Gisborne film company unveils teen cast for new Māori folktale series

Rāngai has cast the young actors who will be part of a new pilot episode for the series Song Bird, described as "a kind of modern Māori folktale": Eden Hutley (left), Phoenix Walker, Te Aroha Harrison-Kaa, Pyper August, Grace O'Connor and Cheyenne Habib-Mitchell. Photo / Steve Ting

A young female cast has been announced for a new series by Gisborne film company and educational institute Rāngai, with filming to start in the middle of December.

The series is called Song Bird and Rāngai director Shannon Dowsing said they had gone all-out to create a compelling story – a kind of modern Māori folktale.

Song Bird follows Harmony Harrison, a rangatahi wahine who steps up when no one else will.

Harrison is being played by 15-year-old Gisborne Girls’ High School student Pyper August, who has experience in musical theatre, having played Lawrence in Musical Theatre Gisborne’s production of School of Rock.

Relying on the friendship of her cousin Kiri (played by Te Aroha Harrison-Kaa) and the wisdom of her caregiver Aunty Tui (AJ Bradley), Harmony seeks the confidence to follow her heart.

Song Bird promises to be full of action and humour grounded in Māori culture, a series pitch says.

The cast are working with Gisborne actor Te Ao o Hinepehinga, who is known for her roles in TV series Te Rapunga, Head High and Breakwater, and played Kupuohi in the historical drama Chief of War, which was created by Jason Momoa and Thomas Pa’a Sibbett and premiered in August this year.

Hinepehinga will be coaching the young actors and providing them with stunt training.

After auditioning last week, the cast assembled for the first time on Tuesday to begin stunt training. Most of them are students at Gisborne Girls’ High, but there are a couple who have already left school.

Other cast members are Grace O’Connor (15), Eden Hurtley (14), Phoenix Walker (19) and Cheyenne Habib-Mitchell (18).

They are excited to be part of the production and looking forward to getting started.

One of the producers, Joe Alexander, said they would be starting with a 22-minute pilot, which they would then use to apply for funding.

“We have high hopes and really want to get this made,” he said.

Alexander described the tone of the show as Disney’s Descendants meets Taika Waititi’s Boy, as three teens discover magic in a small Aotearoa city.

“It’s a coming-of-age superhero story about whakapapa, kinship and finding strength within,” Alexander said.

It’s designed for a tween and teen female-leaning audience.

It is intended that the lead characters will serve as role models who inspire confidence and identity - “relatable characters, who strengthen their emotional connection by showing that whakapapa, community and courage are true sources of power”.

Song Bird is being directed by Chris Williams, a Gisborne graphic designer/video editor who recently featured on Netflix series Squid Game: The Challenge.

The series writer is Gisborne’s Elsie Sadlier, whose approach “is grounded in tikanga, collaboration and integrity”.

“We came up with the premise based on an earlier series made by Rāngai called Pukeko Man, but we wanted to cast females this time,” Williams said.

One of Rangai’s main aims for Song Bird is to provide a link between education and industry, “helping establish production in Tairāwhiti as an economic strand”.

Rāngai has more than 50 students across NZQA Level 2 to Level 7, who will get the opportunity to participate in all stages of production.