Clare O'Leary

Clare is currently director/producer with Glenis Giles on the feature documentary Geoff Dixon | Portraits of Us. The film was edited by Amanda Mulderry with an original soundscape by Plan9.

Clare started her filmmaking career in Western Australia, working on short films and directing documentaries: Overlocked & Underpaid (SBS-TV - 1988) about migrant women in the clothing trade and Groundwork (1989), tackling gender issues in the mining industry.

She returned to New Zealand at the end of 1990 and has worked on a variety of art and social issue films. A television documentary about the sex industry, A Double Standard, (TV3 1996) and Decriminalisation of Sex Work in New Zealand (2010) tell stories of sex workers before and after the legislation decriminalising prostitution was passed. Prostitution Reform Act (2003).

Documentaries include: Gordon Crook: A Life of Art (2010), A Class Act (1997) about playwright Mervyn Thompson, historian and writer, Michael King, A Moment in Time (1997). These were all selected for the NZ International Film Festival programme and were produced with Glenis Giles through gogo media.

Other shorter formats include profiles of artists, writers and community projects. The Sound of a Painting featured the work of artist Ralph Hotere and his collaboration with NZ poets Hone Tuwhare, Bill Manhire, Ian Wedde and Cilla McQueen.

In 2015 Clare was Digital Artist in Residence with The Big Idea to create The Solace Initiative, a collaborative creative workshop between hospice workers and creative practitioners exploring 'what brings you solace' in loss and grief. The Solace of Art.

Clare has also worked extensively in the creative, digital content and games industry sector, writing papers and digital strategies for NZTE, NZ On Air, NZIER and the National Library of NZ. She has advised on the government's Creative Industries and Digital Content Strategy. She scoped NZONSCREEN, the largest online screen portal in NZ at the time, of which she was the founding Content Director.

Clare originally trained as a nurse and has worked across the health and media sectors. Her work through hospice, The Art of Palliative Medicine saw the introduction of creative storytelling for medical students to understand grief, loss and dying.

Clare was appointed to the Film Literature & Classifications Board for four years (2010-2015).

She is currently a board member of the Home of Compassion, St Joseph's and is also a trustee of the Lesbian Gay Archives of NZ (LAGANZ) Te Pūranga Takatāpui o Aotearoa in 2022.

Clare lives with her partner Cathy in Breaker Bay, Wellington and often works on projects with her son, artist/illustrator Samuel O'Leary. He and his wife Stephanie live in Portland, Oregon with their two sons, Miles and Louis, and new baby Lila.

Filmography

	GEOFF DIXON - PORTRAITS OF US » Geoff Dixon’s art reflects his vision for our future unless we take immediate action – he worked as a conservationist long before the word became part of our everyday vocabulary...
	PORTRAITS OF US » Geoff Dixon’s art reflects his vision for our future unless we take immediate action – he was worked as a conservationist long before the word became part of our everyday vocabulary...