But in 2020, when Covid made landfall in New Zealand and travel restrictions saw all his projects come to a screeching halt, Denholm decided to make a drastic career change by training to become an Anglican priest.
In an interview with Newstalk ZB’s Real Life with John Cowan on Sunday night, Denholm explained that while the pandemic was the ultimate catalyst for the shift, the idea had been “bubbling away for a very long time”.
“I grew up in a really strong faith-based home, hugely influenced by my mother and father and their life of service,” he said.
“The faith that I had, this God that I believed in, was formed very early in my life and this fun, childlike aspect of my faith remains today. But what has changed is perhaps my understanding of what it looks like.
“I’ve been really fortunate in my work to travel extensively, close to 100 countries. In that I’ve been able to witness and be part of all sorts of faith expressions, not just Christian, and that has helped form my worldview.”
The shift to priesthood was in part motivated by a desire to give back to the industry that shaped him, by offering an on-location, go-to chaplaincy service for cast and crew on film sets.
The brains behind Mitre 10’s iconic ‘Sandpit’ ad is giving back to the film industry. Photo / Supplied
The service, aptly called FilmChaplain, is a response to the unrelenting pressures that accompany working in the sector.
“I’ve got this very cool caravan, and a great Toyota to pull it along, and the idea is that I will rock up on to a film location and set myself up. I’ve got a beautiful La Marzocco coffee machine, and we just go from there,” Denholm told Real Life.
“The film industry is a very, very tough industry to be in. It’s huge hours, demanding schedules, and you’re only ever as good as your next job. And so there’s a huge insecurity in our industry, and it takes a huge toll on people’s wellbeing, their relationships, their mental health.”
Denholm says he was something of a de facto pastor even before he officially trained to become a priest.
“I’ve always had a bit of an ear to the ground for that stuff, probably because of the family that I’ve come from. I’d certainly had a lot of people that would make their way to my office or have a quiet conversation,” he told Cowan.
“On that first week of that very first [Covid] lockdown, I sent an email out to about 300 of the crew that I had worked with in the previous six months.
“I said, ‘You know I’m a director, but what you don’t know is I have been training in pastoral care and chaplaincy. If you want to talk, now’s as good a time as any’. And the floodgates just opened. I had over 100 responses to that one email.”
Denholm says his primary function as a chaplain is simply to be “a non-anxious presence in a very anxious environment”.
“Chaplaincy is for all faiths and none, so we’re not there to proselytise, we’re not there to wave this big Christian banner. But we are there to offer perhaps something around spiritual support.
“There’s lots of support you can get for mental health now – coaching and all sorts. But there’s very little available for that really deep stuff around crisis. if you are having a real crisis, often you just need someone to talk to or that can listen to you.”
“And so I’ve always had a bit of an ear to the ground for that stuff. Probably because of the family that I’ve come from.”
Real Life is a weekly interview show where John Cowan speaks with prominent guests about their life, upbringing, and the way they see the world. Tune in Sundays from 7:30pm on Newstalk ZB or listen to the latest full interview here.
