NZ On Air and Te Māngai Pāho announce co-funding for Scripted and Non-Fiction te reo and te ao Māori content

The successful applicants for the Irirangi Te Motu | NZ On Air - Te Māngai Pāho Reo Māori Co-Fund have been announced with funding for content that reflects Aotearoa today and in recent history.

The joint co-fund of just over $8m opened in August 2024 seeking proposals for high quality Scripted and Non-Fiction te ao Māori content for a broad audience – and containing at least 30 percent te reo Māori.

“This Co-Fund directly demonstrates our remit to reflect and develop New Zealand identity and culture by promoting Māori language and Māori culture,” says NZ On Air Acting Co-Head of Funding, Kelly Davis. “This is an exciting group of projects that we can’t wait to see on screen. They reflect a breadth of Māori perspectives and should appeal to many audiences across Aotearoa New Zealand.”

A total of nine Scripted and Non-Fiction applications were submitted to the round – with three projects receiving Scripted production funding and one receiving Non-Fiction funding. Three Scripted Development projects were also funded and received $82,000 which will see further exciting projects developed for New Zealand audiences.

“The joint Co-Fund round has once again funded ambitious and high quality reo Māori projects that will reach broad audiences,” says Larry Parr, Kaihuatū of Te Māngai Pāho. “It is great to see the innovative reo strategies these producers are using to reflect the broad range of language speakers across Aotearoa and to deliver te reo Māori voices that are authentic and accessible.”

For content that reflects modern day Aotearoa, Baddies is a uniquely Kiwi series that does this with a slightly nostalgic feel. Aimed at rangatahi, Baddies is the story of a resourceful but lonely 12-year-old who, when a group of charismatic bank robbers take over a camp for wayward youth, must make a decision: become a true baddie or change his ways.

Exploring real-world issues and relationships in a post-COVID world, This Is Home is a comedy drama series for Whakaata Māori and Sky Open. While coping with the skyrocketing cost of living and barely liveable wages, sisters Nina and Kara must try and make sense of their love-hate relationship when forced to move back home with their whānau.

Scheduled for release in 2025, the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII, KIWI is a docudrama for TVNZ+ and Whakaata Māori that follows WWII Māori Battalion soldier Lance Sergeant Haane Manahi, who, while fighting in North Africa, captured a vital enemy stronghold under machine-gun fire and took 300 German and Italian prisoners.

In Non-Fiction content, Origins 3 is a returning documentary series for TVNZ 1 and TVNZ+. This time Scotty Te Manahau Morrison tracks the voyage of waka on their journey to Aotearoa before landing on our shores.

The three Scripted, one Non-Fiction and three Scripted Development projects will receive total funding of up to $8,054,564.

Funding Decisions

The total funding is split 50/50 between Te Māngai Pāho and NZ On Air.

Note: All funding commitments are based on the funding applications received and must be contracted within a specified timeframe. Funding is only released, in stages, as contractual commitments are met. Funds committed but not contracted within the specified timeframe are written back and distributed in future funding rounds.

Scripted:

• KIWI (working title), 1 x 80’, Wheke Group for viewing on TVNZ+ and Whakaata Māori, up to $1,095,962.
• This is Home, 6 x 24’, 787 Media for viewing on Whakaata Māori and Sky Open, up to $2,233,682.
• Baddies, 6 x 22’, Brown Sugar Apple Grunt Productions for viewing on TVNZ+ and TVNZ 2, up to $3,330,565.

Non-Fiction

• Origins 3, 2 x 44’, Scottie Douglas Productions for viewing on TVNZ 1 and TVNZ+, up to $1,312,355.