CAREER PROFILE | FILM & TV

I had to ask Dayna, when she was a kid watching Jason Gunn, would she think “oh I’d love his job when I grow up”? She replied, “Well, to be totally honest, when I was a kid I would see the presenters and say ‘Shush, just play the cartoons!’” Add to this the fact that she was a shy kid who detested being dragged off to drama lessons, and you have a pretty unlikely candidate for a kids’ TV presenter. Nevertheless, it’s amazing where a bubbly personality, a motivated attitude, and some nights at the movies will lead you!

Nights at the movies?! Yes, her mum would take Dayna to the movies as her reward for going to drama lessons. These lessons gave her a confidence and an enjoyment of performing and being in front of a crowd. She would seize every opportunity to take to the stage at school, explaining that “If you keep pushing yourself and trying something new, you’re always learning… And the thing with presenting, it’s about being confident and being confident in who you are.”

Like many careers in New Zealand, where the industry is small and competitive (e.g. medicine, music and the media), the “glamour” of TV presenting may seem like a far-fetched dream. Yet, for those who are really passionate about something, Dayna offers some inspirational advice, “Hey, it is a tough industry, but if it’s your dream, if it’s what you’re passionate about, then keep going – don’t let that stop you!”

Having attended South Seas Film and Television School, Dayna has an appreciation for different components of the industry, from camera work, to editing, to producing and researching. And as a result, is quick to point out there’s much more to a career in TV/media than presenting, “when you look behind the cameras you’ve got someone that looks after props, someone who directs stories, you’ve got writers and so on.

Being an on-screen role-model to so many kids, Dayna’s Christianity definitely effects the way she approaches her job. “Your faith is who you are and it makes me, me. It’s something that’s with me all the time… I’m where I am for a reason. So even though I’m having a lot of fun and stuff, I don’t hold it lightly.” And it’s the same for anything we do as Christians: the way we approach it is most important – you never know who could be influenced by what you do and how you do it!

By Hayden Shearman