Niki Caro

Niki Caro
Born	1966 (age 50–51) Wellington, New Zealand
Nationality	New Zealander
Occupation	Film director, film producer, screenwriter
Years active	1984–present
Spouse(s)	Andrew Lister
Children	2

Nikola Jean "Niki" Caro MNZM (born 1967) is a film director, producer and screenwriter who was born in Wellington, New Zealand. Her 2002 film Whale Rider was critically praised and won a number of awards at international film festivals.

Caro was born in Wellington, New Zealand. She attended Kadimah College, Auckland, then Diocesan School for Girls, where she received an alumni award. Caro graduated with a BFA from the Elam School of Fine Arts at the University of Auckland in 1988 and received a Postgraduate Diploma in Film from the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia.

Caro first found interest in working with metal sculptures, but later changed in it to film. Caro was self-taught in film through only reading narrative film books. She started out with writing and once she was done writing a script, her mother typed it up for her at work.

Caro's first experience in directing was when she was hired to create commercials for different companies such as the New Zealand Land Transport Safety Authority, Nike and Tower Insurance.

Her first experience with a professional production company was when she wrote and directed for the television series, Another Country. She did not have any experience in directing, but it felt it was instinctual once she started working with the actors.

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