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Rachel Alison Mary Lang MNZM is a New Zealand television screenwriter, executive producer and actor. She co-created the television series Outrageous Fortune, Go Girls, This Is Not My Life, Mercy Peak, Nothing Trivial, The Blue Rose, and Filthy Rich. She was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to television, in the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours.
Career
Lang graduated from Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School in 1982 with a Diploma in Acting. Lang's first work in script writing was as a script editor at TVNZ in the 1980s. She worked on episodes of Shark in the Park, Open House and movie Mark II.
From 1992 until 2000 she worked on Shortland Street, starting as a story liner then moving on to roles as story editor and executive producer. She was the first New Zealander employed as story editor on the show, with previous story editors employed from Australia.
In 1999 she created Jackson's Wharf, one of her first collaborations with Gavin Strawhan. They would go on to work together on Mercy Peak and Maddigan's Quest.
Filmography
Film
| Title | Year | Credited as | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Writer | |||
| 13 Suspects | 2018 | Yes | Short film |
Television
| Title | Year | Credited as | Network | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creator | Writer | Executive producer | ||||
| Open House | 1986–87 | No | No | No | Television One | Story editor |
| Gloss | 1987 | No | No | No | Network Two | Script editor |
| Shark in the Park | 1989–91 | No | No | No | Television One | Story editor Script editor |
| Shortland Street | 1992 | No | No | No | Channel 2 | Storyliner |
| City Life | 1998 | No | Yes (1) | Yes | TV2 | |
| Lawless | 1999 | Devised | No | No | TV2 | Television film Script editor |
| Jackson's Wharf | 1999–2001 | Yes | Yes (8) | Yes | TV2 | Executive producer (season 2) |
| Lawless: Dead Evidence | 2000 | Yes | No | No | TV2 | Television film |
| Lawless: Beyond Justice | 2001 | Yes | No | No | TV2 | Television film Script editor |
| Mercy Peak | 2001–04 | Yes | Yes (8) | Yes | TV One | |
| Outrageous Fortune | 2005–10 | Yes | Yes (35) | Yes | TV3 | Script editor (series 3–6) |
| Maddigan's Quest | 2006 | Developer | Yes (8) | No | TV3 | Script editor |
| Honest | 2008 | Yes | No | No | ITV | |
| Go Girls | 2009–13 | Yes | Yes (22) | Yes | TV2 | |
| This Is Not My Life | 2010 | Yes | Yes (4) | Yes | TV One | |
| The Almighty Johnsons | 2011–12 | Yes | Yes (2) | Yes | TV3 | Executive producer (series 1–2: 22 episodes) |
| Nothing Trivial | 2011–14 | Yes | Yes (20) | Yes | TV One | |
| The Blue Rose | 2013 | Yes | Yes (7) | Yes | TV3 | |
| Step Dave | 2014 | No | Yes (3) | No | TV2 | |
| When We Go to War | 2015 | No | Yes (4) | No | TV One | |
| Westside | 2015–20 | Yes | Yes (4) | No | Three | |
| Filthy Rich | 2016–17 | Yes | Yes (16) | Yes | TVNZ 2 | |
| Hyde & Seek | 2016 | Yes | Yes (5) | No | Nine Network | |
| Dirty Laundry | 2017 | Yes | No | Yes | TVNZ 1 | |
| Bad Mothers | 2019 | Yes | Yes (5) | Yes | Nine Network | |
Awards
| Year | Award | Category | Title | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | New Zealand Film and Television Awards | Best Script | Shortland Street | Nominated |
| 2005 | Qantas Television Awards | Best Script - Non-Factual Programme or Series | Outrageous Fortune, "The Cause of this Defect" | Won |
| 2006 | Outrageous Fortune | Nominated | ||
| 2007 | Nominated | |||
| 2008 | Best Script, Drama/Comedy Programme | Won | ||
| 2009 | Won | |||
| 2010 | Go Girls | Nominated | ||
| 2006 | Air New Zealand Screen Awards | Best Script - Drama Series or Serial | Outrageous Fortune | Nominated |
| 2007 | Best Script, Drama - Television | Outrageous Fortune, episode 16 | Nominated | |
| Maddigan's Quest, episode 5 | Nominated | |||
| 2012 | Monte Carlo TV Festival | Outstanding International Producer - Drama Series | Nothing Trivial | Nominated |
References
- "Twelve Questions with Rachel Lang". NZ Herald. 18 July 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
- "Queen's Birthday Honours 2017 - Citations for members of the New Zealand Order of Merit". Queen's Birthday Honours 2017 - Citations for members of the New Zealand Order of Merit. 20 June 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
- "Honoured TV script writer Rachel Lang's passion for theatre traces back to her Napier youth". NZ Herald. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
- Screen, NZ On. "Rachel Lang | NZ On Screen". www.nzonscreen.com. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
- "Graduate". www.toiwhakaari.ac.nz. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
External links
- Rachel Lang at IMDb
- Rachel Lang on LinkedIn
  | This biographical article related to New Zealand television is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it. |
- Living people
- Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit
- Toi Whakaari alumni
- New Zealand women screenwriters
- New Zealand television producers
- New Zealand television writers
- New Zealand women television writers
- Women television producers
- 20th-century screenwriters
- 20th-century New Zealand writers
- 20th-century New Zealand women writers
- 21st-century screenwriters
- 21st-century New Zealand writers
- 21st-century New Zealand women writers
- New Zealand television biography stubs