Biography
Bailey Mackey is one of New Zealand's leading independent producers across an array of genres. He continues to re-engineer New Zealand's film and television industry through award-winning content. On a personal level, he uses his body of works to positively influence the way the world perceives Maori people and culture.
An award-winning producer, writer, and director, his list of accolades includes Idealog's 2017 Most Creative in Film and TV, and the University of Auckland's inaugural Maori Entrepreneur of the Year.
He is co-founder and CEO of independent production house, Pango Productions Ltd. Pango produces film and television content for local and international distribution. His most recent credits include; All or Nothing; A Season with the All Blacks, the biggest documentary series in New Zealand history for global tech giant Amazon, and Sidewalk Karaoke, a simple game show played on the streets sold to Fremantle Media Ltd.
Bailey is of Maori descent raised by his grandparents in a rural town on New Zealand's east coast called Gisborne. Fluent in both English and Maori languages, Bailey incorporates his Maori culture and values into his work and personal life.
He started his career as a Radio DJ for his iwi (tribe) on Radio Ngati Porou. Realising the power of broadcasting, coupled with his talent for storytelling, he transitioned into tv sports journalism. He hitchhiked from his small town to Auckland city to audition as a reporter at a large network. It was there he honed his craft of storytelling from a unique perspective, appealing to broad audiences. His other on-screen credit includes Presenter for TV3s Best Damn Sports Show.
His career progressed into Head of Sport at Maori Television, in 2006, where he launched award-winning shows. One of his legacy shows, CODE, presented by New Zealand's top sport athletes, became one of the highest rating shows over consecutive years. CODE won a 2007 Air New Zealand Sports Award for Best Sports Programme.
He founded his first independent production house, Black Inc. in 2008, and expanded into drama, reality, documentary, lifestyle and entertainment genres. Some of his known works include Beneath the Maori Moon, reflecting his passion for NZ Rugby, and anthology series, Atamira. Beneath the Maori Moon chronicled the history of Maori rugby, winning a Maori Sports Award in 2010. Atamira put six plays by playwrights on screen.
In 2009, Eyeworks Touchdown purchased Blank Inc and Bailey became company director alongside New Zealand reality TV queen, Julie Christie. With Eyeworks he produced a string of hits including One Land - an anthropological experiment of how modern families would deal with the challenges of daily life in mid-19th Century New Zealand, winning a film and television award for Best Reality Series. Warner Bros purchased Eyeworks Touchdown.
In 2012 Bailey became a sudden and crucial national figure with the debut of his reality show, The GC. The show follows young successful Maori diaspora living and working in Australia's Gold Coast. Bailey describes it as a "simple show about contemporary Maori subculture". The show became a national debate with NZs non-Maori population (80% of the country) conditioned to shows and news embellishing negative Maori stereotypes. The show inaugurated social change and attitudes to how Maori people were type casted and portrayed. Then Prime Minister, John Key, stated the show created important dialogue and debate. Two more seasons were commissioned.
An entrepreneur, Bailey launched KAHA - a production management tool, built by producers for producers, to save time and money. It's a smart cloud software package that integrates budget, production schedule, cashflow and staffing from a single integrated point, no matter the size or budget.
Bailey sits on many governance boards including New Zealand's Te Pae Tawhiti advisory board, New Zealand Trade & Enterprise 2020 Dubai World Expo advisory board, and is President of the East Coast Rugby Union.
