Inside nearly 300 pages of documents released by police lies a series of messages between police's director of media and strategic communications Juli Clausen and the CEO of a documentary crew Dame Julie Christie.
By Sam Sherwood of RNZ
Police's director of media and strategic communications Juli Clausen and Dame Julie Christie had been messaging each other for months before Clausen messaged details about Tom Phillips' last hours.
On Thursday, police released 289 pages of correspondence in relation to the documentary, including a series of messages between Clausen and Christie, the chief executive of a documentary production company.
This included the message at 6.14am on September 8, which began "I'm on a flight to Hamilton now".
"I wanted to give u a heads up.. T [redacted] were involved in another burglary this morning. T has been shot - we have [redacted] We will do media but every man n dog there."
The messages released on Thursday reveal the two women had been messaging since at least February last year.
The messages included conversations about the contract agreement, filming and even a message advising the documentary boss to go direct to the officer in charge, adding "everything discoverable so maybe ask for a call".
Following the revelations, the police's executive director media and communications Cas Carter said police were reviewing the processes around the management of the documentary. Asked about what confidence she had in Clausen she replied:
"That's part of the review as well. That's one of the many things that we're looking at, at the moment."
First contact
Documentary producer Karen Rutherford first approached Clausen about the documentary in October 2024.
By December, Christie had sent a "wishlist" to police.
The first text message between the two (according to the OIA) was on February 28, when Clausen texted Christie shortly before 7pm.
"Hi Julie - sorry to bug u during happy hour. Do you have 5 mins for a quick chat pls. Juli Clausen."
Shortly after she sends another text to say she was keen to get the crew back in on Wednesday.
"Regardless of where the agreement is at. We are all happy the intent to work together is there. Everything will make sense to you once you are read in."
The following day Christie texted asking for another chat as the "guys in UK are meeting with Netflix on Monday and I would like to know what is acceptable to tell them".
Clausen said Christie would be in a better position to update them after Wednesday.
"I have made a judgment to share more with just u so u can have some sense of what's coming and think about how u organise."
Christie and Rutherford met with the officer in charge of the investigation Detective Senior Sergeant Andy Saunders on March 5. That evening Christie asked Clausen if she knew what the fee might be that they needed to pay police.
Clausen told her how much the cold case programmes were [this was redacted from the OIA].
Christie asked "should I put [redacted] or more?"
Clausen said she would talk to a colleague.
Christie also thanked Clausen for arranging the meeting with police.
"Today was fantastic," she said.
"I'm beyond pleased. It's a world first too which is even more amazing" she said in another message.
Clausen replied it was "pretty incredible access given our laws".
"And it's different because it's not an unresolved case - it's a live case. I'm going to work on STG [Special Tactics Group] next … they will be tough so need some space for them to agree."
The contract
On March 19, Clausen texted Christie to say she believed she had the agreement "almost ready".
That evening at nearly 11pm, Christie texted her to say she had just got word that Netflix had signed the old contract, and would try and get the new one past them overnight.
The contract was formally agreed on March 20.
About 5pm, Clausen emailed Police Commissioner Richard Chambers to say an agreement had been signed.
"It's been an interesting and useful exercise to work our way through the terms of Agreement, and what's reassuring is the certainty that Police will have final sign off."
Clausen thanked Chambers for his support.
"It's been helpful being able to say this project had your support."
'A saint!'
On April 7, Christie texted Clausen saying she had a list of questions to send her in the morning. Clausen said she had some stuff for her as well.
Another text message was redacted in full.
In response, Christie said "Absolutely. Go well. I swear u r a saint!"
The following day, Christie asks Clausen to "call me asap".
"Sounds like we have an issue".
Clausen said she was "trying to resolve it".
Christie said a person involved would only be with drone operations and "will never go anywhere else".
"And we can accommodate separately if that helps. His background check was clear."
Clausen said: "It's not him - it's our people. Talk soon".
On April 21, Christie asked if she could message Saunders direct.
"We respect completely reasons for not shooting at the drone base but wondered if we could perhaps get even 30 mins night-time flight today. That would satisfy our editorial needs."
Clausen told her to "go direct".
"Everything discoverable so maybe ask for a call."
The early morning text
On August 28, Christie texted Clausen asking if there was going to be a press conference that day. Clausen said it would be the next day.
On August 29, Saunders fronted media to say police investigating a retail burglary in rural Waikato on August 27 believed Phillips was responsible.
After the press conference, Christie texted Clausen to say Saunders was "excellent. Better than I've ever heard him".
Clausen said "we play bingo with the questions … we picked most of them".
Then, at 6.14am on September 8 Clausen texted her to say she was on a flight to Hamilton.
"I wanted to give u a heads up.. T [redacted] were involved in another burglary this morning. T has been shot - we have [redacted] We will do media but every man n dog there."
The Phillips children are recovering after their yearslong ordeal. (Source: 1News)
Christie appears to have replied immediately asking if she could call. Clausen said the door was closed, but would land at 7.30am.
"It's big."
