Glenn Standring is a New Zealand scriptwriter, producer and film director, working in the action, horror and fantasy genres. He is from Feilding in the North Island of New Zealand. He is descended from Glaswegians and Mancunians on the European side and Ngāpuhi on the New Zealand side. Standring studied film at the Ilam School of Fine Arts, and completed a first class honours degree in Archaeology from The University of Otago in Dunedin. Later he moved to Wellington and began to direct comedy for television.
Career
Standring's first short was 1992's Zerographic, a love story built around man, woman and photocopier. His last short film was the experimental computer animationLenny Minute One which was selected for the 1993 short film competition at Cannes Film Festival. He also directed the music video Gimme Gimme by the influential band Shihad. After the success of Lenny Minute One he was approached Wellington television producer Dave Gibson, who was considering adding animated segments to the comedy show Skitz. Standring went on to produce special effects sequences and the opening credits of a number of Gibson Group television shows and directed some of Skitzs live-action sketches. His first feature film as writer/director was the low-budget filmThe Irrefutable Truth about Demons, which was nominated for best film awards at fantasy film festivals in Portugal and Spain. The film was retitled simply The Truth about Demons in many countries. Set largely after dark, Demons follows a rationalist university lecturer as he attempts to escape the attentions of a satanic cult. Standring's second film, Perfect Creature, released in 2007, it remains one of the most expensiveNew Zealand films set on its home turf. The film was an ambitious horror/thriller set in an alternative universe New Zealand that incorporated elements of history and fantasy. In this world vampires are protectors of mankind, rather than the enemy. Though many New Zealand actors appeared in the cast, most of Perfect Creatures lead actors were from Great Britain, including Dougray Scott and Saffron Burrows. In 2005 key theatrical rights to the film were sold to distributors 20th Century Fox at a reportedly record price for a New Zealand film, creating expectations it might join the relatively small list of Kiwi films to get wide release in North American cinemas. Perfect Creature later saw a theatrical release in some countries, but in the United States was ultimately released direct to video in 2007. His fourth feature film, The Dead Lands, was released in 2014. The film is an action feature shot in Auckland and the central North Island of New Zealand. It features the Māori martial art Mau Rakau, a unique hand-to-hand fighting style not well known outside of New Zealand.
