Brendan Donovan
Directing
Known For
The Insiders Guide To Love is a New Zealand drama series that explores the lives of a group of seven previously unconnected people. Each is implicated in a bizarre incident, the outcome of which forces them to examine and explore the loves in their own lives. The series is a prequel to the show The Insider's Guide To Happiness, with James the only character in common.
The Insider's Guide To Love

In the midst of a new scheme to publicly report surgeons’ performance, a gifted surgeon’s life is thrown into disarray as her colleagues begin to close ranks, and even her partner, a nurse at the hospital, turns her back on her.
A Mistake

Aftershock follows four groups of people in the minutes, hours and days after Wellington is struck by a magnitude 8.2 earthquake and subsequent tsunami. Buried office workers must pull together. Strangers, caught by the tsunami on a ruined motorway, put themselves in danger to save others. A mother must reunite her family. And, at the centre of the rescue operation, a controller is bunkered down at Wellington’s Emergency Management Office.
Aftershock

Global, dynamic, and eye-opening, this is story of the most daring cyber heist of all time, the Bangladeshi Central Bank theft, tracing the origins of cyber-crime from basic credit card fraud to the wildly complex criminal organisations in existence today, supported by commentary and fascinating insight from highly regarded cyber security experts.
Billion Dollar Heist
The withered face of an old man sitting in a car. He is about to be joined by a young man whose life is going to be in his hands. A split second decision and things might be forever changed.
Here

A parachuting accident on a remote volcanic plateau forces a young solider to confront the torments of his past.
Cockle
When a vulnerable young man returns home, he's confronted by a history of violence with his father, and the searing memory of a lost friend; he takes dramatic action.
No Shame

An intimate look at Israel Adesanya, the Nigerian born New Zealand based MMA champion, which goes beyond the ring and delves deep into an unlikely fighter's journey. Exploring themes of masculinity, bullying and even the healing power of dance, this documentary is a poignant examination of the complex, exciting and sometimes controversial person known as 'The Last Stylebender.'
Stylebender

William McInnes (Look Both Ways, Sea Change) is the can-do barbecue dad of the title in Brendan Donovan’s affectionate comedy-drama. He plays a Howick cleaning contractor, whose hopes and dreams include success in local body politics. But his real passion is kart-racing and he’s grooming his teenage sons, 17-year-old Marc and 14-year-old Ed (real-life brothers Josh and William McKenzie), as future motorsport heroes. He’s borrowed so much money to make it all happen that it stretches the love of his wife Gail (Robyn Malcolm of Outrageous Fortune fame) to breaking point. When the boys collide on the track, Gazza’s world is turned upside down, causing a crisis that tears at them all — forcing him to fight to keep his dreams afloat, and his family together.
The Hopes and Dreams of Gazza Snell

'Grasp' is a darkly humorous mystery peppered with some truly surreal visuals. Two hard-boiled detectives and an oddball pathologist investigate a severed hand found in a laundromat - and the results aren't pretty...