The darling show of NZ On Air’s recent funding rounds leaked its debut season prior to the official release date and has now accused NZ On Air of not paying out its funding. Madeleine Chapman reports.
The creator and director of SIS, the Polynesian sketch comedy show whose pilot was the darling of publicly funded media in 2021, has levelled a number of claims at NZ On Air including not paying out the funding for the show’s first season and silencing the producers, as well as suppressing attempts to post on social media about the aforementioned disputes.
Hanelle Harris, creator of Baby Mamas Club and SIS, posted the claims on her personal Instagram account on Monday night. “We need your help!” began the post to her 5,000 followers, before inviting readers to tag the official NZ On Air account in the comments. “NZ On Air are ignoring our request to meet & are now avoiding paying money owed to us for delivering [SIS].
“This is an abuse of authority & is unacceptable! This is taxpayer money & shouldn’t be held over our heads when we have done the work & we have outstanding costs from making the show.”
Accusations of non-payment is simply the latest chapter in what has been a tumultuous and at times devastating two years for the once-darling comedy show, with its social media platforms now dedicated entirely to the protest.
The pilot
In September 2019, NZ On Air announced its funding decisions from a targeted funding round calling for “projects by newer storytellers from the Pasifika and Pan-Asian screen communities”. Creator and director Harris, who is Māori and Lebanese, submitted a Pasifika project proposal for a 44-minute SIS pilot with her production company Culture Factory. The proposal was accepted and funded for $499,864.
The resulting pilot for Comedy Central showcased Pasifika creatives in comedy sketches that, when split into segments, spread to Pacific viewers in Australia and around the world. NZ On Air jumped on the success of the pilot, using the show’s visuals in presentations to demonstrate the funding approach was working.
The funding
Exactly a year later, Harris and her production team applied for and were granted $1,751,342 (after Covid subsidies, $2,096,954 has been paid to date) to make a debut season of SIS, with 6 x 22-minute episodes to be delivered in 2021.
That funding amount falls at the average-to-high end for scripted comedy in New Zealand. Ratings favourite Wellington Paranormal has received $2-2.5m per season and dystopian comedy Creamerie received a little less for its first season, while TVNZ comedy Kid Sister was given $878,802 in 2021.
The delays
For reasons that are yet to be made public, SIS did not air in 2021. The delta lockdown delayed most things and SIS was one of many funded projects given Covid-19 relief funding, with the production company being paid top-ups amounting to $59,852.
The show was eventually delivered in July 2022, and it wasn’t until October that first mentions of a release date were made, and that date was a mere two weeks later, October 18.
The leak
In order to receive funding, production companies must partner with platforms in order to guarantee distribution to a known audience. The primary platform for SIS season one was Prime, with support from Comedy Central and Neon.
On the evening of October 17, the official Instagram account for SIS posted an eight-minute video featuring director Harris as well as producers and writers Destiny Momoisea, Maiya Thompson and Jaydin Leslie. The video’s caption begins “An Open Letter To Film & Television Industry #Protest”. In the clip, the makers of the show are seated with notes ready to deliver. “Our show is scheduled for a release tomorrow on a respected platform,” begins Momoisea. “After months of trying to fight for an equal seat at the table for our own projects about our communities and our stories, we have had enough trying to compromise in this broken system.
“Last week, days out from launch, we learned information that our platform could be trying to scam not only us but, more importantly, you.”
Harris speaks next. “We refuse to be complicit in a system that forces us to go against our values. In protest of our screen sector here in Aotearoa New Zealand, we are leaking SIS ourselves.
“We understand that there may be legal and financial consequences to this, but we give this show back to you, the people, free of charge to access around the world.”
The clip goes on to reference sexism and racism in the film and TV industry, as well as mention the #MeToo movement. The group also launched a petition alongside releasing the full series of SIS on Vimeo. The petition is vague in its demands, but includes a request to meet with various government ministers. As of writing, the petition has 3,452 signatures.
