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Round Rua – Information for Funding Applicants

The information for those looking to submit an application for funding into Round Rua is now available. Round Rua is the second major funding round of the financial year and will cover Scripted, Non-Fiction and Content Development funding streams.

Applications will also be considered for Capability (industry skills and training initiatives) and Discoverability (industry events and awards).

You can find the full Round Rua Information for Funding Applicants here on our website.

Funding round priorities
For Round Rua, we welcome projects that are intended both for NZ On Air’s priority audiences (Māori, Pasifika, Asian, women, youth, children, persons with disabilities and minorities in the community) and general audiences. Non-Fiction and Scripted applications will be considered (including children’s content, podcasts, games and also part-financing of feature films) as well as applications for Non-Fiction and Scripted Content Development.

We will give priority to projects that have a practical distribution plan to ensure that the target audience is reached.

Journalism
With the Public Interest Journalism Fund (PIJF) officially concluding its allocation phase at the end of June, we no longer have ongoing funding specifically for journalism. So our aim is to return to pre-PIJF funding of journalism projects within the Non-Fiction funding stream.

What that means for this round is that we are only able to invite returning journalism projects that have the backing of a local platform with a substantial audience reach. It also means that certain projects that previously received funding from the PIJF – including funding for roles and projects that are print or text-based – won’t be eligible for this funding round.

If you have any questions around journalism projects for Round Rua, please contact Gabriel Thomas at gabrielt@nzonair.govt.nz.

Timeline

17 August 2023 - Funding round opens.
All applications must be made through NZ On Air’s online application system. Applications not submitted through this system will not be accepted.

14 September 2023, 4pm - Application deadline. Round closes.
Late applications will not be considered. In very exceptional circumstances, for time-sensitive projects agreed prior by the Head of Funding, we may consider an out-of-time application.

24 November 2023 - Decisions confirmed, applicants notified.
This date may be extended at NZ On Air’s sole discretion.

Application Limits
As we continue to see an increasing demand for our funding, which also then means a resulting surge in declined applications, we will continue to have application limits each round for producer/production companies and for platforms.

  • Producers/production companies are limited to a maximum of four applications, with a maximum of two applications per category (Scripted, Non-Fiction, Content Development, Capability and Discoverability).
  • Platforms can submit up to 10 applications per round, without any restrictions per category within that total.
  • Please note, the platform application cap does not apply to children's applications and returning series.

If you think you have a strong case for exceeding these limits, please contact Amie Mills, our Head of Funding, before submitting your applications. Just email amie@nzonair.govt.nz.

As always, our website has a wealth of information on applying for funding. For more, go to www.nzonair.govt.nz/funding/ or contact our Funding team.