Tony MacIver

Son of a professional deer hunter and an accounts clerk, Tony was raised in the Wairarapa and dropped out of school at 16 in the hope of becoming a rock musician. He ended up hitchhiking to Auckland to pursue an acting career instead. Having no luck, he then moved to Australia to try and break into the industry and spent the next three years washing dishes, carrying bags and waiting tables. After returning to New Zealand, he landed some professional acting work in 1998, a part on the television drama Shortland Street, guest starring in episodes directed by a variety of up-and-coming kiwi directors including Danny Mulheron. That was followed by the guest role of Tiros in a Garth Maxwell directed episode of Rebel with a Cause (1999) alongside Kevin Sorbo. He then won his first feature film role as Johnny in Truth About Demons (2000) written and directed by Glenn Standring, playing opposite a then relatively unknown Karl Urban in the lead role. Demons went on to become a low budget success and was nominated for best film awards at fantasy film festivals in Portugal and Spain, and became a cult hit on the festival circuit. The next few years were spent traveling, writing screenplays and poetry, producing independent short films and music videos, writing songs and touring with the NZ rock band Nine Signals. In 2011 he produced the short Sci-Fi film Vial (2011) and in 2012 secured the role of Sebastian in the independent action film Contract Killers (2013).