Breingan has told the Herald he denies the charges.<\/p>\n
Breingan now lives in Los Angeles and has been using the name Alex James in the production industry there, including on the industry website IMDb. James is Breingan\u2019s middle name.<\/p>\n
Fraud-accused Alex Breingan has been living in Los Angeles since 2024. Photos \/ Getty, supplied<\/p>\n
A Media Insider investigation last Friday<\/a> revealed his alias, along with details of his US production company, 2nd Hour Films.<\/p>\n As that piece was published on Friday morning, the 2nd Hour Films website was being updated in real time – its homepage originally had a blurb about the company, and marketing posters for a dozen films. <\/p>\n By Friday afternoon, it was promoting one project; today, there are none listed.<\/p>\n Two of the earlier 12 films on the site were Faceless and Vacuums and The Whistling Pig, which are being produced by Lama Entertainment. <\/p>\n Breingan had also claimed on his Alex James IMDb page that he was a producer for the two films.<\/p>\n But Lama Entertainment said this was not the case.<\/p>\n \u201cLama Entertainment has no working relationship with Alex Breingan (Alex James),\u201d a spokesman told Media Insider by email. \u201cThere is no ongoing link, and he is not – nor has he ever been – an employee, contractor, or formal partner of the company.\u201d<\/p>\n The Lama spokesman said the company had had only a \u201cbrief interaction\u201d with Breingan.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was introduced to us by a third-party director (Alex Parslow) to assist on a specific film project. However, no production was ever completed with him, and we have no plans to collaborate moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n The spokesman said Breingan\u2019s claims to the two films on his own website were \u201cunauthorised\u201d and they had been unaware of it.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have since demanded he remove all such references.\u201d<\/p>\n The spokesman said Lama was also \u201centirely unaware\u201d of the Serious Fraud Office charges in New Zealand.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have not sought his \u2018response\u2019 to these charges; our only communication has been to formally sever all potential ties and protect our intellectual property.<\/p>\n \u201cBased on these serious allegations, Lama Entertainment has no intention of ever working with Mr Breingan in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Parslow, who is listed as a creative executive and writer in Los Angeles, said he had also severed ties with Breingan.<\/p>\n \u201cAlex was briefly involved on Faceless, which is a Lama production, providing limited early-stage advisory support on organisational matters such as scheduling and budgeting. <\/p>\n \u201cHe had no decision-making authority over the project, financing, or creative development, and there are no ongoing collaborations.\u201d<\/p>\n Parslow said he also had no idea of Breingan\u2019s legal issues.<\/p>\n \u201cNeither I nor anyone on our production team had any knowledge of Alex Breingan\u2019s legal issues, prior allegations, or any alleged misconduct in New Zealand. <\/p>\n \u201cUpon learning of the charges, all professional ties were immediately ended. The alleged conduct is unrelated to our production. I am not currently working with him and am not in contact with him.\u201d<\/p>\n Parslow did not respond to further questions about how he came to know Breingan.<\/p>\n Parslow is associated with another LA production company, Wonder Street.<\/p>\n In April 2022, while Breingan was still in New Zealand, Deadline reported that Wonder Street and Breingan\u2019s Stripe Studios had teamed up for two projects that Stripe was working on in New Zealand.<\/p>\n \u201c…this exciting new partnership with Wonder Street opens the door to the US market and allows us to lean into our shared goal of creating relevant global content for the widest possible audience,\u201d Breingan said at the time.<\/p>\n Wonder Steet partner Mark Holder this week referred Media Insider to his attorney, Bryan Freedman.<\/p>\n Freedman did not return a message yesterday.<\/p>\n Breingan, meanwhile, did not answer a WhatsApp call or respond to a message yesterday.<\/p>\n Previously, he told the Herald that he denied the Serious Fraud Office charges against him. \u201cAs I understand, this matter is before the New Zealand courts. I don\u2019t intend to comment further or respond to any further inquiries from you.\u201d<\/p>\n Do you know more? Please email Shayne Currie in confidence – shayne.currie@nzme.co.nz<\/p>\n Talley\u2019s to appeal TVNZ defamation finding<\/p>\n Talley\u2019s and TVNZ are set to return to court, with the South Island-based food company appealing a High Court defamation decision.