Sector support

Through the Capability stream of our Investment Strategy, we invest in initiatives that strengthen the creative workforce – ensuring the sectors we support have the skilled talent they need to thrive, compete globally and sustain long-term growth. We focus primarily on uplifting skills and knowledge in the screen and music sectors, building a foundation for industry resilience and excellence.

By investing in projects that develop the sector workforce we help to shape the success of future funded content and ultimately create content audiences want to enjoy.

In the 2024/25 year we invested $844,725 in eight Music industry capability initiatives and 12 screen sector capability initiatives.

Screen capability

Taking Aotearoa New Zealand’s stories to the world is an important part of growing a sustainable screen production sector in New Zealand. Export success contributes to our economy, and the cultural value of our stories being seen around the globe adds to the nation’s ‘soft power’.

Twelve producers were selected to take part in the Activator Screen Business Programme in 2025, an international business development initiative designed to build export capability within the New Zealand screen production sector.

The mid-career and established producers took part in an intensive programme in the second half of 2025 which included industry-led workshops, international market visits to Sydney, London and Los Angeles, and expert business training.

• NZ On Air committed $100,000 to this initiative in 2024/25, alongside our Mahi Tahi partners the NZ Film Commission and Te Māngai Pāho.

Our evidence base plays a crucial role in guiding strategic investment in capability building across the sector. Through our annual Diversity reports, we monitor the makeup of the screen sector workforce, tracking participation patterns that inform where targeted support can have the greatest impact. This is important because we want to ensure screen stories can be told authentically by people representing all parts of our communities. Over several years we have observed lower participation of Pan-Asian people in above-the-line roles in screen production, and have responded with several funded capability initiatives targeting Pan-Asian screen practitioners. One such initiative is Episode One, which is in its second iteration of a successful pilot programme run in 2022-2023.

The initiative aims to enhance the representation of Pan-Asian key creatives on screen and behind the camera. It enables teams to develop, write, pitch a series and produce its pilot episode over the span of one year.

• NZ On Air committed $95,000 to this initiative in 2024/25.

Under our Discoverability funding stream we provide support to a number of events that bring sector participants together to celebrate the quality of content being created at awards shows. By sponsoring these events, we help ensure that exceptional work gains the visibility it deserves, creating pathways for creators to reach wider audiences, and attract further engagement and potential investment in their projects.

Music

During the 2024/25 financial year, NZ On Air actively supported a range of music events that celebrated Aotearoa’s diverse and vibrant music scene.

Funding the Taite Music Prize in 2025 was a valuable investment in Aotearoa’s independent music sector. Now in its 16th year, the award – run by Independent Music NZ (IMNZ) with founding partner Recorded Music NZ, and NZ On Air and the Taite whānau as official partners – continues to be a cornerstone of the scene, recognising bold, boundary-pushing albums and prioritising artistic depth over commercial trends. A record-breaking 80 submissions were received from 2024 releases.

This year’s winner was MOKOTRON for his debut album WAEREA – a bilingual, Māori storytelling project rooted in whakapapa. Two singles from the album, Ōhākī (released August 2024) and Ko Wai Koe (released November 2024), were funded through New Music Single in 2023. WAEREA received rotation on Mai FM, and MOKOTRON also won Te Tohu Kaipuoro Toa (Favourite Solo Act) at the 2024 Aotearoa Alternative Awards (formerly SRN awards), recognising him as a standout in the alternative music scene.

• NZ On Air supported the Taite Music Prize with $12,500 sponsorship.

NZ On Air once again sponsored key categories at the Aotearoa Music Awards in May 2025, including Album of the Year, Radio Airplay Award and Best Video. These awards not only recognise artistic excellence but also highlight the impact of NZ On Air’s funding, with 80% of the AMA 2025 winners having received our support.

NZ On Air supported the Aotearoa Music Awards 2025 with $100,000 sponsorship.

In May 2025, NZ On Air played a central role in the 25th anniversary of NZ Music Month, a nationwide celebration of local music, including supporting the Yami Summit in Wānaka, which brings together musicians, producers and industry professionals for workshops and performances. The month culminated in NZ Music T-Shirt Day, a fundraising initiative for MusicHelps, which NZ On Air helped promote.

• NZ On Air supported the Yami Summit 2025 with $6,000 sponsorship. We also supported MusicHelps with $30,000 under the Capability stream.

Screen

The New Zealand Television Awards celebrate the best in local content beaming into homes across Aotearoa each year. The funded drama After The Party waltzed away with a record haul of nine awards at the 2024 event, including Best Drama, Best Script: Drama, Best Actor and Best Actress. Approximately ¾ of the awards were won by NZ On Air-funded content.

NZ On Air, along with our Mahi Tahi partners, has supported the NZ TV Awards to transform in 2025 into the NZ Screen Awards, providing a place to celebrate the best in local film production after several years of no dedicated film awards.

• NZ On Air supported the NZTV Awards 2024 with $60,000 sponsorship.

The Big Screen Symposium 2025 offered an abundance of inspiring speakers across two days in Auckland in early July. With sessions that looked at the success of the initiative to produce Disney classics in te reo Māori, creating local stories with global reach, and the inside word behind crafting a story about the Pike River mine tragedy, attendees were spoiled for choice. Among these was also a data-driven presentation from our own Cameron Harland and Amie Mills on understanding funding impacts and a look at what lies ahead for the industry, plus a deep dive session into the second wave of research project Seen On Screen, which examines the diversity of characters in funded Scripted content.

• NZ On Air supported the Big Screen Symposium 2025 with $30,000 sponsorship.