Wellington Paranormal to return for second season in 2019

Karen O'Leary and Mike Minogue star in Wellington Paranormal, which has been renewed for a second season. Photo / Supplied

What We Do in the Shadows spin-off series Wellington Paranormal has been renewed for a second season by NZ On Air.

The mockumentary series has received $5.09 million to create 13 new 23-minute episodes to air in 2019.

"Wellington Paranormal demonstrated that comedy with a very local focus can pull significant mainstream audiences, against strong international content," says NZ On Air chief executive Jane Wrightson.

"It is really pleasing to see people respond positively to content that has such a unique New Zealand flavour," she says.

Jemaine Clement on the set of Wellington Paranormal. Photo / Supplied

The funding was awarded as part of NZ On Air's latest scripted series funding round, which saw four other series receive grants.

Comedy series Colonial Combat will use wrestling to take a new look at New Zealand's colonial history. Co-funded with Te Māngai Pāho, 10 10-minute episodes will be created for TVNZ On Demand and Māori Television.

Undertow is a series created from four plays performed and filmed at Te Papa in 2017, looking back at major historical moments in New Zealand history. Eight half-hour episodes will be created by Awa Films for Māori Television.

Life is Easy, a series born from TVNZ's New Blood competition, is a body-swap comedy/drama following an Asian female and gay male. The millenial-focused series, which looks at race, privilege and sexuality, will run for eight 15-minute episodes on TVNZ On Demand.

Lastly, family drama Mystic will bring the beloved Pony Club book series to the screen. Based on the works of Kiwi author Stacey Gregg, Mystic is an international co-production of 13 half-hour episodes for TVNZ 2 and HEIHEI.