<\/p>\n Talley\u2019s sued TVNZ for defamation over a series of stories broadcast on the 6pm news and published on 1news.co.nz between July 2021 and May 2022.<\/p>\n The stories featured several allegations about the seafood, meat, dairy and vegetable company, including claims by a whistleblower of health and safety issues at the company\u2019s Ashburton factory. <\/p>\n Another story reported on concerns at the company\u2019s Blenheim site; and another focused on alleged concerns about the way Talley\u2019s handled claims by injured workers.<\/p>\n Talley\u2019s claims the stories were false and defamatory but the High Court found comprehensively in TVNZ\u2019s favour.<\/p>\n \u201cTalley\u2019s has filed an appeal against the High Court\u2019s decision on its defamation claim against TVNZ,\u201d a Talley\u2019s spokeswoman told Media Insider in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first issue under appeal will be what the 1 News stories meant to the ordinary viewer. Because the High Court disagreed with Talley\u2019s about those meanings, it did not decide whether or not they were untrue. <\/p>\n \u201cTalley\u2019s wants to have that determined. It maintains that the allegations made on 1 News were false and defamatory. It sued TVNZ to clear its name and still intends to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n A TVNZ spokeswoman said: \u201cThe High Court found our reporting to be responsible journalism on matters of genuine public interest. <\/p>\n \u201cTalley\u2019s has exercised its right to appeal, but we\u2019re confident in the judgment and will respond through the court process as strongly as we did last year.\u201d<\/p>\n With KCs set to line up on both sides once again, it will likely be a costly exercise.<\/p>\n Top TVNZ reporter departs<\/p>\n TVNZ senior reporter Yvonne Tahana has left the organisation, and is already into her next big challenge – a full immersion te reo class.<\/p>\n Tahana worked all sorts of crazy hours above and beyond her TVNZ work last year, earning enough income so she could devote herself to fulltime study in 2026.<\/p>\n Her career at TVNZ spanned a decade. Before that, she was a reporter on Marae and, in her formative years, at the NZ Herald.<\/p>\n She told Media Insider that she felt her journalism career to date has been bookended by two significant events – the tangi for M\u0101ori Queen Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu in 2006 and then M\u0101ori King Te Arikinui Kiingi Tuheitia\u2018s own tangi in 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a very sad time for the whanau, but it\u2019s a beautiful time for M\u0101oridom, actually,\u201d Tahana said. <\/p>\n \u201cI felt it at the Queen\u2019s tangi as well, but with Tuheitia it was like the country learns about M\u0101ori all over again – tikanga M\u0101ori and tangihanga. Everything is so elevated. It was sad but there were a lot of human moments in it.\u201d<\/p>\n She says she will always remember the people she met and the stories they told, in her time at TVNZ. \u201cI think I have brought M\u0101ori stories to the mainstream in a hopefully accessible way.\u201d<\/p>\n That included her broader, in-depth investigations into people who might have been up to no good.<\/p>\n \u201cYou do want people to actually live. Just because you\u2019ve done one thing doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t go on and do something else and contribute. Do you know what I mean? <\/p>\n \u201cI think journalism – at least I think I have with my journalism, I\u2019ve tried to see the grey as well. Nothing\u2019s black and white.\u201d<\/p>\n Now she\u2019s fully immersed in the te reo course at Te W\u0101nanga Takiura – the same course that the likes of broadcasters Mike McRoberts, Jenny-May Clarkson, Astley Nathan and Kruze Tangira have also completed.<\/p>\n \u201cI just really want to obtain fluency. I\u2019ve always had some reo but never been conversational. It\u2019s enough to get me by, but it\u2019s not like enough to have jokes and laugh on the marae. My reo goals are simple – to be able to speak to my wh\u0101nau in reo.\u201d<\/p>\n She may yet return to journalism and television, but for now she\u2019s excited about the opportunities her study will open up.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels reinvigorating. I\u2019m loving the people that I\u2019m around, they\u2019re all in the same boat. Our teacher is just telling us to have fun and actually, that probably is the secret to life and to journalism and to learning. <\/p>\n \u201cI like to laugh – let\u2019s see if that works for me this time. <\/p>\n \u201cIf I come back to journalism, and I love stories, I just want to be energised. It\u2019s like a challenge – what\u2019s the next challenge?