NZ On Air backs scripted projects featuring Muslim, Jewish, Māori stories

Comedy drama Kid Sister stars the show’s creator Simone Nathan as Lulu

New Zealand production funding body NZ On Air has invested in six scripted projects spanning drama and comedy.

Miles From Nowhere (6×23′), a Gibson Group production for Sky-owned channel Prime and its streamer Neon, follows a young Muslim songwriter who forms an unexpected friendship with the secret intelligence service agent monitoring him.

The show is described as a coming-of-age story that uses laughter, music and surrealism to explore universal themes of identity, overcoming mental illness and unfulfilled dreams.

NZ On Air is also backing a second season of Kid Sister, the TVNZ 2 and TVNZ+ series from Greenstone TV that is distributed by Germany’s Red Arrow Studios International.

The comedy drama series follows a young Jewish woman as she navigates life’s big issues in in New Zealand, where more people identify as Jedi than Jewish.

Also returning to screens, the Māori drama Kairākau will premiere on Whakaata Māori (aka Māori Television), with additional runs on TVNZ and Prime.

Now in its third season, Kairākau is a drama series made by Velvet Stone Media set in pre-colonial Aotearoa (the Māori word for New Zealand) that highlights the struggles, relationships and, ultimately, revenge between warring tribes.

NZ On Air has also committed up to NZ$1.55m (US$880,000) in funding to TVNZ for a scripted anthology series, the details of which will be shared at a later date.

Also being backed by NZ On Air are new episodes of I Got You and Someday Stories for RNZ and Mysterious Ways for TP+.

NZ On Air head of funding Amie Mills said: “We’re thrilled that our latest round of scripted funding will increase the visibility and provide Aotearoa with an insight into multiple worlds rarely explored on our screens.”