No shortage of new quality factual stories

Media Release

12 December 2017

No shortage of new quality factual stories for media audiences

New Zealanders will have more diverse stories reflecting our own identity and interests, and more places to find them, with a raft of new factual content supported by NZ On Air.

Everything from brainy kids to dance, current affairs, suicide, LGBTQI issues, special Olympians, architecture and treaty negotiations - plus a whole lot more - will be covered in new series and one-offs for television, online and radio audiences.

There were 64 funding applications for factual content in the December round, the last funding round for 2017. Of these 28 have been supported.

“The factual projects selected this round represent and reflect so many, multi-faceted corners of our society. In these projects we are able to see why public media content is so important to our culture,” said NZ On Air Chief Executive Jane Wrightson.

New content includes: Brainboxes, a new two part documentary giving a fascinating insight to what it’s like growing up gifted in NZ; and On Thin Ice – Dancing On Icebergs,in which award-winning Kiwi choreographer Corey Baker will stage a world first dance project in Antarctica.

Also new is Anika Moa Unleashed, which will take Anika Moa around Aotearoa meeting people of interest at home, in what can only be described as “total submersion” interviewing.

Current affairs gets fresh treatment with The Spinoff TV – a fusion of digital content and television, in which a group of podcasters, YouTubers, stand-up comics and online reporters process New Zealand media and public life both online and in a weekly package for Three.

The Silence Project is a narrative puzzle told through the eyes of a 22-year-old Film School graduate who lost her close friend to suicide two years ago. This online series revisits the young woman’s last 24 hours, talking to the people around at that time, to explore why.

The Negotiators is the dramatic story behind the Treaty of Waitangi settlements in which viewers meet the gutsy characters, from both iwi and Crown, that steered a path through a minefield of complex negotiations.

House Of Champions will follow three Special Olympians on the path to glory; Hijackedwill ask why NZ youth identify with American hip hop culture; while The Male Gayz is a new online chat show on issues for the rainbow community.

Returning television series include a new instalment of the ground-breaking What Next?exploring how to turn the social change ideas from series one into action; the popular Grand Designs has a fourth series of challenging new home builds; while Lost & Foundwill continue to reunite families, uncover cultural identity and discover lost family heritage.

Political and current affairs shows Newshub Nation (previously The Nation), Q + A and The Hui return in 2018, as will Rural Delivery after the producer came up with a plan to raise third party funding to support the production.

All funding details can be found here

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