Tim Balme
Quick Facts
Biography
Timothy Guy Balme (born 18 January 1967) is an actor and screenwriter from New Zealand. He's most well known for his roles on the long-running soap opera Shortland Street and Mercy Peak, as well as lead roles in the cult favourites Braindead and Jack Brown Genius. He most recently was a writer and actor on the television series The Almighty Johnsons.
Personal life
Balme is married to actress Katie Wolfe, with whom he has two children; daughter Edie (born 2001) and son Nikau (born 2005). Balme also has a son, Sam (born 1987) from a previous relationship.
Career
Balme graduated from Toi Whakaari in 1989, and his first lead role was in the 1992 film Braindead (aka Dead Alive). Balme and his wife, along with Simon Bennett and Robyn Malcolm, founded the New Zealand Actors' Company, which ran for three productions before being dissolved. An actor for the better part of twenty years, he has recently branched out into writing, and has scripted episodes for television series such as Diplomatic Immunity and Outrageous Fortune. Balme also wrote the short film Redemption, directed by his wife, which was selected as part of the short film line-up at the Sundance Film Festival for 2011.
Balme worked as the head of development for South Pacific Pictures for three years before returning to freelancing. He currently writes for shows such as the popular Channel 7 drama 800 Words and is head writer for the murder mystery series The Brokenwood Mysteries. In 2015 he won the Best Television Screenplay award at the SWANZ (NZ Writer's Guild Awards) for Brokenwood Ep 2 "Sour Grapes".
Other work
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
2005 | Interrogation | Writer: "Her Own Free Will" |
2006–09 | Outrageous Fortune | Writer (12 episodes) |
2008 | Wayne Anderson: Glory Days | Script consultant (8 episodes) |
2009 | Diplomatic Immunity | Writer: "Love My Way", "Strange Fruit" |
2010 | Redemption | Writer: short film |
2010 | Stolen | Writer: TV film |
2011–12 | The Almighty Johnsons | Writer: "Bad Things Happen", "Folkmoot", "The House of Jerome" |
2013 | The Blue Rose | Head of development (10 episodes); storyliner (6 episodes) |
2013 | White Lies | Script development |
2014–16 | The Brokenwood Mysteries | Script editor (8 episodes) |
2015–17 | 800 Words | Writer: "1.5", "2.1", "2.2", "2.12" |
Awards and nominations
Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1992 | Fantafestival | Best Actor | Braindead | Won |
1993 | New Zealand Film and TV Awards | Best Male Dramatic Performance | Braindead | Won |
1996 | New Zealand Film and TV Awards | Best Actor | Jack Brown Genius | Won |
2002 | New Zealand Film and TV Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Mercy Peak | Won |
2010 | NZ Herald Best of Theatre Award | Horseplay | Won |