Lightbox Goes Loco Over Local

Next month Lightbox will stream its first commissioned dramas, one of which it’s already renewed.

“We’re really thrilled to be taking this crucial next step and investing directly in local productions,” Lightbox General Manager Hema Patel says.

“New Zealanders are loyal and avid consumers of local content, and we know our customers will love these excellent series.”

High Road is a Tomorrowland adaptation of the award-winning web series of the same name.

The first season will comprise eight half-hour episodes while the second, which will stream later in the year, will be all-new content.

“We are looking forward to shooting entirely new episodes of the High Road saga for season two, with a pretty rocky road planned for poor old Terry,” creator Justin Harwood says.

Terry (co-producer Mark Mitchinson) is a washed-up English rock star who moves to New Zealand to reconnect with his long lost daughter and starts a community radio station in a caravan in Piha.

The cast includes Emma Thompson and Greg Wise as themselves.

The second Lightbox Original, Nori Rollercoaster, is an animated children’s series named after a timid but ambitious young rollercoaster who hopes to conquer his fear of heights and become a racer like his dad — but first, he must fight the takeover of his theme park by an evil tycoon.

It was co-produced by POW Studios in Wellington and Xrisp Media in South Korea.

“POW is delighted to have the great work of Kiwi voice actors, music composers, sound designers, sound editors and mixers showcased in Nori and presented to New Zealand through this exciting new partnership with Lightbox,” POW Studios CEO John McKay says.

Nori Rollercoaster will stream from March 23 and High Road from March 30.

The commissions cement Lightbox’s support of local content  with classics like Outrageous Fortune (which is a top 10 state on the Spark streaming service) and Westside.

“Supporting our local industry is incredibly important to us,” Head of Content Charlotte Hill says.

“When you see a series stamped with the Lightbox Original brand, it means Lightbox has played a vital part in bringing that project to the screen, directly supporting home-grown talent in the process.”

More Lightbox Originals will be announced soon.