Biography
Don Blakeney was a New Zealand film producer and the first Executive Director of the New Zealand Film Commission. Born in New Plymouth on 11 September 1943, he held a Bachelor of Commerce from Victoria University and worked in finance, including an overseas role with P&O, before leaving the corporate sector in 1973.
He entered the film industry as unit caterer on Sleeping Dogs (1977) and later contributed to financing early New Zealand features through tax shelter mechanisms. Blakeney served as executive producer on Sons for the Return Home (1979) and Goodbye Pork Pie (1981). He produced Geoff Murphy’s Utu (1983), managing the financial and resourcing aspects of the production.
Blakeney died on 3 May 2025, aged 81.
