Bradford Haami is an accomplished Maori film and television producer, director, script-writer, published author, Maori historian and journalist. He is originally from Whakatane and is affiliated with the Ngati Awa, Ngati Kahungunu and Ngai Tahu tribes of New Zealand. As well as being a freelance writer he is also a co-director of Purakau Productions a Maori storytelling consultancy company and a co-director of a film and television Production company called 4 Winds Films Ltd.

He began his career in the media industry at TVNZ’s Maori programmes department in the mid 1980s for shows such as Koha, Marae, Waka Huia, the inaugural Maori sports awards, and many other television shows. He was one of the original directors and creators of the hugely successful music show Mai Time. Since those days he has been involved in drama and television shows such as ‘Tapu’ (TV ZOO, 2000). Pukukata: The Last Laugh (Greenstone Pictures) a documentary on Maori Humour that gained the highest rating for any documentary for TV 1 in 2002, Tokyo Bros (Drum Productions October 2002), Nga Tokotoru (The Film Ltd August 2002) Dalvanius Prime and Mama Tere’(Visionary Television) Taonga (Greenstone Pictures 2005/6), Mataku (4 winds Films Ltd, 2000-2005), Po raruraru (Aroha Films Ltd July 2001) Spin Doctors 1,2,&3, (Comedia Productions), Shortland St, Mercy Peak (South Pacific Pictures), The Man Who Lost His Head (Greenlit Productions UK/South Pacific Pictures).

From1998 - 1999 Brad was the Maori consultant to the Creative Director of the Maori Natural History Gallery at The Auckland Museum and in 2006 he was employed as Matauranga Maori consultant to Te Papa’s new Tohora: Whales of the South Pacific exhibition now on display 2008.

He has published a number of books: “Dr Golan Maaka: Maori Doctor” (Tandem Press 1995); “Mate-tau: Traditional Maori Love Stories” (Harper Collins1997), “He Waiata Onamata: Songs from the Past” (Te Reo Rangatira Trust 1998) which won a New Zealand Music Award for best Maori Language CD-1999, and more recently he wrote “Putea Whakairo: Maori and the Written Word” (Huia Publishers 2004). He has also published nationally and internationally a number of essays on an array of Maori related issues including “Cultural Knowledge and Traditions Relating to the Kiore rat in Aotearoa; A Maori Perspective”; “Whisky and History: Wihiki te inu matua, hei inu whakaoho korero”; “Genealogy as Taxonomy,” and “Te Whanau Puha: Maori and whales”. He researched and wrote “Urutahi Koataata Maori, Guidelines for Working with Maori Communities in Film and Television’ Nga Aho Whakaari (2008). His latest publications are ‘True Red, The Life of an ex-Mongrel Mob Leader’ co-authored with Tuhoe Isaac, (self-published -True Red 2007 , and “Urutahi Koataata Maori, Guidelines for Working with Maori Communities in Film and Television’ Nga Aho Whakaari (2008).