\u201d<\/p>\n A Media Insider investigation…<\/p>\n Why does Tina from Turners sing Paek\u0101k\u0101riki when she\u2019s clearly standing in front of the L&P bottle in Paeroa …? <\/p>\n We are not the first people to ask this.<\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t realise that we\u2019d get concerned people very nicely writing in to point out that we\u2019d made a mistake \u2013 and worrying that it will cost us a bit to change,\u201d says Turners marketing general manager Sean Wiggans.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd a few people who actually seemed fairly angry about it. It is, after all, just an ad.\u201d<\/p>\n Wiggans explains the discrepancy.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reason the L&P bottle (from Paeroa) comes up while Tina is singing Paek\u0101k\u0101riki (and we say Putaruru while Tina is in T\u012brau) is pretty simple. We were just trying to cover as much of NZ as possible in the ad.\u201d<\/p>\n Investigation concluded.<\/p>\n \u201cA good result for Turners, however, as it seems to have made the ad even more memorable and people continue to talk about it,\u201d noted Wiggans.<\/p>\n In case you missed these<\/p>\n Last week\u2019s Media Insider column was devoted to the investigation into the life of Alex Breingan in Los Angeles.<\/a> There have been several other significant media news stories and personnel movements in the past 10 days.<\/p>\n John Campbell\u2019s RNZ start date<\/p>\n Broadcaster John Campbell will start as RNZ Morning Report host on April 13, RNZ has announced. <\/p>\n \u201cJohn was an incredibly popular presenter on RNZ National previously, and, from the feedback we\u2019ve seen, listeners can\u2019t wait to have him back on radio, in this new role with Morning Report,” said RNZ chief audio officer Pip Keane.<\/p>\n By that stage, Tova O\u2019Brien should also be in – or almost in – the hot seat for the new-look TVNZ Breakfast show, following the expiry of a months-long restraint after she resigned from her Stuff role.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, RNZ also announced this week that senior sports journalist Dana Johannsen – a six-time winner of the sports journalist of the year at the Voyager Media Awards – is its new sports editor.<\/p>\n And former TVNZ Auckland news boss Sharon Ferguson has been named the executive producer of NZME\u2019s soon-to-launch, half-hour business morning show, hosted by Garth Bray. <\/p>\n NZME independent workplace review<\/p>\n My colleague Carolyne Meng-Yee reported last Thursday that NZME has launched an independent workplace review<\/a> after three senior managers, Greg Hornblow and Nicholas Hammond from OneRoof and Ross Flahive from ZM, left the company abruptly.<\/p>\n NZME chairman Steven Joyce has said he expects the review to be completed in six weeks.<\/p>\n \u201cIn light of three recent management departures from two of NZME\u2019s business units, the board has decided it would be beneficial to conduct an independent review into events leading up to those departures,\u201d Joyce said in a statement sent to Meng-Yee.<\/p>\n \u201c… the review will include a focus on how issues are reported and responded to, ensuring our team members feel safe and supported should they witness or experience any inappropriate behaviour.\u201d<\/p>\n Flahive left NZME following an investigation into allegations of inappropriate conduct, understood to be related to messages to staff. In December, he told Media Insider in a statement:<\/a> \u201cI left NZME after acknowledging that my conduct fell short of the standards expected of me. I take full responsibility for my actions and apologise for the distress I caused.\u201d<\/p>\n Hammond did not return a phone call or message this week.<\/p>\n Washington Post Kiwi journo loses role<\/p>\nThe IMDb page of Alex Breingan, aka Alex James, had claimed he was a producer of Faceless and Vacuums and The Whistling Pig, but the production company says this was ‘unauthorised’. Photo \/ IMDb screengrab<\/p>\n
The top part of the homepage of 2nd Hour Films last Friday – another 10 productions were featured underneath. Today, the website’s home page lists no projects.<\/p>\n
TVNZ chief executive Jodi O’Donnell and reporter Thomas Mead arrive at the High Court in Auckland during the first Talley’s defamation hearing. Photo \/ Dean Purcell<\/p>\n
Senior reporter Yvonne Tahana has recently departed TVNZ. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
The Paeroa scene.<\/p>\n
John Campbell. Photo \/ RNZ, Cole Eastham-Farrelly<\/p>\n
NZME board chairman Steven Joyce. Photo \/ Michael Craig<\/p>\n
Washington Post senior editor Anna Fifield. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n