October 2022 Newsletter

Funding details from the September round, an update from our CE, and a call to participate in creative sector research

A note from the CEO

Cam Harland, Chief Executive

As the year end looms ever closer the pace of work is definitely picking up. While our 'business-as-usual' mahi continues to deliver funding outcomes, we are also working hard behind the scenes on a proposed change programme. You will have seen in our recent Shorts newsletter that we now have confirmation of a significant funding cut next year, with $84m being transferred from our baseline to the new ANZPM. There’s been a lot of reaction to this in the media and that’s entirely understandable. It is the biggest change in the public media landscape in Aotearoa in three decades. And it does have a profound impact on NZ On Air, and you our stakeholders.

We will roll out more information as soon as we are able, on what our thinking is around a new strategy, and how we manage that change process. I highly recommend you attend SPADA as we will have more to say there, but if you can’t we’ll make sure we get information to you via our usual channels. Our aim is to give you as much certainty as we can, as early as we can. So stay tuned!

In the meantime the greatest impact is on projects we are funding now for either TVNZ or RNZ as primary platforms, that will in effect be under the mantel of the new ANZPM when they are released. We think it’s important to ensure that funding in this financial year does not duplicate funding appropriated by the ANZPM from 1 July 2023, and we want to ensure as much of our now very limited funding as possible is available for content on other platforms. It’s a tricky balancing act, and our team is working with all those affected, and we are also ensuring the Ministry for Culture and Heritage (and ANZPM) are aware of the transition issues.

That said, we are excited by the range of content funded in this round. Being a targeted audience round, it has once again shown the talent pool across many different communities is growing. This is an important focus area – growing the breadth of representation in the content creation community helps to ensure we better reflect Aotearoa in all its richness. Read on for more about the projects funded in this round.

I am delighted to announce, on behalf of our Chair Dr Ruth Harley, the appointment of Petrina Togi-Sa'ena to our Board under the Associate Director programme. Petrina joins us with an impressive background in the music industry and arts, in particular working with APRA and the Pacific Music Awards. She also produces short documentaries and music videos, and has been involved with the Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust. As an Associate Director Petrina will be a non-voting member at Board meetings to learn more about a Director's responsibilities, but at the same time we will welcome her music and arts sector knowledge and experience at our Board table.

Finally, we will be catching up with a lot of you over the coming months at events, something we very much look forward to. Already mentioned is SPADA, but also the TV Awards, and we will be launching our latest audience research in Auckland at the end of November. This year it is focused on the elusive youth market (15-24) and combines both qualitative and quantitative findings. We’ve got some fascinating insights to share, and off the back of our new research-led Children’s content strategy, this work is going to provide an important compass point for our new strategic direction.

Ngā mihi nui

Cam

Profile of Creative Professionals research - please participate

We have again collaborated with Creative NZ on research into the working lives of people working in the creative sectors in Aotearoa. The Profile of Creative Professionals research repeats research undertaken last in 2019 and seeks to understand the sense of wellbeing, income and hours worked by those engaged in creative professions to help us better serve the sector.

The research is being undertaken on our behalf by Kantar Public. They'd like to hear from anyone working in creative roles in media and music production and online gaming.

You can participate in the research here.

The survey closes this Sunday 9 October and we urge you to participate as the more people surveyed the more robust the conclusions.

You can read the 2019 Profile of Creative Professionals Research report here.

NZ Media Fund update

The September round was our second funding round of the new financial year, and was focused on production applications intended to reflect and/or appeal to targeted audiences .

In total, we received 139 applications seeking $47.8m. We are pleased to support the funding of 71 Scripted, Factual and IDF applications for up to $26.6m.

We also received 39 applications to the Public Interest Journalism Fund, plus two out of time applications, seeking $7.1m against an available pool of up to $5m. A panel including independent industry assessors recommended 24 applications for funding.

The full details of all funding decisions are at the end of this newsletter. You can also use the funding decisions search on our website.

Kid Sister 2, Greenstone TV

Scripted

We've invested in six drama and comedy projects that support the development of talented emerging and mid-career Aotearoa storytellers.

Two new Scripted projects, Miles From Nowhere and Mysterious Ways, will be making their way to New Zealand audiences, alongside much-loved returning series such as Kid Sister, Kairākau, Someday Stories and I Got You.

Read more in our September 2022 Scripted media release.

