Julie Christie (producer)

Dame Julie Claire Molloy Christie DNZM (née Molloy; born 1961 or 1962) is a New Zealand businesswoman and television producer. She is the founder and former CEO of international television company Touchdown Productions, acquired by Dutch media company Eyeworks in 2006, and then later sold to Warner Bros.^[3]

Dame Julie Christie DNZM
Christie in 2017
Born	Julie Claire Molloy 1961 or 1962 (age 61–62)
Nationality	New Zealander
Occupation	Television producer
Spouse(s)	Simon Lamond^[1] Louis Jones^[2]
Relatives	Leo Molloy (brother)

Biography

Christie was born in about 1962,^[4] and grew up in Greymouth.^[5] She is the sister of Leo Molloy.^[4] She moved to Wellington when she was 17 and started working in newspaper journalism.^[4][5]

After a decade as a sports sub-editor in newspapers, Christie moved into research for broadcaster Neil Roberts at Communicado production house. She started her own company, Touchdown Productions, in 1991.^[6]

Touchdown became a major exporter of television formats to 29 countries, most notably the gameshow The Chair for ABC in the US and the BBC, and the reality gameshow Treasure Island.

In the 2007 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to television,^[7] and in the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours she was promoted to Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to governance and the television industry.^[8]

In 2021, Christie acquired a majority shareholding in the international natural history TV makers and documentary production company NHNZ, and changed the name to NHNZ Worldwide. She is currently CEO.^[9]

Memberships

• Rugby World Cup 2011 – Member of the Organising Board^[5]
• New Zealand Rugby Union – Member of the Commercial Committee 2012 to 2018^[5]
• New Zealand Trade and Enterprise – Board Member 2009 to 2015^[5]
• New Zealand Steering Group for World Expo Dubai 2020^[10]
• All Blacks Experience – Chair^[11]
• Development West Coast – Deputy Chair^[12]
• Rugby World Cup 2021 – Organising Committee Chair^[13]

References

1. Findlater, Gordon (21 December 2017). "Dunn stables brings in controversial restaurant owner Leo Molloy to fight doping case". New Zealand Herald. from the original on 27 April 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
2. "Euro owner charged over row at rival eatery". New Zealand Herald. 21 December 2001. from the original on 14 March 2022. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
3. "Dame Julie Christie: The West Coaster who reshaped New Zealand television". unfilteredtv.podbean.com. from the original on 17 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
4. Tay, Karen (4 December 2009). "Small screen queen". Stuff. from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
5. "TV reality queen Julie Christie becomes a Dame". Stuff. 16 August 2017. from the original on 29 November 2019. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
6. "Julie Christie: TV is a business not an art". Now To Love. from the original on 17 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
7. "Queen's Birthday honours list 2007". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 4 June 2007. from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
8. "Queen's Birthday honours list 2017". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 5 June 2017. from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
9. Frater, Patrick (26 February 2021). "Julie Christie Acquires Control of Factual Producer NHNZ". Variety. from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
10. "Expo 2020 Dubai UAE". NZTA Expo. from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
11. "All Blacks Experience to open in December 2020". NZ Rugby. from the original on 23 September 2020. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
12. "Dame Julie Christie now a West Coast trustee". NZBusiness. 19 June 2017. from the original on 6 February 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
13. "Rugby World Cup 2021 set to break new ground as tournament dates are announced". Rugby World Cup. 3 February 2020. from the original on 30 November 2020.