Areas of Expertise
Comedy
Performance
Directing
Writing
Claims to fame:
Was famous in NZ as a child actor and is still sensitive about it.
Has worked with all the famous people you’ve ever heard of from NZ (except for Sam Neill, but he used to flat with his Mum).
In a NZ parliamentary committee, an MP complained about his podcast getting NZ on Air funding because a beloved breakfast TV host on the show said “They opened up my desk, and shat in my desk.”
Pitched a TV show with Jacinda Ardern’s boyfriend, when he had a different girlfriend…
He made a WWII film for the NZ 48 Hour Film Competition that was selected as the ‘Wildcard’ entry into the National Finals by Sir Peter Jackson… oh, did I mention the short film was shot entirely in miniature with live mice as actors? Weird.
Can reliably cast an actor off 15 seconds of audition tape.
Charlie Bleakley is a writer-director who only rarely refers to himself in the third person.
A New Zealander who resides in Melbourne, he treks between the two Australasian continents creating work that makes you laugh and makes you think.
With an enigmatic history as both an actor and an editor, Charlie brings a unique mix of performance, direction, and post-production craft to his projects. Originally from a government town he is also a master of making commercial work for clients with catchy acronyms like ACC, NZTA, MSD, NZIC, WOW, and Google.
His short film Coconut (a film that comments on race, sexism, and violence on screen, clumsily wrapped in the guise of a bromantic comedy) premiered at the NZ International Film Festival, was a finalist for two NZ Film Awards, a NZ Writer’s Guild Award, and won People’s Choice Award at the Oscar accredited Show Me Shorts Film Festival - among other smaller and less significant awards that would be embarrassing to mention. He is now in development with the NZFC for his first feature film Banana.
Charlie’s approach is ideal for people who enjoy working in a collaborative environment telling beautifully crafted stories that are authentic, engaging, and intelligent.
Charlie is represented by Bruce Everett at Dusty Road for all creative, broadcast, and commercial work.
