Michael Bennett (film director)

Michael Te Arawa Bennett is a New Zealand writer, scenarist, author and director for film and television.^[1]

Michael Bennett
Born	Michael Te Arawa Bennett Reefton, New Zealand
Occupation(s)	Director, writer
Years active	1994 – present

Career

Bennett is the co-creator, writer, show-runner and executive producer of TVNZ's Vegas.

He is also the author of In Dark Places, a study of the wrongful conviction of Teina Pora for the 1992 murder of Susan Burdett, which won the 2017 Ngaio Marsh crime writing award.^[2] His 2022 crime novel, Better the Blood, was shortlisted for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at the 2023 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards^[3] and for the Best Novel at the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Awards.^[4] Return to Blood, the second novel featuring detective, Hana Westerman, was longlisted for the 2025 Ngaio Marsh Best Novel.^[5]

Personal life

Bennett is Maori and is of Te Arawa descent. He resides in Auckland with his partner and three children,^[6] and is the head of screenwriting at South Seas Film School.^[7]

Bennett is a cousin of actor Manu Bennett.

Partial filmography

• Michelle's Third Novel (1994) (writer, short film)^[8]
• Street Legal (2000) (writer, TV serial)
• Cow (2002) (writer and director, short film)
• Kerosene Creek (2004) (writer and director, short film)
• The Lost Children (2006) (writer, TV serial)
• Maddigan's Quest (2006) (writer, TV serial)
• Outrageous Fortune (2005–2007) (writer and director, TV serial)
• Matariki (2010) (writer and director, feature film)^[9]
• In Dark Places (2018) (writer and director, TV film)
• Vegas (2021) (writer and producer, TV serial)^[10]
• The Convert (2023) (writer, film)

Bibliography

• In Dark Places (2016, true crime book) - Won the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Non Fiction
• Helen and the Go-Go Ninjas (2019, graphic novel illustrated by Ant Sang)
• Better the Blood (2022, first in the Hana Westerman series of crime novels) - Won the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel, and also nominated for Best Crime Novel
• Return to Blood (2024, second Hana Westerman novel)
• Carved in Blood (2025, third Hana Westerman novel)^[11]