Stephen Lovatt

Show of Hands

Jess is a solo mother and reluctant parking warden. Tom is a self-obsessed greetings cards salesman with an addiction to competitions who will do anything to win. Together they are just two of the competitors in a gruelling endurance contest to win a car - whoever keeps their hand on it the longest wins. As the sleepless days wear by, what price will they pay for winning this competition?

Fantail

A feisty young petrol station attendant attempts to figure out her place in the world.

The Cure

When a young female scientist discovers that the pharmaceutical company she works for had developed a cure for cancer years earlier, she attempts to release it to the world. Knowing that they make more money from chemotherapy drugs than the cure, the company does everything it can to stop her.

Savage Honeymoon

Dean is threatening to firebomb his ex-girlfriend's wedding. Mickey is filling the garage with stolen goods - again, and pierced teenage daughter, Leesa, is an accident waiting to happen on the family's beloved Triumph motorbike. An unconventional tough family, battling to survive with humour and love, in a world of motor bikes, rock 'n' roll, classic cars and alcohol. This is a family that you probably would not want next door, but they are fun to watch, and they have their ways of holding family together.

The Power of the Dog

A domineering but charismatic rancher wages a war of intimidation on his brother's new wife and her teen son, until long-hidden secrets come to light.

The Convert

Munro, a soldier turned lay preacher, comes to New Zealand to minister to the first British colonists, but he is converted by the powerful chief Maianui to serve a different purpose.

This Is Not a Love Story

In an inner city loft Belinda(Smuts-Kennedy) lives her dream of being a writer. Across the street is Suzanne (Rutter), a painter who has the success Belinda craves. Suzanne lives with Tony (Lovatt), an actor frustrated by his dead-end role in a soap, who is looking for a way out. Soon Belinda is caught up in a love triangle - which is just the experience she needs to inspire her first novel. This is about sex and love, success and failure, creativity and careers.

Waitangi Day: What Really Happened

This docudrama follows an imaginary news reporter who travels back in time to cover the days leading up to the Treaty of Waitangi's signing on 6 February 1840. Dropping the usual solemnity surrounding Aotearoa's founding document, it uses humour and asides to camera to evoke the chaos and motives behind the treaty. This clip features a confrontation between Hone Heke and representatives of the Crown.

Resolve

Based on the true story of Chris Crean, who took a stand against gang violence in his community only to become a target himself.

Charmer

A lonely woman goes on a date with a disagreeable bachelor and must decide what's more important: compatibility or companionship.

Typhon's People

A scientist in New Zealand has a secret lab where experiments are performed on humans. When he is assassinated, opposing forces rush to his hideaway to suppress or expose his secrets.

Chekhov's The Seagull

Chekhov's famous characters are reimagined with a Kiwi twist and congregate over Zoom. In a direct commentary of our world in lockdown, the characters are still searching for meaning in their lives while battling love, jealousy, dissatisfaction, dreams, hopes and plans - not to mention malfunctioning video calls! This drama all plays out in self-isolation and over virtual interactions with each other.

Zenon: The Zequel

Zenon Kar is 15 and lives on a space station which the military has taken over and is dismantling. She receives a mysterious signal and must convince everyone that it's from aliens who have come to help them.

Highwater

A big-city director working in advertising discovers a better life in small-town New Zealand.

The Exchange

Sabina and Esther's relationship is pushed to breaking point when international exchange student Annie comes to stay.

We Were Dangerous

Nellie, Daisy and Lou attend an institution for delinquent girls on an isolated island in 1954. The trio rail against the system, finding strength in their friendship but this is challenged when the school's matron divides them.

Mahana

1960s, East Coast of New Zealand. Two Māori sheep-shearing families, the Mahanas and the Poatas, are longstanding enemies and commercial rivals. 14-year-old Simeon Mahana, the youngest son of the youngest son is in conflict with his traditionalist grandfather, Tamihana. As Simeon unravels the truth behind the longstanding family vendetta he risks not just his own future prospects but the cohesion of the entire tight-knit society.