The access
The makers of SIS accused “a respected platform” – in this case their platform partner is Prime/Sky – of “trying to scam” New Zealand audiences. I spoke with the makers shortly after the leak and they confirmed that the issue was around access to the show, particularly for Pacific communities in Australia. (It is understood that the streaming platform in Australia would not be releasing the show at the same time as New Zealand, and would have a paywall in place for the initial release.)
NZ On Air funding is given on the strict condition that all projects are available free to view for New Zealand audiences. Following the leaking of the show, and on the day it was scheduled to be released officially, a Sky spokesperson disputed the claim that the platform was attempting to “scam” both the makers of the show and the viewers.
“The agreed distribution plan mirrors that of the pilot episode of SIS, with the first window being free to view on the Comedy Central website (accessible in New Zealand), followed by Prime and Neon,” read the statement.
“As originally agreed by all parties, today at 8am SIS became available on the Comedy Central YouTube channel where the entire series is freely available.”
The breakdown
The dispute appears to be regarding the definition of “freely available”. For NZ On Air (funded by NZ taxpayers) and local platforms, “freely available” means freely available to New Zealand audiences. For Harris and the SIS team, “freely available” means freely available to everyone in the world at the same time.
The contract
Following the recent posts by Harris claiming NZ On Air hadn’t paid the production for goods delivered, NZ On Air released a statement addressing the claims as well as background on the show’s funding, release and legal requirements.
“The producers [of SIS] did not uphold the contract between NZ On Air, the producers and Sky when they published the series online in protest,” it reads. “Prior to this action they had not communicated with NZ On Air about any concerns.”
Shortly after the leak, NZ On Air contacted the SIS team’s lawyer to raise the issue of a contract breach and asked the producers “to clarify what steps they are taking to rectify the apparent breach of their Production and License Agreement with Sky.” (The lawyer has since ceased representing the producers on the matter and the producers are now representing themselves.)
The payment
On the matter of non-payments, NZ On Air confirmed that it was withholding the final 2.5% of funds ($49,592 + GST to be exact) from the production. “We have advised the producers that prior to any payment of the final instalment of NZ On Air funds, we have commissioned an independent project audit, as per the terms of our contract. We have prioritised this work to happen prior to Christmas. NZ On Air conducts several audits a year as a matter of course.”
NZ On Air “utterly refutes” Harris’s claims on social media, including that the agency had attempted to block her posts on Instagram. The statement concludes by noting that NZ On Air “has to date supported every application for funding by the team behind SIS (since Baby Mamas Club in 2016) and has consistently supported them to realise their ambitions for the SIS series to be scaled up.”
The stalemate
There has been contact between SIS and NZ On Air since the leaking of the show on October 17. Where the stalemate occurred is in the order of next steps. On November 14, Jadin Leslie requested, for the second time, a meeting with NZ On Air to discuss and explain the breakdown of his team’s relationship with Sky that led to them leaking the show early. NZOA requested time to convene before responding and on Monday, December 5, informed the SIS team that, given the way the show was released, an independent audit would be conducted before final payments would be made.
On Monday evening, Harris posted her claims about NZ On Air withholding payments to Instagram.
The fallout
The pilot of SIS was a breakthrough project for Pasifika creatives, particularly women, in Aotearoa. It cemented Harris as the rising star of indigenous storytelling and development, and suggested a new way to fund and distribute projects within New Zealand’s minority communities.
Harris’s latest post ends with a final plea to NZ On Air. “We are trying everything we can to sort things out ‘the proper way’, however, the tactics being used to silence us are shocking & we will not stand for this! Do the right thing NZ On Air. We are watching and hoping you will be on the right side of history.”
It’s unclear where any party is currently standing but while NZ On Air and the SIS team attempt to resolve their disputes, the show – that took three years and more than $2m of taxpayer funds to make – sits unremarked upon on Comedy Central’s YouTube channel, freely available to New Zealand audiences. The first episode is the most popular, with 477 views.
madeleine@thespinoff.co.nz