Actors

PJ Harvey

PJ Harvey

Polly Jean Harvey was born in England on October 9th 1969. The daughter of a quarryman father and an artist mother, Polly Jean, or PJ as she is more commonly known, was raised on a sheep farm in Yeovil, Somerset. She learned to play a number of instruments as a child (including guitar, saxophone, and violin) and as a teenager played in several bands. After much procrastination and self-doubt regarding her future profession (she was torn for quite a while between her passion for music and her desire to become either a nurse or a vet) she eventually, at age 21, formed the band dubbed "PJ Harvey" with bassist Steve Vaughn and drummer Robert Ellis. The newly formed trio recorded their debut EP 'Dress' for very little money, but the demos were good enough to get them signed to British indie label Too Pure who released the EP in late 1991 (to enormous acclaim from the British music press.) PJ's first full-length record was released the following Spring, again to lavish praise from the music press. The album was released on the highly credible Island label in the US that same year. Shortly after touring in support of the record PJ suffered what was very nearly a total nervous breakdown (due to the pressure of her new found acclaim, success, and the strains of touring.) Nevertheless, she recorded her second album 'Rid Of Me' with notorious alternative producer Steve Albini later that year. The record was released in 1993 and was her biggest success to date. After the tour for the album Polly Jean parted ways with the two other members of the band and ventured out alone for her next album, 1995's 'To Bring You My Love'. Yet another critical success upon its February 1995 release, Polly toured the album for the next year, then took 1996 off. She recorded her next album 'Is This Desire?' in late 1997. Its release in 1998 prompted speculation in the music press about her mental state, the album being a deeply disturbing, dark, and confusing work. Ever stoical about her private life, PJ refused (for the most part) to comment. Two years later, after living in New York City for much of 1999, she reunited with her former bandmates and recorded her fifth album 'Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea'. The record was released in 2000 and recieved, as per usual, much acclaim. It was a slightly more mainstream effort than her previous "difficult" works, but nevertheless was well recieved by both old fans and newcomers to her distinctive musical sound. She toured the album for most of 2001 and received the Mercury Music Prize (one of the highest honours in the British music industry) for it on September 12th. She accepted the award by telephone from Washington DC (where she was on tour at the time) and called recieving the award "a very strange end to a very strange 24 hours." (in reference to the terrorist attacks of the previous morning in Washington and New York.) In December 2001 PJ was named the Number 1 female rock star in history by Q magazine.
PJ Madam

PJ Madam

Peta-Jane 'PJ' Madam is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Australian production company Wildman Films. She is also a United Nations award-winning reporter, producer, writer and news anchor. PJ is the co-executive producer, creator and host of the Netflix Original Series, Extreme Engagement. Produced by Wildman Films, the series broke ground as the first original unscripted commission to be granted to an Australian company. The show was unique in that PJ and Tim filmed the 8-part docu-series with no traditional crew. They fulfilled the roles of Director of Photography, Camera Assist, Sound Recordist, Producer, Drone Operator, Researcher and Hosts - all on their own. Throughout production, they had only 1 field assistant on hand to help them. Since Extreme Engagement, PJ has learned more technical skills, with Tim teaching her how to shoot. Background: PJ was born and raised in Mackay, North Queensland, the daughter of a mixed race, mixed culture and mixed religious family. She spent a total of 6 years at University completing a Bachelor of Arts degrees (majoring in politics and media), a Graduate Diploma in Business and Public Relations and Graduate Certificate in Journalism. PJ has worked in a variety of roles on-air and behind the scenes for three of the major broadcasters in Australia, including Channel Seven, Channel Nine and the Special Broadcasting Service. She has been a producer for long-form documentaries, in the field and in news. For years, she would line up news bulletins, write and present them. She was a news anchor for SBS World News Australia and also Weekend Sunrise (breakfast television show). In 2010, she won a Mackellar Media Award for investigating Australia's food crisis and in 2016, a United Nations Award for her landmark investigation into sexual assaults on University campuses. It was the first investigation of its kind in the country. In her last job as a television journalist, PJ became a handful of exclusive reporters to present on 'Sunday Night', the Seven Network's flagship current affairs program (similar to CBS 60 Minutes). For 4 years, she traveled abroad, covering hard-hitting exclusives, social stories and interviewing people from terrorists and politicians to sports stars and celebrities. They included: the late Jerry Lewis, David Frost, Florence Henderson and Robbie Williams, One Direction, Meghan Trainor, Creedence Clear Water Revival and Jon Bon Jovi.
PJ Madam

PJ Madam

Peta-Jane 'PJ' Madam is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Australian production company Wildman Films. She is also a United Nations award-winning reporter, producer, writer and news anchor. PJ is the co-executive producer, creator and host of the Netflix Original Series, Extreme Engagement. Produced by Wildman Films, the series broke ground as the first original unscripted commission to be granted to an Australian company. The show was unique in that PJ and Tim filmed the 8-part docu-series with no traditional crew. They fulfilled the roles of Director of Photography, Camera Assist, Sound Recordist, Producer, Drone Operator, Researcher and Hosts - all on their own. Throughout production, they had only 1 field assistant on hand to help them. Since Extreme Engagement, PJ has learned more technical skills, with Tim teaching her how to shoot. Background: PJ was born and raised in Mackay, North Queensland, the daughter of a mixed race, mixed culture and mixed religious family. She spent a total of 6 years at University completing a Bachelor of Arts degrees (majoring in politics and media), a Graduate Diploma in Business and Public Relations and Graduate Certificate in Journalism. PJ has worked in a variety of roles on-air and behind the scenes for three of the major broadcasters in Australia, including Channel Seven, Channel Nine and the Special Broadcasting Service. She has been a producer for long-form documentaries, in the field and in news. For years, she would line up news bulletins, write and present them. She was a news anchor for SBS World News Australia and also Weekend Sunrise (breakfast television show). In 2010, she won a Mackellar Media Award for investigating Australia's food crisis and in 2016, a United Nations Award for her landmark investigation into sexual assaults on University campuses. It was the first investigation of its kind in the country. In her last job as a television journalist, PJ became a handful of exclusive reporters to present on 'Sunday Night', the Seven Network's flagship current affairs program (similar to CBS 60 Minutes). For 4 years, she traveled abroad, covering hard-hitting exclusives, social stories and interviewing people from terrorists and politicians to sports stars and celebrities. They included: the late Jerry Lewis, David Frost, Florence Henderson and Robbie Williams, One Direction, Meghan Trainor, Creedence Clear Water Revival and Jon Bon Jovi.