A new Jewish comedy series and the return of a successful Tongan drama are among a new batch of scripted content to be made for online and broadcast TV audiences with NZ On Air funding.
Kid Sister is a semi-autobiographical Jewish comedy set in Auckland. The series explores universal themes of cross-cultural conflicts, culture clashes and character collisions, through the main character Lulu, a young Kiwi Jewish woman in her prime, but who fears in the Jewish world she is careening towards ‘Spinster’.
Off the back of strong online success, the ground-breaking Tongan drama webseries Brutal Lives has received funding for a second season to continue the story of a former boxing champion battling the ancient spirit world.
‘Volunteer journalist’ Guy Williams takes viewers on another unpredictable and bizarre journey through Aotearoa, finding ‘the stories other journalists won’t go near’ for the satire comedy show New Zealand Today.
The team at 7 Days will return in 2022 with more laughs and a great pipeline of comedy talent development. Comedy talents will also be centre-stage as the two great nations of NZ and Australia battle it out in the comedy panel show Patriot Brains, returning for a second season.
NZ On Air Head of Funding Amie Mills says it’s encouraging to see local audiences continue to engage with drama and comedy storytelling, both on linear and on demand channels.
“Our aim is to provide a variety of experiences for audiences, that offer a point of difference to imported content. In this round we’ve been able to support content for a range of audiences, created by storytellers with wonderfully different voices and perspectives,” she continued.
Funding decisions
New Zealand Today, 10 x 22 mins, Kevin and Co for Three, up to $1,020,742
7 Days, 20 x 20 mins, Discovery NZ for Three, up to $859,613
Brutal Lives 2 – Mo'ui Faingata’a, 6 x 12 mins, Kingston productions for The Coconet.TV, up to $855,210
Kid Sister, 5 x 23 mins, Greenstone TV for TVNZ OnDemand, up to $822,350
Patriot Brains 2, 10 x 44 mins, The DownlowConcept for TVNZ 2, up to $590,524