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 was first established in 1988 by New Zealand broadcasting company TVNZ as its in-house drama television production arm that would develop and produce high-quality television drama for TVNZ's channels domestically, it was formed when TVNZ had a massive restructuring of the network and the introduction of "Strategic Business Units" within the TVNZ corporation in 1988, TVNZ disbanded its internal Drama Department and spun off its core drama production unit into a new production subsidiary within TVNZ called South Pacific Pictures, which would produce programming in-house for TVNZ & its channels, with John Barnett serving as founder & CEO of the TVNZ's in-house drama production arm South Pacific Pictures. However, six years later in 1998, TVNZ had sold its drama production unit South Pacific Pictures to its founder & CEO John Barnett though a management buyout and became an independent production company & British TV production group Chrysalis Visual Entertainment, the television arm of Chrysalis Group, had brought a 33% stake in the New Zealand independent production company South Pacific Pictures, marking Chrysalis Visual Entertainment's first entry into the New Zealand production market with South Pacific Pictures became a subsidiary of the British entertainment group Chrysalis Visual Entertainment with them would handle international distribution to South Pacific's future programming while New Zealand media and investment company Force Corporation had brought a 25% minority stake in South Pacific Pictures. By December 2001 when Chrysalis Visual Entertainment was renamed to Chrysalis TV Group during that same year back in February, Chrysalis TV Group had increased its stake in the New Zealand drama production company South Pacific Pictures by rising its stake from 33% to a 60% majority stake in the New Zealand production studio South Pacific Pictures with Chrysalis TV Group acquiring its remaining shares from Force Corporation and John Barlett's own production outfit Endeavour Productions, and South Pacific Pictures became a subsidiary of the British TV production company Chrysalis TV Group.
In May 2000, the company moved from Browns Bay (Auckland) to a new purpose-built studio complex in Henderson, West Auckland.
In October 2001, South Pacific Pictures had partnered with Australian entertainment & production company Beyond International to form a new joint-venture distribution subsidiary entitled Beyond New Zealand, that would serve as Beyond International's new production division and the first independent distribution company based in New Zealand and would be based in Auckland & would provide a gateway to the international television marketplace for New Zealand producers, with South Pacific Pictures' founder & MD John Barnett serving as manager of the new joint-venture production unit.
In June 2004, South Pacific Pictures had colloaborated with producer & presenter Quinton Hita and established a joint-venture production subsidiary dedicated to produce programming in Māori language for the Maori Television Service (MTS) as well as other broadcasting networks in New Zealand, entitled Kura Productions. The new joint-venture production subsidiary Kura Productions will produce Māori-language programming for broadcasters in New Zealand while South Pacific Pictures will support development funding for the new subsidiary.
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.
Film Title Year Notes 1991 Canadian–New Zealand–American co–production 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 2008 French–British–Hungarian–American co-production My Wedding and Other Secrets 2011 Sione's 2: Unfinished Business 2012 White Lies 2013 This Town 2020
Television Current productions +Key Denotes television programs that have not yet aired. TitleGenreFirst air dateNo. ofseriesNetworkCo-production companyNotesShortland StreetSoap opera30TVNZ 2Grundy Television Fremantle Australia All3Media International The Brokenwood MysteriesCrime drama8Prime TVNZ 1 EducatorsSitcom2TVNZ+Web seriesMean MumsSitcom2ThreeHead HighDrama2ThreeLast at 11Mockumentary1TVNZ 1Travel Guides New ZealandTravel1TVNZ 2 Snack MastersCooking competition1Sort Your Life Out NZReality1ThreeDuckrockers Comedy1TVNZ 2The Traitors NZReality Competition 2 (+ 1 upcoming) Three Far North DramaWhite Balance PicturesThe Traitors Australia Reality Competition 2026 1 Network 10 Previous seasons produced by Endemol Shine Australia
