2018 Host

With over 20 years experience in the film and television industry, Cliff Curtis has established himself as one of New Zealand’s most successful actors and producers, starring in movies alongside Hollywood legends such as Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington, Eddie Murphy, Al Pacino, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Anthony Hopkins and George Clooney. He recently starred in AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead. The show premiered in August 2015, and was the most watched series premiere in US cable TV history. His latest big screen movie project The MEG (2018), filmed largely in New Zealand, has currently grossed over half a billion dollars worldwide. Cliff is also part of the cast of the upcoming Avatar (2009) sequels written and directed by James Cameron which are due for release starting in 2020.

In 2013 Cliff created production company Arama Pictures to continue his commitment to indigenous storytelling inspired by the work of mentors Merata Mita, Don Selwyn and Barry Barclay. In 2019 Arama Pictures is set to release two documentary features, the first about filmmaker Merata Mita, the second about seminal New Zealand reggae band, Herbs. Cliff continues to alternate producing local stories with acting roles in Hollywood, counting over 50 credits to date between producing and acting in TV, theatre and film. He has won multiple awards including an APSA in 2014 for The Dark Horse. He has worked with many famous New Zealand filmmakers including Lee Tamahori (Once Were Warriors, 1994), Vincent Ward (River Queen, 2005), Niki Caro (Oscar®-nominated Whale Rider, 2002) and Taika Waititi (APSA-nominated Boy, 2010).

Sofie Formica returns as co-host for the 2018 APSAs. A wellknown and respected media personality and actress, Sofie is a proud Queenslander with 30 years of experience in Australian and US markets presenting television programming in the entertainment and lifestyle genres.

Sofie began her television career at the age of 14 in children’s programming and she hasn’t looked back since. Her resume boasts appearances on Wombat, Saturday Disney, Just Kidding and on Now You See It as Australia’s first female game show host. She has also appeared as an actress on Home and Away, and she was an original presenting member of Australian travel magazine series The Great Outdoors. During a stint in Los Angeles, Sofie worked as a reporter on Extra, a national entertainment magazine show.

During this time Sofie interviewed many Hollywood actors. In San Francisco she hosted programs The Web and TV.Com for the USA Network. This saw her working alongside Oprah Winfrey in a 13-part series Oprah Goes Online. Sofie occasionally appears in feature films including San Andreas (2015) with Dwayne Johnson and she is a highly sort emcee and facilitator. Sofie is currently the longest-running host of Channel 7’s The Great Day Out (formerly The Great South East).