Chelsea Winstanley

Chelsea Jane Winstanley is a New Zealand film producer. She produces short films and documentaries which celebrate Indigenous peoples. She also produced the films What We Do in the Shadows and Jojo Rabbit. Career Chelsea Jane Winstanley was born on 30 January 1976, in Tauranga, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. She is the daughter of John Winstanley, a home renovator, and Cherry Wilson, a psychotherapist. Chelsea Winstanley's paternal grandfather was John James Winstanley (1905–1977), an ice cream vendor, born in Wigan, Lancashire, England. Winstanley's paternal grandmother Sophia Millerstone Rowe (nee MacDonald) (1914–1961) was the daughter of James MacDonald and Caroline Creed of Inverness, Scotland. Winstanley's maternal grandmother was Kiritapu "Kitty" Wilson (nee Borell) (1926–2014). Winstanley has Ngāti Ranginui and Ngāi Te Rangi ancestry through her mother. She has produced short films such as Meathead, Ebony Society and Night Shift. In 2014, she co-produced What We Do in the Shadows with Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement. She also co-produced Te Whakarauora Tangata and a documentary about Merata Mita. In 2017, Winstanley created the film production company Matewa Media alongside Tweedie Waititi, which focuses on creating Māori language adaptations of Disney animated films. As of 2020, the company has created adaptations of Moana (released in 2017), The Lion King and Frozen (both released in 2022). She directed the documentary Toi Tū Toi Ora in 2020.