NZ on Air supports drama, documentaries and kids TV in latest funding round
NZ on Air has committed to funding four new drama series and 20 new fiction television projects in its final funding round for 2024.
Cameron Harland
Great Southern Television has received NZ$2.8m (US$1.64m) for an eight-part crime series for TVNZ, Blue Murder Motel, which drops two retired Aussie cops in a seaside New Zealand town with murder following them.
Sky commissioned female buddy cop series Bust Up, from Lippy Pictures, received NZ$2.26m.
The six part, crime comedy series is set in the Bay of Islands, featuring ex partners Deb and Mihi forced to partner up again as cops.
Another comedy The Sanctuary, from producers Kevin & Co for broadcaster Three, received NZ $1.3m. The eight-part series features an ex-pat US billionaire hiding from the law and forced to convert his private island into a Department of Conservation sanctuary to avoid extradition.
While, Head Girl also for Three and YouTube is a dark comedy series based on the poetry of Freya Daly Sadgrove, and following three estranged friends navigating the highs and lows of their early 20s in Wellington.
NZ On Air chief Cameron Harland said recent local and global award recognition for New Zealand productions is further validation of the industry’s growing talent pool.
“New access granted this year for NZ On Air-funded productions to apply for the Screen Production Rebate is paying dividends in the quality and ambition of stories coming through. And because this is giving producers access to international co-production deals and finance, the cost to New Zealand taxpayers is modest for such impressive outcomes,” he said.
In children’s content the agency has funded a host of projects including the fourth season of Toi Time! from Rogue Productions for TVNZ 2, TVNZ + and YouTube Kids, and Mr Hugo’s Little Library, from the Gibson Group also for TVNZ 2, TVNZ + and RNZ.
In non-fiction television, 20 series have received over NZ$11.5m (US$6.7m) in funding from NZ On Air.
Significantly, three-quarters of those funded are returning series and include formats Taskmaster NZ from Kevin & Co for TVNZ+ and Frank: Stories from the South 3.
“It has been a challenging year for our media environment and, unsurprisingly, we were inundated with applications into this Non-Fiction round,” says NZ On Air acting co-head of funding, Kelly Davis. “The projects that have been funded reach and resonate with consistently large audiences across the motu.”
