Edited and produced by: Jan Bieringa and Jonathan Dennis
Victoria University Press - Copyright 1999
237mm x 180mm - 210 pages softcover
ISBN 0 864733-56 9
John O'Shea gives us extraordinary frank insights into the making of such key New Zealand films as
'Broken Barrier', 'Runaway', 'Don't Let It Get You' and 'Ngati', as well as documentaries like the
landmark television series 'Tangata Whenua'. The story of Pacific Films - the company he joined in
1950 and which is still going today - is seen in the social and artistic contexts of the times, and woven
together with reflections on the work of other major film makers, such as Jane Campion, and the
roadshow BLERTA, which instigated the careers of Bruno Lawrence, Geoff Murphy and others.
Illustrated with 170 photographs, 'Don't Let It Get You' reads like an exceptionally well-edited
screen documentary. O'Shea's witty and passionate text moves fluidly between present and past,
between films and personal experiences such as Italy in the Second World War, between a lifetime's
moviegoing and a lifetime's concern for social justice.