Howe said the pair were glad to pass the studio over to a group \u201cwho have the ability to bring projects to Aotearoa, New Zealand and who are genuinely invested in the growth of the film industry\u201d.<\/p>\n
After starring in several local productions, Momoa said New Zealand feels like home to him creatively, culturally and spiritually.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a deep respect for story, for land, for community, and that\u2019s something I am drawn to.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat excites me the most is the opportunity to build something lasting that supports local crews, nurtures talent, and creates pathways for the next generation of storytellers. <\/p>\n
\u201cI am proud to be part of that journey, and to help champion stories that deserve to be seen and heard around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taika Waititi and Cliff Curtis both got their start in the New Zealand film industry. Photo \/ NZ Herald<\/p>\n
Curtis, who first shot to fame in the acclaimed Kiwi flick Once Were Warriors, said the move was a full-circle moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt its core, this is about ownership, creative control, and building a strong economic base \u2013 creating a platform where our communities can lead, shape, and share their stories with the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat unites us is a shared commitment to telling authentic local stories alongside independent artists from our own communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
After relocating to the US for his career, Waititi also said he was \u201cthrilled\u201d to be a part of the local endeavour.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re bringing our experience from working overseas back home to create jobs and opportunities for the industry here, and importantly, for Polynesian talent and creators.\u201d<\/p>\n
Regional Film Offices of New Zealand chairwoman Jade Kent told the Herald the acquisition is \u201chugely positive for Aotearoa\u2019s screen industry\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat it reinforces is that world-class studios like \u0100riki are critical and that the value of our industry is realised when production connects with the entire country.\u201d<\/p>\n
She was hopeful that \u0100riki\u2019s continuing expansion will foster film-making opportunities beyond main centres and into the regions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that they\u2019re investing back into infrastructure, that\u2019s the kind of leadership that lifts the whole sector.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Howe said the pair were glad to pass the studio over to a group \u201cwho have the ability…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":361509,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[44303,95,51,3167,12636,1656,16082,3468,1359,156,593,209,13021,78,2454,29116,661,37106,2683,111,139,69,7497,2989,19192,5419,23367,29715,37105,3807],"class_list":["post-361508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-acquired","tag-and","tag-auckland","tag-buy","tag-cliff","tag-company","tag-curtis","tag-deal","tag-described","tag-entertainment","tag-film","tag-group","tag-hugely","tag-in","tag-industry","tag-jason","tag-major","tag-momoa","tag-move","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-owned","tag-positive","tag-riki","tag-screen","tag-studio","tag-taika","tag-waititi","tag-west"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=361508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361508\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/361509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=361508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=361508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=361508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}