Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Runaway Millionaires telefeature up for New York Film & TV Awards

Rotorua Daily Post
16 Feb, 2020 06:56 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Runaway Millionaires screened on TVNZ 1 last year. Photo / Supplied

Runaway Millionaires screened on TVNZ 1 last year. Photo / Supplied

A television production about a Rotorua couple who fled the country with $10 million of stolen money, is a finalist for five international awards.

Kara Hurring and Leo Gao fast-tracked their way out of financial strife after receiving millions of dollars in a banking error in 2009.

Gao had asked for a $100,000 overdraft for his struggling Rotorua service station but a misplaced decimal point saw him mistakenly receive $10m instead.

Leo Gao and his girlfriend Kara Hurring, along with her 6-year-old daughter, fled New Zealand for a new life in China with $10m dollars of stolen money.

Their story captivated international media for two years and the hunt for New Zealand's most wanted couple gripped the nation and the world.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Telefeature Runaway Millionaires was independent New Zealand screen production company Fearless Productions' debut television project.

It has been named as a finalist across five categories at the 2020 New York Festivals Film & TV Awards - for TV Movie, best screenplay for writer Pip Hall, best performance by an actress for lead actress Jess Sayer, best direction for director Danny Mulheron and best camerawork for director of photography Rewa Harré.

"We are delighted to have our company's debut production honoured amongst the best of the best internationally," Carmen J. Leonard said in a press release today.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"These nominations are a testament to the hard work and talent of
our fantastic cast and crew."

Set against the backdrop of five-star hotels and hidden back alleys of mainland China, Runaway Millionaires screened on September 1 last year.

It was produced by Carmen J Leonard and Deb Cope and part of the telefeature was filmed in Rotorua.

About 40 people made up the base crew and there are 30 members of the cast.

Discover more

ArtsMad inspiration back this year

06 Feb 11:21 PM

What's not to love about For the Love of the People

06 Feb 01:00 AM
Premium

Bryan Gould: Printing money not always a bad thing

10 Feb 11:08 AM
Premium

Don Gunn funeral: 'He has loved well and he has been well loved'

12 Feb 06:53 PM

The key cast included Jess Sayer as Kara Hurring, George Zhao as Leo Gao and Joel Tobeck as Mark Loper.

Runaway Millionaires was made with funding from NZ On Air.

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post
|Updated

Holiday stop turns into double hole-in-one for Hawke's Bay man

21 Nov 02:24 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

'Helping hand’: Rotorua Trust donates $10k to kick-start appeal

21 Nov 01:59 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua's QE Health put into liquidation

21 Nov 12:36 AM

Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

07 Sep 12:00 PM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Holiday stop turns into double hole-in-one for Hawke's Bay man
Rotorua Daily Post
|Updated

Holiday stop turns into double hole-in-one for Hawke's Bay man

'Two of the cleanest blue hole-in-ones in our history.'

21 Nov 02:24 AM
'Helping hand’: Rotorua Trust donates $10k to kick-start appeal
Rotorua Daily Post

'Helping hand’: Rotorua Trust donates $10k to kick-start appeal

21 Nov 01:59 AM
Rotorua's QE Health put into liquidation
Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua's QE Health put into liquidation

21 Nov 12:36 AM


Kiwi campaign keeps on giving
Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

07 Sep 12:00 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP