Tom Hern

Hern has produced six feature films and recently co-created and co-directed his first drama series, The Panthers. After starting out as an actor, Hern broke onto the international scene as a producer with his production The Dark Horse; a gritty-based-on-a-true-story-drama, directed by his friend, James Napier Robertson, which launched at TIFF to glowing reviews and sales to all major territories. The film eventually garnered Oscar-buzz around Cliff Curtis's transformative performance in the film. TDH won a number of awards at top tier film festivals (including Audience Award-wins at the Rotterdam International Film Festival and the San Francisco, Seattle and Palm Springs Film Festivals) and was a Box Office smash in its home territory. Later Hern produced the high-octane action-comedy, Guns Akimbo (starring Samara Weaving and Daniel Radcliffe) which launched at the TIFF in 2019 and Shadow in the Cloud (staring Chloë Grace Moretz and directed by Roseanne Liang); the madly-gripping action-horror which won the TIFF 2020 Midnight Madness Award. Hern sat on the International Jury for the Berlin International Film Festival (Generation Section in 2015 and won the pitching prize at the MIFF 37 Degrees South market in Melbourne in 2016. He also won the Moa-award for "Best Film" at the 2014 New Zealand Film Awards for The Dark Horse. Hern is a principal of two companies; Four Knights Film, alongside writer/director, James Napier Robertson and Tavake, alongside writer/producer, Halaifonua Finau.