Sweetshop & Green’s supernatural thriller, TAUMANU, will premiere on TVNZ 2 at 9:30pm on Monday, March 7. TAUMANU is written and directed by Taratoa Stappard and funded by NZ On Air & Te Māngai Paho for TVNZ.
TAUMANU will be the first of six stand-alone stories to air for the new series ‘Beyond The Veil’ and also marks Stappard’s TV debut.
The episode was produced by Sweetshop & Green’s Co-Managing Director Sharlene George, with Sweetshop & Green’s Rickylee Russell-Waipuka as Associate Producer and Nicola Smith as Line Producer.
Sharlene George, Co-Managing Director of Sweetshop & Green said: “TAUMANU is a provocative Māori story that touches on unpleasant parts of history, which may challenge some of our audience. But this story of reclamation showcases a stellar cast, cinematically portrayed in Aotearoa 1929.”
Taratoa Stappard adds: “I was enormously excited when my script, TAUMANU, was selected for production. I first pitched the idea at Māoriland 2019 and three years later I’m making my TV debut with TAUMANU screening as the opening episode of the TVNZ anthology series ‘Beyond the Veil’. It was a privilege and a pleasure to work with an incredible cast and crew, including several exceptional wāhine toa Heads of Departments and their teams.
“I wanted TAUMANU to be both shocking and captivating; a story that makes audiences sit up, lean in and then wonder what just hit them. It was inspired by the awesome stories of my female tūpuna and it touches directly on sensitive nerves, addressing contemporary kaupapa around histories of colonization and cultural appropriation.”
Stappard will also be working with Sweetshop & Green on two subsequent projects; MĀRAMA, a Māori Revenge Horror set in Victorian England, 1869 – and a TV Series based on the further adventures of the lead characters of TAUMANU.
All six episodes of ‘Beyond the Veil’ will be made available on TVNZ OnDemand.
Credits
Written & Directed by Taratoa Stappard
Produced By Sharlene George, Gal Greenspan, Sweetshop & Green
Line Producer: Nicola Smith
Associate Producer: Rickylee Russell-Waipuka
DOP: Ginny Loane
Casting Director: Christina Asher
Production Designer: Riria Lee
Costume Design: Barbara Darragh, Lucy Danner
Hair & Make-Up: Amanda Ashton
Editor: Richard Shaw
Composers: Karl Steven & Rob Thorne
Sound Design: Nigel Foster
Post production: Toybox NZ