Still Here 2, Four and Five Films

Factual

We have funded a raft of new and returning Factual projects by, for, and about under-represented communities in Aotearoa.

These include new series that delve into issues affecting Māori, Pasifika and Chinese communities, as well as those living with disabilities or exploring issues of gender and sexuality.

Returning to our screens for further seasons are the popular series Still Here, Unbreakable, Soul Sessions, Attitude, Fresh and more.

Read more in our September 2022 Factual media release.

Bird's Eye View 2, Sweetshop and Green

Children's content

Parents get ready - we've just funded 16 dynamic new local series and games for your tamariki to enjoy on all their favourite platforms!

More Kea Kids News, Kiri and Lou, Bird's Eye View, Toi Time, Suzy and Friends and The Poo Files are on the way - as well as new games such as Kai Navigator, Comic Creation Kit, The Hua Company and more.

Haukāinga 2022/23, Te Reo Irirangi O Te Hiku O Te Ika

Public Interest Journalism

Our penultimate Public Interest Journalism funding round focused on supporting industry development and capacity building within Aotearoa newsrooms.

24 projects have been funded to a total of $3,994,956 - including a cadetship programme for five Māori journalists in Taranaki, and cadetships focused across Chinese language, disability and agri-journalism.

Music

This round included our second New Music Project round for 2022/23.

We have supported 12 projects. Project grants are for multi-single release campaigns including subsidy for recording, video content, and promotions and marketing campaigns.

% expenditure to date

Music update

Since the end of July, we have completed four Music funding rounds - New Music Single, New Music Project, New Music Kids and New Music Development, resulting in 78 music grants.

We have just closed the final rounds for 2022 for New Music Pasifika, New Music Project, New Music Development and Music Features.

Before the end of the year, we still have one more New Music Single round and the annual Waiata Takitahi (in partnership with Te Māngai Pāho). More information on all our music funding opportunities can be found here.

Rob Ruha

Waiata Anthems week

Waiata Anthems week is always one of the highlights of the year but this year is particularly special as it is the 50 year anniversary of when the Māori Language Petition, calling for active recognition of te reo Māori, was presented to Parliament.

To celebrate Waiata Anthems week, once again a huge range of waiata te reo Māori was released via radio and streaming services, and we saw several waiata achieving great chart positions over the month.

More details and playlist links for Waiata Anthems can be found here.

Eight songwriters will take part in the 2022 Reo Māori SongHubs.

Music industry awards and events

It's Music industry awards season! NZ On Air supports a wide range of sector award events including the Waiata Māori Awards, Pacific Music Awards, APRA Silver Scroll and the Aotearoa Music Awards. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners announced so far.

After a two year COVID-19 hiatus, many in-person music industry events have returned. Over the last couple of months, NZ On Air has supported the following upskilling events:

IMNZ and the NZ Music Commission's Going Global – a two day seminar and showcase event with international and local speakers.
The Music Managers Forum Aotearoa Regional Seminars with the topic 'How to Market and Promote Your Music'.
APRA AMCOS NZ Reo Māori Songhubs curated by APRA Board Writer Representative Bic Runga and Sir Tīmoti Kāretu with eight songwriters, four producers and four mātanga reo/Māori language consultants.

PIJF Profiles

In our feature PIJF Profiles, we talk to some of the journalists that NZ On Air has supported into media roles through the Public Interest Journalism Fund (PIJF). In our latest profile, we talk to Atutahi Potaka-Dewes, a cadet with Te Rito.

Te Rito is a programme from four major media partners – NZME, Whakaata Māori, Newshub and PMN – funded by the PIJF to identify, train, develop and hire 23 cadet Māori, Pasifika and diverse journalists to better reflect the communities of Aotearoa. Atutahi's PIJF Profile can be found here.

Meet the Team

We continue to profile members of the team here at NZ On Air, so you can meet some of the individuals working hard to ensure that the best local content is produced to connect and reflect Aotearoa audiences.

This time, we talk to Suzanne De Spong, senior communications advisor, about what she does day-to-day, what she loves about her job and what she likes to do when she's not at NZ On Air. You can view our Meet the Team page here.

Funding details

Note: Funding marked with an asterisk (*) is for content intended for broadcast on TVNZ or RNZ. Assuming the legislation establishing the new ANZPM passes, NZ On Air funding would end at 30 June 2023. This means these funding amounts may be subject to change. (Funding of $1m or less is unaffected in this round for timing reasons).