day to go.' Everything was building to this moment. It was tomorrow. That was the light at the end of my tunnel. It was. I'm sure for the family as well. This was their chance to get the answers, and this was finally my chance to tell the truth. There was anger all over the world toward Mel. Yet the facts, if the world had known the facts, I think they would have taken a completely different view toward her. > Melissa actually wanted that recording changed before it was broadcast. Tony Hurran is Mel Greig's barrister. He's taken on her case for free. She has been the scapegoat and the fall guy. The decision to broadcast was not hers. > Yes, she was a DJ. Yes, she made the prank call, um, but we are now able to disclose the fact that she did want to change the recording, and that's been a matter that we've been trying to get out in the public domain; her legal team has been trying for a long time. MAN: We thought we'd give it a call. We don't want to cause any trouble. Sunday Night understands that within minutes of recording the prank call, Mel Greig sent an email to her bosses, urging them to disguise the identities of the nurses. She wanted them revoiced using Today FM's staff. Southern Cross Austereo have since publically admitted that prior to the call being broadcast, she made suggestions for changes to be made to the recording of the call. Today FM decided the call should be broadcast without alteration. Let's give this hospital a call... PHONE RINGS I absolutely expressed concern. As an announcer, I'm trained that we always need to get permission if we're going to broadcast something, and it just didn't seem right that we would broadcast that without permission and without doing what we would normally do as announcers, so I was absolutely concerned. The inquest has now been postponed three times. Mel Greig had hoped that in London she might get the chance to apologise personally and privately to Jacintha Saldanha's family. Is that what you wanted? > I guess I want to, to their face, say that I'm sorry, if that's what they want. If they don't want to see me, then that's fine. I understand. They see me as the face of the reason why their mother is dead. Do you want to say sorry to make you feel better or them? I think` I think it goes both ways. I honestly do. By saying sorry, it acknowledges that I know I've done something wrong and I'm deeply sorry for it. But for them, as well, if it's going to give them closure. If they need to hear that, to know that I cared about their mother, then I think that's` that's useful to them as well. Speaking of, I'm sorry, I know that you haven't listened to it since it happened ` can I play it? (EXHALES) I will listen to it because this is meant to be the ending of everything, and if that means I need to listen to it again, then that's what I'll do. RECORDING: (CHRISTIAN) Now, Mel, today is a very special day. It's the day a lot of people have been waiting for a very very long time. MEL: There's been speculation for months that Kate Middleton, married to Prince William, is pregnant. So the number...? The number's going in. PHONE RINGS Oh, Jeez, I hope this happens. PHONE CONTINUES TO RING JACINTHA: Good morning. King Edward VII Hospital. POSH VOICE: Oh, hello there. Could I please speak to Kate, please, my granddaughter? Oh yes. Just hold on, ma'am. Oh yes. Just hold on, ma'am. Thank you. CHRISTIAN: Are they putting us through? CHRISTIAN: Are they putting us through? Yes. BOTH LAUGH If this has worked, it's the easiest prank call we have ever made. If this has worked, it's the easiest prank call we have ever made. (SNIGGERS) I feel disgusted in myself for being part of it. I just remember myself laughing, thinking how funny it was, because it had worked. And then smart Mel kicked in soon after that going, 'Hang on a minute. This isn't right.' But I just` I feel so bad for laughing. 18 months have passed since that call. Mel Greig was the only person at that radio station determined to give evidence in court, and determined to say sorry in person. She was dumped by the charities she represented and remains unemployed. Even community radio stations have turned her down. She's not looking for sympathy, but would like a chance. (GRUNTS) Enough. ALL TALK EXCITEDLY And her life is picking up. Recently, Mel and Stephen became engaged. This is the first time I've spoken into a microphone for a long time, and I kinda like it a little bit. I think I'm going to be doing this speech for the next, mm, three hours, just talking stuff. Please play some music before it gets really awkward, and thank you all for coming. This means so much to us, and we can be here and be stupid and not care about anything. It's amazing. Thank you, everyone. Whoooooooo! I don't want to be the royal hoax DJ for the rest of my life. I want to just move forward from it. I wish I could just erase it. I wish I could go back to that day and have called in sick. I want... I want the stigma gone. I want... I don't want to be the royal hoax DJ. I want to be Mel. The Westminster Coroner's Court today say the delays for the inquest into Jacintha Saldanha's death have been because of administrative reasons and coroner availability. A new tentative inquest date has been set down for mid-September this year. Well, up next, one of our most celebrated and prolific film makers on what he really thinks about Peter Jackson and his movies. I don't give a <BLEEP> how people see it. That's my opinion I'm now 75, you know? I'm old enough to have an opinion and not worry someone will think I'm jealous or something, you know? WOMAN: Now, tell me what you see in this image. WOMAN: Now, tell me what you see in this image. MAN: Uh, my new golf clubs. OK. And this? Um, anniversary presents. Right, OK. This? This? My mechanic's bill. This? My mechanic's bill. Mm. If your credit card balance is playing on your mind, switch it to an ANZ low-rate MasterCard and enjoy 0% per annum for a whole year. Call us today. Welcome back. He's one of our most prolific and celebrated film makers. So what's got Geoff Murphy hot under the collar? The force behind those quintessential Kiwi films Goodbye Pork Pie and Utu is doing something very un-Kiwi. He's speaking out, and his target is Sir Peter Jackson. Or is it? Tonight, a reflective, yet still feisty, Geoff Murphy. 