South Pacific Pictures

South Pacific Pictures is a New Zealand television production company. The company produces drama series, mini-series, telemovies and feature films for the domestic market and international market. SPP's largest property is Shortland Street the half-hour soap opera for TVNZ 2. In 2006, the company released Sione's Wedding and in 2002, the Oscar-nominated feature film Whale Rider. In 1998 the company produced the feature film, What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?, the sequel to Once Were Warriors.

South Pacific Pictures

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Television production
Founded	1988; 37 years ago (1988)
Founder	John Barnett
Headquarters	Auckland , New Zealand
Key people	Kelly Martin (CEO) John Barnett (CEO, 1998–2015)
Parent	TVNZ (1988–1998) All3Media (2003–present)
Subsidiaries	SLR Productions (2003–present) Kura Productions Satellite Media
Website	southpacificpictures.com

In May 2000, the company moved from Browns Bay (Auckland) to a new purpose-built studio complex in Henderson, West Auckland.

SPP is in a joint venture with Australian company SLR Productions to produce animated shows aimed at international markets and also has a 50% interest in Satellite Media and has also created a joint venture known as Kura Productions with Quinton Hita to produce programming for the Māori Television Service.

South Pacific Pictures was founded by CEO John Barnett.^[1]

Film

Title	Year	Notes
The Girl from Mars	1991	Canadian–New Zealand–American co–production
The End of the Golden Weather
What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?	1999
Jubilee	2000
Whale Rider	2002	New Zealand–German co-production
Sione's Wedding	2006
We're Here to Help	2007
The Secret of Moonacre	2008	French–British–Hungarian–American co-production
My Wedding and Other Secrets	2011
Sione's 2: Unfinished Business	2012
White Lies	2013
This Town[2]	2020

Television

Current productions

Key

†	Denotes television programs that have not yet aired.

Title	Genre	First air date	No. of series	Network	Co-production company	Notes
Shortland Street	Soap opera	25 May 1992 (1992-05-25)	30	TVNZ 2	Grundy Television (1992–2006) Fremantle Australia (2006–present)
The Brokenwood Mysteries	Crime drama	28 September 2014 (2014-09-28)	8	Prime (2014–19) TVNZ 1 (2021–)
Educators[3]	Sitcom	8 May 2019 (2019-05-08)	2	TVNZ+		Web series
Mean Mums[4]	Sitcom	16 July 2019 (2019-07-16)	2	Three
Head High[5]	Drama	28 June 2020 (2020-06-28)	2	Three
Last at 11[6]	Mockumentary	21 February 2021 (2021-02-21)	1	TVNZ 1
Travel Guides New Zealand[7]	Travel	18 February 2021 (2021-02-18)	1	TVNZ 2
Snack Masters[8]	Cooking competition	20 April 2022 (2022-04-20)	1
Sort Your Life Out NZ[9]	Reality	22 June 2022 (2022-06-22)	1	Three
Duckrockers[10]	Comedy	2 November 2022 (2022-11-02)	1	TVNZ 2
Far North[11] †	Drama				White Balance Pictures

1980s

Title	Genre	First air date	Last air date	No. of series	Network	Co-production company	Notes
Space Knights	Children's	15 July 1989 (1989-07-15)	16 December 1989 (1989-12-16)	1	Channel 2	Seven Network Vid-Com

