The 45-year-old took over the reins of events, including the annual Dunedin Fringe Festival and New Zealand Young Writers Festival, from former director Josh Thomas on Monday.
''I had a very brief handover from Josh and then it was straight in the deep end . . . she's all good . . . Josh has left things in a good position and it's a matter of continuing to grow it.''
The ''mantra'' for the fringe festival next year was ''evolution rather than revolution''.
''It will be steady as she goes.''
The fringe festival team would ''add their own spin'' to the event in 2019, he said.
Born and raised ''in the swamp of South Dunedin'', the now Warrington resident worked as a venue manager across music, theatre and comedy from Dunedin to London.
He produced works for Dunedin-based charitable trust WoW! Productions, creating site specific theatre work, such as Farley's Arcade: The Wildest Place in Town in The Athenaeum in 2005 and Lines of Fire at Dunedin Railway Station.
He also managed nationwide tours for The Theatre in Health Education Trust for nine years.
The Dunedin charitable trust has a contract with the Ministry of Health to deliver public health promotion in schools across New Zealand.
