Lee Tamahori

Lee Tamahori, born 17 June 1950, is a New Zealand filmmaker best-known for directing the 1994 film Once Were Warriors and the 2002 James Bond film Die Another Day. Born Warren Lee Tamahori, in Wellington, New Zealand, he is of Māori ancestry on his father's side and of British ancestry on his mother's. He attended Massey High School and began his career as a commercial artist and photographer,. He moved to the film industry in the late 1970s, ini... more

Lee Tamahori, born 17 June 1950, is a New Zealand filmmaker best-known for directing the 1994 film Once Were Warriors and the 2002 James Bond film Die Another Day. Born Warren Lee Tamahori, in Wellington, New Zealand, he is of Māori ancestry on his father's side and of British ancestry on his mother's. He attended Massey High School and began his career as a commercial artist and photographer,. He moved to the film industry in the late 1970s, initially getting in the door by working for nothing, then worked as a boom operator for Television New Zealand, and on 1978 feature Skin Deep, the classic Goodbye Pork Pie, and Bad Blood. In the early 1980s Geoff Murphy employed him as an assistant director on Utu, and he subsequently worked as first assistant director on films like The Silent One, The Quiet Earth and Came a Hot Friday. He is also best known for directing the Sopranos a hit tv show which started in 1999. In 1986 Tamahori co-founded a commercial production company Flying Fish and... less