Christie and the documentary crew appear to have been at the police station by 8am.
Clausen told Christie she had asked if they would be allowed to film the prep for the 11am media conference.
"To be clear, I've told Karen she is not coming with us to shoot prep. My decision re keeping us small."
Just before 8am, Christie also asked if they could film Police Commissioner Richard Chambers arriving at the scene.
Christie was going to visit the scene with the officer in charge of the police investigation, dubbed Operation Curly.
Later that day, Christie sent Clausen a copy of a text she had received from another media outlet about the documentary. Christie asked if she would be around for a chat about the media query.
It appears the two women then met at a restaurant.
Two days later, Christie asked if a camera operator could attend the demolition of the campsite.
"Answer is no Julie!," she replied.
"The weather will turn tomorrow and they are cranking thru to complete evidence gathering then dismantling and cam presence will slow them down. They said they will let u film when they find the main camp that always abandoned during drone phase. We need to leave them be today. Sorry!"
A few days later, Christie texted again asking when they might be able to join the team looking for the other camp.
"I think we need to leave some air space for now," Clausen said.
"People v sensitive. I'm talking to them tomorrow hopefully."
Christie said she hoped it was realised that all their filming "shows how hard the police team always worked to recover those children".
"It would be disappointing not to be able to complete that story in the best possible way. I'll keep in touch. So grateful for everything so far."
In another message, Clausen told Christie police had received "a few OIAs".
"Our normal process would be to consult u as part of reviewing for release. Wont be a quick turn around as we'll need legal advice re contracts. But I do need to check one thing with u as soon as you can call. Thanks."
'I think Netflix is your issue'
The OIA also included messages between Clausen and Rutherford.
On February 18 last year, Rutherford texted Clausen about a potential sighting of Phillips that had been reported.
Clausen said there was "nothing to film".
"We are needing to verify report which is looking like at the mo."
Rutherford said it was a "real shame Juli".
"The article indicates police have already been door knocking. So disappointing, we could have filmed. Please can we lock in a day to meet Andy, by the end of today? Netflix has already questioned why we weren't told."
In response, Clausen said "Karen - we don't have a written agreement or obligation yet".
"I think Netflix is your issue to manage at the moment. I will work really hard to make it up to u but I think we will need to set some really strong and clear lines to protect the investigation."
'Incredibly regrettable'
Police's executive director media and communications Cas Carter said on Thursday police were reviewing the processes around the management of the documentary, and "considering whether we need to reassess the protocols for handling such projects".
RNZ asked Carter what confidence she had in Clausen and what concerns she had about the correspondence and whether the relationship with Christie was appropriate.
She replied: "The documentation of the communications has prompted many questions that will all be part of the review. I won't be pre-empting that review."
In an interview on Checkpoint, Carter said the decision to tell the documentary crew before Phillips' family found out was "incredibly regrettable".
She said there were a number of things that had been revealed in the OIA process that concerned her "in terms of the conversations between our people and the documentary crew".
She did not know who gave the documentary crew permission to go into an active crime scene.
Asked if she retained confidence in Clausen, Carter replied:
"That's part of the review as well. That's one of the many things that we're looking at, at the moment."
Pressed further, Carter said she needed to review what happened during the period in question before she could comment further.
"I've just started reading all of this, and … I am concerned about everything that happened ... that's thrown up a lot more questions than I have answers for at the moment, and that's why we're looking into it further."
She was also asked about the message from Clausen to Christie where she said "everything discoverable so maybe ask for a call".
"That's one of the things that I read and went 'that's very interesting conversation that I need to find out more about, what was the intent behind that?'".
Carter said police still believed the idea of having a documentary was a good one, and that at the moment they still had a contract with the production company.
Chambers said on Thursday there was a "constructive relationship" between police and the documentary team.
"However, it has become apparent this documentary was not always handled in line with the usual protocols and processes that apply to documentaries police take part in.
"That included decision-making and oversight around the access the documentary crew were given at various points.
"I would not have allowed access to what was an active crime scene and had not been aware that was happening ahead of time."
He said had he known it was to happen he would have stopped it.
"I am also disappointed the documentary team was told ahead of the family and of other media about the events of the night Tom Phillips died.
"The strict conditions that applied to the documentary project did give Police the ability to protect any sensitive information and that meant the documentary team could be given more access to Police operations than media would usually be given."
Chambers said he would be concerned if there were any instances in which the documentary's interests meant media did not get information or access they would otherwise have got.
"That does not serve the public interest. This was a high-profile investigation and, in my view, it is crucial police share as much as they possibly can with the media during such investigations because of the legitimate public interest.
"I have asked for further information to be sure this was handled appropriately at all stages and to allow us to consider whether police need to reassess the way we engage in such projects."
He said police had a long history of cooperating on documentaries or programmes involving ongoing investigations.
"They offer unique and interesting insight for the public into police work and into the investigation in question.
"I do not want that to change in the future, however I do want to be certain we have robust processes in place to ensure they are handled well and fairly."
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