Dame Julie Christie is now the sole owner of factual specialist production company NHNZ Worldwide, completing the purchase of the remaining 40% of the company’s shares previously owned by Blue Ant Media.

Best known for creating the game show format The Chair as well as Treasure Island, Christie (pictured) returned to production after an eight-year absence when she acquired a majority stake in NHNZ in early 2021, renaming the company NHNZ Worldwide to reflect the New Zealand–headquartered prodco’s focus on global markets and clients. Christie plans to further expand the business into formats, sports, adventure and lifestyle programming.

“Having spent most of my career making entertainment formats, lifestyle and reality challenge shows, I was excited to invest in a great factual storytelling company like NHNZ Worldwide and build a team who can bring the skills learned over many years in reality television to other genres,” Christie said in a release.

NHNZ was founded 46 years ago as the Natural History Unit of Television New Zealand. The company was sold to Fox International Channels in 1997, then to former Fox executive David Haslingden in 2012, and then sold once again to Canadian media company Blue Ant Media in 2017. 

Christie founded format producer Touchdown Productions in 1991 before selling the company to Eyeworks International in 2006. She was made a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2017 for Services to Governance and Television.