Comedy has last laugh as NZ On Air hands out $8.8m in funding for scripted and doc series
TVNZ’s returning crime series A Remarkable Place to Die
New Zealand television, digital and radio funding agency NZ On Air has invested NZ$14.9m (US$8.81m) in its latest round of support for scripted and documentary projects.
Comedy has secured the lion’s share of NZ On Air’s NZ$7.1m for scripted, with three new original comedy series greenlit alongside one returning drama.
Producer Kevin & Co has secured NZ$1.9m to produce original retro comedy espionage series NZ Spy, set in a 1970s spy agency. The six-part series stars local comedian Paul Williams (Taskmaster NZ) and was commissioned by TVNZ. NZ Spy has already secured sales in the UK and Australia but details have not yet been disclosed.
Sky has commissioned Good Bones, produced by Luminous Beast and from comedian Josh Thomson, who plays a chronic procrastinator attempting to renovate a rundown house to save his marriage. The series has attracted NZ$1.5m in funding and will screen on Sky Open, Neon and Sky Go.
From South Pacific Pictures comes romantic comedy Settling, which has attracted NZ$3.1m and follows two disillusioned 30-somethings committing to a teen pact of platonic marriage to satisfy family and societal expectations. The series has been commissioned by Three and ThreeNow.
In returning dramas, NZ On Air has given NZ$500,000 in support to a second season of TVNZ-commissioned crime series A Remarkable Place to Die, from Screentime NZ.
Meanwhile, historical, cultural and nature-based projects benefitted from the agency’s NZ$7.8m funding pool for factual programming across 20 projects ranging from documentaries and digital series to podcasts. Davis said the factual round was “an even split between fresh, new programmes with the potential for wide audience reach across multiple platforms, alongside returning series with proven track records and strong viewership.”
Producer Workparty picked up funding for 3×44’ series Stalked, commissioned by Sky Open, Sky Go and Neon and featuring mental health advocate Jazz Thornton examining NZ’s stalking epidemic.
Mozzies (12×12’) from Faultline Films is a new series for Whakaata Māori and Māori+ examining Maori’s living in Australia and keeping their culture alive. Also commissioned for Whakaata Māori was Skin Deep (6×15′) from Aotearoa Media Collective.
For TVNZ and TVNZ + comes Coastal Wonders of the South Pacific (6×44′), from Imagination Television. The new series covers the challenges architects and housing communities face from the pressures of climate change in the region. Meanwhile, Tane Tarlton’s Ocean Adventures, or ThreeNow and Three, explores New Zealand’s unique marine wildlife and conservation efforts.
Returning series to receive funding include family reunion show My Family Mystery season two, greenlit by TVNZ 1 and TVNZ+. Guy Montgomery’s Guy-Mont Spelling Bee returns for a third run to Three and ThreeNow, in addition to First Responders S3, capturing NZ’s emergency workers in action.