'You know, if someone had approached me and said, 'Look, I've got a film job. I think you'd be interested, 'and I'll give you millions of dollars if you'll make this thing, 'and it's called Lord of the Rings', I would have said, uh, 'No, thanks.' In the lands of Middle Earth... If NZ is Middle Earth and Lord of the Rings if the sacred cow we all grew fat on... It has been sought by many. I'm not interested in a film about goblins and orcs and people in rubber suits. You know, it's just not my bag. A new power is rising. ...then Geoff Murphy is about to slaughter it. That whole Dungeons and Dragons and everything is dark and the monsters are all ugly. I used to call it the cold and the ugly. You know, I don't want to make ugly pictures. OK, where is he? Where is he? He'll be up your exhaust if he can fit. Geoff Murphy ` you may not have heard of him, but he's one of the pioneers of the NZ film industry ` an industry he believes Sir Peter Jackson has hijacked. I mean, Peter Jackson doesn't make NZ films. You know, Peter Jackson is` works for Warner Brothers, you know, he makes American films, pop culture films. Nothing to do with us, um, as a` as a culture. GUNSHOT Utu. The Quiet Earth. (LAUGHS) Goodbye Pork Pie. The films Geoff Murphy and his hippie mates made stretched the number 8 wire... What's in those woods out there? ...to its absolute limit. Movies that shone a mirror on us ` only Kiwis would get a line like this. Where are you going? Where are you going? Where you going? Where are you going? Where you going? Invercargill. Hop in. You know, like, Pork Pie is 30 years old. Are people still going to be rejoicing the Lord of the Rings in 30 years time? I don't know. Why don't you come home with me? Pork Pie cost $400,000 to make ` (VOMITS) about the price of half a house in Auckland these days. You could buy your own country with the Lord of the Rings budget. He's an extraordinary craftsman, and I think that achievement is boggling and the industrial scale of it and the control he had to achieve all that is boggling. Geoff Murphy and Peter Jackson ` you could call them the before and after of NZ's film industry. We have very parallel, uh, aspects to our development. Way back in the days before we made any features, we were building camera cranes and silent generators and trying to make technical advances, and he` when he started out in the basement of his house building puppets and working out stop motion things, and he's a fantastic pioneer ` always has been. Oh my God. I don't believe this. This is not happening. By the time he'd finished Frighteners, he was on the way to creating the force that Weta became, you know, and that` that to me is his greatest achievement. But Murphy says his film career relied on wit, cunning and cheek. That's cos no one got paid, and we stole the film stock, and we borrowed the cameras and, you know, like in reality it would have cost $50,000 or something, you know. What do ya mean, (BLOWS RASPBERRY)? What do ya mean, (BLOWS RASPBERRY)? Wild man. (BLOWS RASPBERRY) And when the generator broke down during the filming of Wild Man... We stop on the way down at the Ministry of Works thing and siphon diesel out of their bulldozers. You know, that runs` that runs our generator for the night, you know. Actually, I'm still a virgin. But it was iconic NZ comedy ` That's nice. ...Goodbye Pork Pie in 1981 that changed Murphy's life. We had three Minis, and we had three police cars, and they all had tow bars. And two of the police cars towed caravans. One was the make-up caravan and the other one was the changing room for the actors. You know, you might say taking a Mini to Invercargill is a stupid goal to base your life on, you know? But it's my goal. After the success of Pork Pie, Utu, and Quiet Earth, Murphy became disillusioned and Hollywood beckoned. But that experience was short-lived. Working in America was that they have their own flavour of bullshit that's completely different to ours. They say, 'You just made three hits? Wow, and we'll green light your next picture, whatever it is.' They have their own, you know, it's still the woman with the biggest tits who gets the part. We cut back to it. It was the irreverence and attitude that saw Murphy fired from Hollywood. You have the gift. Coming back to NZ to work with, wait for it, Peter Jackson on the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I was doing second unit, you know. He would say to me, 'Do more takes.' I'd say, 'Look, Peter, once you've got it in the can, you're better off to do something else.' You know, why do the same thing over and over again when you've already got it? Peter Jackson. Lord of the Rings. I remember Peter Jackson getting his award for best actor or something, and Hollywood showing those clips from the film. They kept showing stuff that I'd done. (LAUGHS) Lord of the Rings pumped cash into the economy ` put us on the map. It created a film industry so seductive it convinced the government into changing the labour laws and knighting Peter Jackson. He has made facilities available to NZ film makers, and he's subsidised them for NZ film makers. He's done that. He's made plenty of gestures, and that's a wonderful thing. He should be applauded unreservedly for all the stuff he's done and the industry he's created and all that. Um, I think we should... be careful, though, that he's not, uh, turned into a saint that it becomes unpatriotic to question anything he does, you know, which is sort of how it is at the moment. Geoff Murphy says he's not jealous or swinging a blade into the tallest of our poppies. I don't give a shit how people see it. I am now 75, you know? I am old enough to have an opinion and not worry that someone will think I am jealous or something, you know? Do you know anyone who could do the job? Do you know anyone who could do the job? I could. He just thinks we need to get back to telling our own stories on the big and small screens... What's going on? What's going on? I asked for some eggs, bro. Cook the man some eggs. ...because no one else will. What sort of world do NZers want to live in? Do they wanna live in a little world where every time you go to the movies, you only look at foreigners, you know? That all the heroes are foreigners. Is that the world you want to live in? But we have to make our own. We have to make them good, warm-hearted and energetic so that people want to see them. That's the only` only way. We approached Sir Peter Jackson, but his spokesperson said that Sir Peter does not wish to comment on what Geoff Murphy has had to say. He says this is simply one man's opinion, and he's very welcome to it. That's our show for tonight. Join us on Facebook ` SundayTVNZ. Thanks for joining us. We'll look forward to seeing you next week. Nga mihi nui, hei kona.