Interview #12: Rob Tapert! Co-creator, Executive Producer, Director, and Writer 🧠🎬🎣

He’s the co-creator, executive producer, writer, director and yes, an avid fisherman 🎣 - the one and only Rob Tapert (eeeeee!!!!!) joins us for a kōrero/chat about bringing Xena: Warrior Princess to life ⚔️

 

Rob takes us back to the very beginning, what drew him down to Aotearoa New Zealand, the magic of building something wildly ambitious on the other side of the world, and how a scrappy team of Kiwi and Aussie creatives managed to capture that once-in-a-lifetime lightning-in-a-bottle which turned Xena into a global pop culture phenomenon ⚡🌍

 

Yes, we do get him to say the words hard yakka 💪 as he reflects on the creative risks, and the secret ingredients which gave the show its heart, humour, and enduring queer legacy 🏳️‍🌈

 

Plus, in a moment we’ve been holding our breath for, Rob shares a candid and much-anticipated update on where things stand with that reboot script 👀

 

This one is candid, wholesome, and beautifully bittersweet (see what we did there?) and a rare chance to hear directly from the Kiwi-by-choice screen legend himself ❤️

 

Cast a line, Nutballs… this one’s a big catch 🐟✨