Taika Waititi

If you know more information about Taika Waititi help us to improve this page

Birthday:

16 August 1975, New Zealand

Birth Name:

Taika David Waititi

Height:

184 cm

Taika Waititi, also known as Taika Cohen, hails from the Raukokore region of the East Coast, and is of Te-Whanau-a-Apanui (father) and Jewish (mother) descent. He has been involved in the film industry for several years, initially as an actor, and now focusing on writing and directing.Two Cars, One Night is Taika's first professional film-making effort and since its completion in 2003 he has finished another short "Tama Tu" about a group of Maori Soldiers in Italy during World War 2.As a performer and comedian, Taika has been involved in some of the most innovative and successful original productions seen in New Zealand. He regularly does standup gigs in and around the country and in 2004 launched his solo production, "Taika's Incredible Show". In 2005 he staged the sequel, "Taika's Incrediblerer Show". As an actor, Taika has been critically acclaimed for both his Comedic and Dramatic abilities. In 2000 he was nominated for Best Actor at the Nokia Film Awards for his role in the Sarkies Brother's film "Scarfies".Taika is also an experienced painter and photographer, having exhibited both mediums in Wellington and Berlin, and a fashion designer. He attended the Sundance Writers Lab with "Choice", a feature loosely based on "Two Cars, One Night". Show less «

Sundance felt like a natural fit. I love coming here, and I do think that this festival suits my films rather than most of the festivals I'v...Show more »

Sundance felt like a natural fit. I love coming here, and I do think that this festival suits my films rather than most of the festivals I've been to. I'm not going to Cannes, you know. Show less «

To make filmmaking interesting to me, I want to keep learning things.

Also with that money comes the idea, "Let your imagination run wild." Which I think is a very dangerous thing. I think it's dangerous becaus...Show more »

Also with that money comes the idea, "Let your imagination run wild." Which I think is a very dangerous thing. I think it's dangerous because you can get into pretty wacky territory. There are things that are too crazy. Show less «

I constantly remind myself that there are terrible movies out there. I try to watch them, some of them, to give myself an understanding of w...Show more »

I constantly remind myself that there are terrible movies out there. I try to watch them, some of them, to give myself an understanding of what not to do. Show less «

Sometimes there are really happy mistakes.

The films I like to watch are when they make it relatable to human audiences.

When you're actually making a film, it's just people on your back all the time wanting stuff and you're constantly having to it deal with th...Show more »

When you're actually making a film, it's just people on your back all the time wanting stuff and you're constantly having to it deal with them. It's probably the most time consuming of all the arts, but I do love it because it is a great mix of visual art and music and writing. Show less «

I've always been a relaxed person on set, but I think the main thing is I think about it from an editing point of view way more than I did b...Show more »

I've always been a relaxed person on set, but I think the main thing is I think about it from an editing point of view way more than I did before. Show less «

A big part of the humour is in identifying with the tragic elements of the film. The New Zealand sense of humour is very dark. Our films are...Show more »

A big part of the humour is in identifying with the tragic elements of the film. The New Zealand sense of humour is very dark. Our films are usually very dark and it's always someone being killed. Usually a child. Show less «

I hate the modern day the kids live in. I don't think it's very cool. Everyone's interconnected.

I've become more like water, I'm more relaxed and I'll say, "Okay, let's just completely change it and do it that way."

If you're tracking with a character that's running off a thing and diving off, I would leave the camera there and not follow them down, beca...Show more »

If you're tracking with a character that's running off a thing and diving off, I would leave the camera there and not follow them down, because cameras don't do that. The audience understands that. I'll definitely bring that understanding of keeping things a bit more grounded. Show less «

I'm really not trying to do everything that comes to mind because that's when it can be dangerous. For instance, I believe as much as possib...Show more »

I'm really not trying to do everything that comes to mind because that's when it can be dangerous. For instance, I believe as much as possible, how your camera moves and flies around should be limited to the physics of how you could do it in real life. Show less «

I'm used to working with restrictions and that's when you come up with the more creative stuff.

I've loved comics since I was a kid, collected them, I've always dreamed of being involved in comics.

Everything changes once you start trying to market the film. Part of you feels like everything is slipping away from you. For me, I don't wa...Show more »

Everything changes once you start trying to market the film. Part of you feels like everything is slipping away from you. For me, I don't want people going to the theater thinking it's going to be a laugh-a-minute comedy, like a Will Ferrell film or something. Because it's not. Show less «

Hitler rounded up all of the vampires in Europe.

Short film: you can be poetic and you don't have to answer anything. You can make whatever you want. You have creative freedom with short fi...Show more »

Short film: you can be poetic and you don't have to answer anything. You can make whatever you want. You have creative freedom with short film. Show less «

With a feature film you're dealing with so much more money and you've got to be very aware of the fact that you're really working with an au...Show more »

With a feature film you're dealing with so much more money and you've got to be very aware of the fact that you're really working with an audience. You've got to have a relationship with the audience. Play with them and show them things you want them to see. Show less «

A feature film is an expansion of budget, stress, story, hours, time, workload, everything.

I like to find comedy or something interesting to look at with whatever I'm working on.

There are lots of parts of filmmaking that I don't like. At the end of the day, especially on features, the film turns into a commodity. You...Show more »

There are lots of parts of filmmaking that I don't like. At the end of the day, especially on features, the film turns into a commodity. You have to play this entirely new game I'm very uncomfortable with. Show less «

I want to do weird things and big budget things and no budget things. I don't have a five-year plan.

I never wanted to be a filmmaker. I still, sometimes, think I got sidetracked by this, like this is a tangent. My main thing was painting; I...Show more »

I never wanted to be a filmmaker. I still, sometimes, think I got sidetracked by this, like this is a tangent. My main thing was painting; I was just going to do that. Show less «

There were definitely Nazis who saw the error of their ways.