Dana Marie Youngman is a New Zealand television executive. A Samoan New Zealander, she won the Diversity Award at the 2021 New Zealand Women of Influence Awards.
Biography
Youngman spent her early years in the 1970s in the Auckland suburb of Avondale. Her mother, Mata Vao, had emigrated from Samoa in 1967 to train as a nurse, and her Pākehā father, Brian Youngman, was a police officer. The family moved to Dannevirke in the Hawke's Bay region when she was about 10 years old. At high school, Youngman studied documentary-making with Bruno Lawrence and Chris Verberg and then moved back to Auckland to study television directing and producing at Unitec Institute of Technology.
While a tertiary student, Youngman had work experience placements at TVNZ, and on graduating was employed as a production co-ordinator. In 1997, she joined the morning television show Good Morning. In 2004, she was appointed head of the network's lifestyle unit and produced a number of drama, documentary and animated television shows until moving to Sky TV in 2019. After three years at Sky, Youngman was appointed strategic advisor to the chief executive at the New Zealand Film Commission.
Youngman has been nominated for television awards. In 2003, she was nominated with Lisa Pringle for the Best Lifestyle Series Award at the New Zealand Television Awards for Maggie's Garden Show. In 2019, she was nominated with Damon Fepulea'i for the Best Pasifika Programme Award and the Best Sports Programme Award for Life After Footy – Legends of the Pacific at the New Zealand Television Awards. Her commissioned series INSiDE won an International Emmy Award for Best Short-Form Series in 2021.
Youngman is one of three New Zealand members of the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. In 2021, she won the Diversity Award at the New Zealand Women of Influence Awards.
Screenography
| Year | Title | Role | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | A Question of Justice | Network executive | Television |
| Raised by Refugees | Network executive | Television | |
| 2021 | Teine Sā – The Ancient Ones | Network executive | Web series |
| Inked | Network executive | Television | |
| Designing Dreams | Network executive | Television | |
| A Mild Touch of Cancer | Network executive | Film | |
| 2020 | Tales of the Moana | Creator, director and producer | Television |
| SIS | Network executive | Television | |
| INSiDE | Network executive | Television | |
| This Could Go Anywhere | Executive producer | Television | |
| Living with the Boss | Writer | Television | |
| 2019 | Legendary Polynesia | Creator, director and producer | Television |
| 2018 | Life After Footy: Legends of the Pacific | Creator and producer | Television |
| 2016 | Sidewalk Karaoke | Executive producer | Television |
| 2015–2016 | Kiwi Living | Director and producer | Television |
| 2014–2017 | Whānau Living | Creator and executive producer | Television |
| 2014 | The Art of the Architect | Creator and series producer | Television |
| Real Pasifik | Producer | Television | |
| Fresh | Producer | Television | |
| 2010 | Inside Nature's Giants – The Giant Squid | Line producer | Television |
| 2010–2014 | Annabel Langbein: The Free Range Cook | Creator, director and producer | Television |
| 2008 | Build Up To Beijing | Creator, director and producer | Television |
| New Zealand's Got Talent | Writer, director and producer | Television | |
| 2007 | A Taste of Home | Creator and producer | Television |
| Are We There Yet? | Executive producer | Television | |
| 2006 | New Zealand House and Garden | Creator, director and producer | Television |
| New Zealand's Brainiest Kid | Development producer | Television | |
| 2005 | Taste Takes Off – Beijing | Executive producer | Television |
| 2005 and 2007 | Dancing with the Stars | Executive producer | Television |
| 2004 and 2007 | Mucking In | Executive producer | Television |
| Good Morning | Executive producer | Television | |
| 2004 | Ground Rules | Creator and executive producer | Television |
| Tomb of the Unknown Warrior | Producer | Television | |
| Flipside | Executive producer | Television | |
| Hum | Producer | Television | |
| Country Calendar | Executive producer | Television | |
| 2002 | Angela D'Audney – A Tribute | Production manager | Television |
| Bouncers | Network executive | Short Film | |
| 2000 | Maggie's Garden Show – Ellerslie Flower Show Special | Compilation director | Television |
| United Travel Getaway | Associate producer | Television | |
| 1998–2003 | Maggie's Garden Show | Director, producer and production manager | Television |
References
- ^ "Dana Youngman – Biography". NZ On Screen. 30 September 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
- ^ Fruean, Adel (19 February 2022). "Dana Youngman, a Woman of Influence, a daughter of Samoa". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
- "Dana Youngman". AIDC. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
- "Kōpere Ake 2024 Judges Panel". New Zealand Writers Guild. Retrieved 11 January 2025.
- "Dana Youngman – Awards". NZ On Screen. Retrieved 11 January 2025.