Christopher
Banks is a 31-year-old film-maker and journalist based in New
Zealand.
In the late
nineties he wrote and produced a string of top 40 hits in New
Zealand, including three consecutive number ones for a pop group
which he founded, Deep Obsession.
It was the first time a local group had ever achieved such a
feat, and the subsequent album was certified platinum and went on to
be released internationally.
After their short-lived dance-pop fuse expired, Banks began working with “Quiet Night In” star Nicolette Kenny on her solo pop career, a partnership which saw hits on both sides of the Tasman, and songs commissioned for children’s programmes.
“We always
got on really well together,” he says. “It was great to be able
to work on something completely different, outside music.
The last time we worked together before the movie, I was
playing keyboards on mid-morning TV for her, dressed as a giant
bunny. Funny how life
progresses.”
Outside music, Banks was the senior writer for New
Zealand’s leading GLBT news and entertainment website GayNZ.com
from 2003-06, and was an occasional contributor to London’s “Gay
Times” magazine. In
2004, he wrote, directed and presented stories for the award-winning
TV2 show “Queer Nation”.
His first feature, the camp comedy “Quiet Night In”,
was unleashed on the international festival circuit in 2005 to
positive reviews. A DVD
release followed in 2007.
Banks lives in Auckland, New Zealand, and is married to
Dean, his partner of thirteen years.
He is very fond of Orson Welles, Woody Allen, Stanley
Kubrick, the boardgame “Cluedo”, and the classic British sitcom
“Are You Being Served?”.
By day, he works in public relations for the Mental Health
Foundation of New Zealand. By
night, he eats popcorn, keeps a blog called Cinéma
Lūdicrus