1980s Title Genre First air date Last air date No. ofseries Network Co-production companyNotes Space Knights Children's 1 Channel 2 Seven NetworkVid-Com
1990s Title Genre First air date Last air date No. ofseries Network Co-production companyNotes Gold Drama 1990 1990 1TVNZ Atlantis Films Raider of the South Seas Children's 1 Atlantis Films Production services only Betty's Bunch Children's 1 Channel 2 All for One Children's 1 TVNZ Atlantis Films African Journey Children's 1 Channel 2 Atlantis Films Star Runner Children's 1 TVNZ Atlantis Films Children's 1 Channel 2 Atlantis Films Anthology 2 USA Network Alliance AtlantisBradshaw MacLeod & Associates Wilcox ProductionsWestern International Communications Seasons 5 and 6 Drama 1 ITV Central Independent TelevisionGrundy Television MiniseriesProduction services only Growing Rich Fantasy 1 ITV Anglia Production services only Marlin Bay Drama 3 TV One Anthology 1 Showtime Altantis FilmsCrescent EntertainmentB.C Film Season 2 White Fang Adventure 1993 1994 1 M6 Neverland StudiosFalcon ProductionsAlliance Atlantis Production services only Deepwater Haven Drama 1 Channel 2 F ProductionsBeyond International Soldier Soldier Drama 1 ITV Central Independent Television Production services only Mrs. Piggle–Wiggle Children's 1994 1 Showtime Think EntertainmentUniversal Family Entertainment Production services only Fallout Drama 1 TV One Miniseries Plainclothes Drama 2 TV One Riding High Children's 1 TV2 Production services onlyCity Life Drama 1 TV2 House of Sticks Drama TV OneMontana Sunday Theatre stand-alone pilot Tales of the South Seas Drama 1 Network Ten CLT-UFAGaumont TélévisionVillage Roadshow PicturesMarket Forces Sitcom 2TV One McPhail & Gadsby Satire 1Double Booking Comedy Comedy Playhouse stand-alone pilot Jackson's Wharf Drama 2 TV2
2000s Title Genre First air date Last air date No. ofseries Network Co-production companyNotes Mercy Peak Drama 3 TV One Being Eve Teen drama 2TV3 Mataku Anthology 2 A third series was produced by 4 Winds Films New Zealand Idol Reality competition 3 TV2 Grundy Television Kidnapped Adventure 1 BBC One Miniseries Outrageous Fortune Comedy-drama 6 TV3 Interrogation Crime drama 1 Prime TV Maddigan's Quest Fantasy 1 BBC OneNine NetworkTV3 Burberry Productions How Clean Is Your House? Reality 2 TV One Wa$ted! Reality 2 TV3 Fumes TV HotSpell Game show 1 SBS Heiress Films Captain Cook – Obsession and Discovery Documentary 1 ABC TelevisionPrime Film AustraliaCook FilmsFerns ProductionsHistory TelevisionDecember Films New Zealand's Got Talent Talent show 1 Prime Imagination Television took over production after series 1 Go Girls Comedy-drama 5 TV2 Diplomatic Immunity Sitcom 1 TV One
2010s–20s Title Genre First air date Last air date No. ofseasons Network Co-production companyNotes Scoundrels Comedy-drama 1 ABC Old Friends ProductionsLong Run ProductionsABC Studios Rivers with Craig Potton Documentary 1 Prime Fantasy 3 TV3 Nothing Trivial Comedy-drama 3 TV One Wild Coasts with Craig Potton Documentary 1 Prime Golden Sitcom 1 TV3 High Country Rescue Documentary 1 TV One Crime drama 1 TV3 Step Dave Comedy-drama 2 TV2 Tatau Drama 1 BBC Three Touchpaper Westside Comedy-drama 6 Three Word Up Game show 1 TV One 800 Words Comedy-drama 3 Seven Network Seven Productions Forensics NZ Documentary 2 Prime Crime drama 1 TVNZ 1 Jump Film & TV Mystery 1 Acorn TV Shaftesbury FilmsAcorn Media Enterprises
Television films Title Genre Air date Network Co-production companyNotes Adventure Grundy Television Clarence Comedy The Family Channel Atlantis FilmsNorthStar Entertainment Group Old Scores Comedy TVNZ HTV Cymru Wales Drama 1992 ABC Capital Cities/ABC Video EnterprisesBonny Dore ProductionsTen Four Productions Production services only Drama Screen Star EntertainmentAtlantis FilmsKelcom International Production services only Adrift Thriller CBS Atlantis Films, Blue André ProductionsW.I.C.CTV Television Network Consultant Lawless Crime drama TV2 Fearless Drama 1999 Telescene Lawless: Dead Evidence Crime drama TV2 Lawless: Beyond Justice Crime drama Ihaka: Blunt Instrument Drama TV3 Columbia TriStar ProductionsColumbia TriStar TelevisionScreentime Drama TV One Greenlit Rights Stolen Drama TV3 Spies and Lies Drama TV One Nothing Trivial Comedy-drama In Dark Places Drama 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)
References
External links South Pacific Pictures Website