NZOA Backs TV3 and Prime Hits

Prime TV’s dominated the latest round of NZ On Air funding for factual content, with its Decades in Colour winning support for a second series, while TV3’s Grand Designs 2 has had its run extended to 14 episodes.

Originally 10 episodes were commissioned for season two of the Imagination TV hit, which rated through the roof last year (it will be repeated 7.30 Thursdays from next week).

Today NZOA announced it had topped up funding for an extra four episodes ($360,000).

Given the logistics of the production, the extra four are a safeguard, NZOA’s head of television Glenn Usmar says.

“Because of the extremely long production times required for some of the stories covered in this series, plus the inevitable stories that don’t proceed after early research and initial shooting, these four will ensure there are sufficient episodes completed to make up series two.

“Any episodes not completed in time for series two will screen later.”

Decades in Colour, the Greenstone Pictures production that showcases our past in HD, has gained $580,000 for three more hour-long episodes.

Prime’s also won NZOA’s backing for:

• another run of University Challenge, which hopefully will be in HD second time around ($313,432)
• All in the Mind, a science-based hour about the structural differences between male and female brains ($197,650)
• The Loggers, a new series of 10 half-hours from Shearing Gang producers Great Southern Film & Television ($463,877).