International productions are queuing up to film on our shores — but tomorrow some of our biggest stars will take centre-stage as work starts on new local drama One Lane Bridge.
Spy can reveal the six-part series, being filmed in Queenstown, stars Dominic Ona-Ariki as an ambitious Cook Island MāoriDetective who can see dead people.
Ona-Ariki's previous roles include Filthy Rich and Shortland Street and he'll also be seen in the upcoming movie Savage.
Dominic Ona-Ariki
The character-focused crime drama is described as being dark with a supernatural edge and includes Sara Wiseman of A Place to Call Home, acting legend Peter McCauley, Shortland Street's Ryan O'Kane, and a reunion of former The Almighty Johnsons' stars Dean O'Gorman, Jared Turner, Michelle Langstone and Alison Bruce.
The New Zealand Television Awards at SkyCity. L to R. Sara Wiseman. Thursday 30th November 2017. Herald on Sunday. Photograph by Norrie Montgomery.
The plot follows what happens when a murder investigation at Queenstown's One Lane Bridge inadvertently reawakens a spiritual gift in the young detective, endangering the case, his career and his life.
The tourist town's Dart River Bridge is the backdrop for the series.
The Great Southern Television show was created by Pip Hall and Philip Smith, who last year won the Huawei NZ Television Award for Best Script-Drama for the Exponents' tele feature: Why Does Love?
It comes at the same time as confirmation that Netflix's Cowboy Bebop and Amazon's Lord of the Rings are also being filmed in New Zealand.