1990s

Title	Genre	First air date	Last air date	No. of series	Network	Co-production company	Notes
Gold	Drama	1990	1990	1	TVNZ	Atlantis Films
Raider of the South Seas	Children's	10 February 1990 (1990-02-10)	30 March 1990 (1990-03-30)	1		Atlantis Films	Production services only
Betty's Bunch	Children's	18 February 1990 (1990-02-18)	13 May 1990 (1990-05-13)	1	Channel 2
All for One	Children's	20 May 1990 (1990-05-20)	8 July 1990 (1990-07-08)	1	TVNZ	Atlantis Films
African Journey	Children's	15 July 1990 (1990-07-15)	18 August 1990 (1990-08-18)	1	Channel 2	Atlantis Films
Star Runner	Children's	7 April 1991 (1991-04-07)	26 May 1991 (1991-05-26)	1	TVNZ	Atlantis Films
The Boy from Andromeda	Children's	2 June 1991 (1991-06-02)	7 July 1991 (1991-07-07)	1	Channel 2	Atlantis Films
The Ray Bradbury Theater	Anthology	3 January 1992 (1992-01-03)	30 October 1992 (1992-10-30)	2	USA Network	Alliance Atlantis Bradshaw MacLeod & Associates (season 5) Wilcox Productions Western International Communications	Seasons 5 and 6
The Other Side of Paradise	Drama	22 February 1992 (1992-02-22)	14 March 1992 (1992-03-14)	1	ITV	Central Independent Television Grundy Television	Miniseries Production services only
Growing Rich	Fantasy	28 February 1992 (1992-02-28)	3 April 1992 (1992-04-03)	1	ITV	Anglia	Production services only
Marlin Bay	Drama	27 August 1992 (1992-08-27)	16 November 1994 (1994-11-16)	3	TV One
Kurt Vonnegut's Monkey House	Anthology	21 December 1992 (1992-12-21)	4 April 1993 (1993-04-04)	1	Showtime	Altantis Films Crescent Entertainment B.C Film	Season 2
White Fang	Adventure	1993	1994	1	M6	Neverland Studios Falcon Productions Alliance Atlantis	Production services only
Deepwater Haven	Drama	10 July 1993 (1993-07-10)	15 January 1994 (1994-01-15)	1	Channel 2	F Productions Beyond International
Soldier Soldier	Drama	7 September 1993 (1993-09-07)	30 November 1993 (1993-11-30)	1	ITV	Central Independent Television	Production services only (season 3)
Mrs. Piggle–Wiggle	Children's	30 May 1994 (1994-05-30)	1994	1	Showtime	Think Entertainment Universal Family Entertainment	Production services only
Fallout	Drama	24 July 1994 (1994-07-24)	31 July 1994 (1994-07-31)	1	TV One		Miniseries
Plainclothes	Drama	15 March 1995 (1995-03-15)	6 September 1995 (1995-09-06)	2	TV One
Riding High	Children's	31 December 1995 (1995-12-31)	27 July 1996 (1996-07-27)	1	TV2		Production services only
City Life	Drama	15 July 1996 (1996-07-15)	19 February 1998 (1998-02-19)	1	TV2
House of Sticks	Drama	9 November 1997 (1997-11-09)		—	TV One		Montana Sunday Theatre stand-alone pilot
Market Forces	Sitcom	31 March 1998 (1998-03-31)	17 July 1999 (1999-07-17)	2
McPhail & Gadsby	Satire	11 June 1998 (1998-06-11)	23 July 1998 (1998-07-23)	1
Double Booking	Comedy	4 July 1998 (1998-07-04)		—			Comedy Playhouse stand-alone pilot
Tales of the South Seas	Drama	1998	1998	1	Network Ten	CLT-UFA Gaumont Télévision Village Roadshow Pictures
Jackson's Wharf[12]	Drama	22 June 1999 (1999-06-22)	16 February 2001 (2001-02-16)	2	TV2

2000s

Title	Genre	First air date	Last air date	No. of series	Network	Co-production company	Notes
Mercy Peak	Drama	25 July 2001 (2001-07-25)	19 March 2004 (2004-03-19)	3	TV One
Being Eve	Teen drama	25 August 2001 (2001-08-25)	12 July 2002 (2002-07-12)	2	TV3
Mataku	Anthology	3 October 2002 (2002-10-03)	19 December 2002 (2002-12-19)	2			A third series was produced by 4 Winds Films
New Zealand Idol	Reality competition	1 February 2004 (2004-02-01)	29 October 2006 (2006-10-29)	3	TV2	Grundy Television
Kidnapped	Adventure	27 February 2005 (2005-02-27)	13 March 2005 (2005-03-13)	1	BBC One		Miniseries
Outrageous Fortune	Comedy-drama	12 July 2005 (2005-07-12)	9 November 2010 (2010-11-09)	6	TV3
Interrogation	Crime drama	31 August 2005 (2005-08-31)	23 November 2005 (2005-11-23)	1	Prime TV
Maddigan's Quest	Fantasy	26 January 2006 (2006-01-26)	16 February 2006 (2006-02-16)	1	BBC One Nine Network TV3	Burberry Productions
How Clean Is Your House?	Reality	15 February 2006 (2006-02-15)	July 2007 (2007-07)	2	TV One
Wa$ted!	Reality	20 February 2007 (2007-02-20)	8 April 2008 (2008-04-08)	2	TV3	Fumes TV
HotSpell	Game show	24 August 2007 (2007-08-24)	2 September 2007 (2007-09-02)	1	SBS	Heiress Films
Captain Cook – Obsession and Discovery	Documentary	28 October 2007 (2007-10-28)	18 November 2007 (2007-11-18)	1	ABC Television Prime	Film Australia Cook Films Ferns Productions History Television December Films
New Zealand's Got Talent	Talent show	8 September 2008 (2008-09-08)	28 October 2008 (2008-10-28)	1	Prime		Imagination Television took over production after series 1
Go Girls	Comedy-drama	19 February 2009 (2009-02-19)	16 July 2013 (2013-07-16)	5	TV2
Diplomatic Immunity	Sitcom	10 March 2009 (2009-03-10)	9 June 2009 (2009-06-09)	1	TV One

2010s–20s

Title	Genre	First air date	Last air date	No. of seasons	Network	Co-production company	Notes
Scoundrels	Comedy-drama	20 June 2010 (2010-06-20)	15 August 2010 (2010-08-15)	1	ABC	Old Friends Productions Long Run Productions ABC Studios
Rivers with Craig Potton	Documentary	12 September 2010 (2010-09-12)	17 October 2010 (2010-10-17)	1	Prime
The Almighty Johnsons	Fantasy	7 February 2011 (2011-02-07)	26 September 2013 (2013-09-26)	3	TV3
Nothing Trivial	Comedy-drama	20 July 2011 (2011-07-20)	4 December 2013 (2013-12-04)	3	TV One
Wild Coasts with Craig Potton	Documentary	7 August 2011 (2011-08-07)	4 September 2011 (2011-09-04)	1	Prime
Golden	Sitcom	17 June 2012 (2012-06-17)	22 July 2012 (2012-07-22)	1	TV3
High Country Rescue	Documentary	26 November 2012 (2012-11-26)	14 January 2013 (2013-01-14)	1	TV One
The Blue Rose	Crime drama	4 February 2013 (2013-02-04)	29 April 2013 (2013-04-29)	1	TV3
Step Dave	Comedy-drama	11 February 2014 (2014-02-11)	24 November 2015 (2015-11-24)	2	TV2
Tatau	Drama	12 April 2015 (2015-04-12)	17 May 2015 (2015-05-17)	1	BBC Three	Touchpaper
Westside	Comedy-drama	31 May 2015 (2015-05-31)	16 November 2020 (2020-11-16)	6	Three
Word Up	Game show	11 June 2015 (2015-06-11)	3 September 2015 (2015-09-03)	1	TV One
800 Words	Comedy-drama	15 September 2015 (2015-09-15)	2 October 2018 (2018-10-02)	3	Seven Network	Seven Productions
Forensics NZ	Documentary	24 April 2016 (2016-04-24)	3 June 2018 (2018-06-03)	2	Prime
The Bad Seed	Crime drama	14 April 2019 (2019-04-14)	18 April 2019 (2019-04-18)	1	TVNZ 1	Jump Film & TV
The Sounds	Mystery	3 September 2020 (2020-09-03)	12 October 2020 (2020-10-12)	1	Acorn TV	Shaftesbury Films Acorn Media Enterprises

Television films

Title	Genre	Air date	Network	Co-production company	Notes
The Rogue Stallion	Adventure	1990 (1990)		Grundy Television
Clarence	Comedy	24 November 1990 (1990-11-24)	The Family Channel	Atlantis Films NorthStar Entertainment Group
Old Scores	Comedy	25 September 1991 (1991-09-25)	TVNZ	HTV Cymru Wales
The Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior	Drama	1992	ABC	Capital Cities/ABC Video Enterprises Bonny Dore Productions Ten Four Productions	Production services only
The Sound and the Silence	Drama	18 April 1992 (1992-04-18)		Screen Star Entertainment Atlantis Films Kelcom International	Production services only
Adrift	Thriller	13 April 1993 (1993-04-13)	CBS	Atlantis Films, Blue André Productions W.I.C. CTV Television Network	Consultant
Lawless	Crime drama	26 June 1999 (1999-06-26)	TV2
Fearless	Drama	1999		Telescene
Lawless: Dead Evidence[13]	Crime drama	7 September 2000 (2000-09-07)	TV2
Lawless: Beyond Justice[14]	Crime drama	22 February 2001 (2001-02-22)
Ihaka: Blunt Instrument[15]	Drama	22 February 2002 (2002-02-22)	TV3	Columbia TriStar Productions Columbia TriStar Television Screentime
The Man Who Lost His Head[16]	Drama	26 August 2007 (2007-08-26)	TV One	Greenlit Rights
Stolen[17]	Drama	28 July 2010 (2010-07-28)	TV3
Spies and Lies[18]	Drama	14 November 2010 (2010-11-14)	TV One
Nothing Trivial[19]	Comedy-drama	3 August 2014 (2014-08-03)
In Dark Places[20]	Drama	22 July 2018 (2018-07-22)	TVNZ 1	10,000 Company

Film & television library from Subsidiaries

SLR Productions

• Deadly (2006; with Yoram Gross Productions)
• I Got a Rocket (2006–2007)
• Dex Hamilton: Alien Entomologist (2008–2009)
• Gasp! (2010–2011)
• The DaVincibles (2011)
• Guess How Much I Love You (2011–2017)
• Teenage Fairytale Dropouts (2012–2013)
• The Skinner Boys: Guardians of the Lost Secrets (2014–2017)
• Captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs (2015)
• Lexi & Lottie: Trusty Twin Detectives (2016–2017)
• Alice-Miranda Friends Forever (2019)
• Berry Bees (2019–2020)
• Space Nova (2021)
• Alice-Miranda: A Royal Christmas Ball (2021)

Live Action

• Sam Fox: Extreme Adventures (2014–2015)