Media Insider: Taxpayer-funded Chlöe Swarbrick documentary delayed again; LA production firm distances itself from Alex Breingan, says film claims ‘unauthorised’

With election year 2026 now upon us, the film has been delayed again.

Sky TV said the Being Chlöe documentary was now in post-production.

“We ordinarily determine the most suitable airdate once our commissioning team has seen it,” said a spokeswoman.

“Given the nature of the content (including that the subject of the documentary is now the co-leader of the Green Party) and the upcoming election, we’re mindful of broadcasting regulations and have decided that we will not schedule the documentary prior to the 2026 election.”

Sky owns Three (TV3), which has the television rights.

“We will confirm more details on the documentary and its airdate once it is complete,” said the Sky spokeswoman.

Three told Media Insider last year it was mindful of the “sensitive“ timing and the looming election year.

According to NZ on Air documents in 2021, the film was “set to be released after the 2023 general election with the team envisioning the election result as the logical conclusion to the film’s story arc”.

NZ on Air staff knew the documentary would be risky - “NZ on Air support may be perceived as an endorsement of a politician and/or political agenda”, according to the document.

However, the merits - including the producers’ previous work on a short film about Swarbrick, the quality of the proposal, and the “significant” national and international interest in the MP - outweighed the perceived risks, according to NZ on Air.

“Staff is reassured that as the narrative concludes with the election result, the film will be released after the 2023 election and will not be perceived to influence the result.”

Swarbrick has had nothing to do with the commissioning or editorial direction and control of the film, but she has allowed cameras behind the scenes, including into her personal life, for the past several years.

“I’m terrified as to how it may turn out,” Swarbrick told Media Insider last year.

The film is an extension of the earlier short film called OK Chlöe, which was funded in part by NZ on Air and screened on nzherald.co.nz and other platforms in 2020 as part of the Loading Docs short documentary series.

The film’s director, Charlotte Evans,told Media Insider last year that the film was in post-production editing.

When asked about NZ on Air’s $199,999 funding, Evans said: “I haven’t actually earned a cent from the whole production. I’ve been working for free for six years. I think if you knew anything about documentaries, it’s a labour of love. You don’t earn any money out of them”.

She said at the time that the film “should be finished soon”.

“I’m looking forward to everyone seeing it when it’s finally finished, but as I’m sure you’re aware, these sorts of projects take a really long time, especially when there’s not a lot of budget involved ... [it’s] a bit of a slow process.”

A Los Angeles production company says it has severed any potential ties with fraud-accused New Zealand TV producer Alex Breingan, and says his online claims to two of its films were “unauthorised”.

The company, Lama Entertainment, also said it was unaware Breingan was facing Serious Fraud Office charges in New Zealand.

Breingan stands accused of 33 charges of fraud and forgery involving almost $15 million of public and private money following the collapse of his firm, Stripe Media, and other associated companies in Auckland in 2024.

Breingan has told the Herald he denies the charges.

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’s middle name.

A Media Insider investigation last Friday revealed his alias, along with details of his US production company, 2nd Hour Films.

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.

By Friday afternoon, it was promoting one project; today, there are none listed.

Two of the earlier 12 films on the site were Faceless and Vacuums and The Whistling Pig, which are being produced by Lama Entertainment.

Breingan had also claimed on his Alex James IMDb page that he was a producer for the two films.

But Lama Entertainment said this was not the case.

“Lama Entertainment has no working relationship with Alex Breingan (Alex James),” a spokesman told Media Insider by email. “There is no ongoing link, and he is not - nor has he ever been - an employee, contractor, or formal partner of the company.”

The Lama spokesman said the company had had only a “brief interaction” with Breingan.

“He 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.”

The spokesman said Breingan’s claims to the two films on his own website were “unauthorised” and they had been unaware of it.

“We have since demanded he remove all such references.”

The spokesman said Lama was also “entirely unaware” of the Serious Fraud Office charges in New Zealand.

“We have not sought his ‘response’ to these charges; our only communication has been to formally sever all potential ties and protect our intellectual property.

“Based on these serious allegations, Lama Entertainment has no intention of ever working with Mr Breingan in the future.”

Meanwhile, Parslow, who is listed as a creative executive and writer in Los Angeles, said he had also severed ties with Breingan.

“Alex was briefly involved on Faceless, which is a Lama production, providing limited early-stage advisory support on organisational matters such as scheduling and budgeting.

“He had no decision-making authority over the project, financing, or creative development, and there are no ongoing collaborations.”

Parslow said he also had no idea of Breingan’s legal issues.

“Neither I nor anyone on our production team had any knowledge of Alex Breingan’s legal issues, prior allegations, or any alleged misconduct in New Zealand.

“Upon 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.”

Parslow did not respond to further questions about how he came to know Breingan.

Parslow is associated with another LA production company, Wonder Street.

In April 2022, while Breingan was still in New Zealand, Deadline reported that Wonder Street and Breingan’s Stripe Studios had teamed up for two projects that Stripe was working on in New Zealand.

“...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,” Breingan said at the time.

Wonder Steet partner Mark Holder this week referred Media Insider to his attorney, Bryan Freedman.

Freedman did not return a message yesterday.

Breingan, meanwhile, did not answer a WhatsApp call or respond to a message yesterday.

Previously, he told the Herald that he denied the Serious Fraud Office charges against him. “As I understand, this matter is before the New Zealand courts. I don’t intend to comment further or respond to any further inquiries from you.”

Do you know more? Please email Shayne Currie in confidence - shayne.currie@nzme.co.nz

Talley’s and TVNZ are set to return to court, with the South Island-based food company appealing a High Court defamation decision.

Talley’s 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.

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’s Ashburton factory.

Another story reported on concerns at the company’s Blenheim site; and another focused on alleged concerns about the way Talley’s handled claims by injured workers.

Talley’s claims the stories were false and defamatory but the High Court found comprehensively in TVNZ’s favour.

“Talley’s has filed an appeal against the High Court’s decision on its defamation claim against TVNZ,” a Talley’s spokeswoman told Media Insider in a statement.

“The first issue under appeal will be what the 1 News stories meant to the ordinary viewer. Because the High Court disagreed with Talley’s about those meanings, it did not decide whether or not they were untrue.

“Talley’s 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.”

A TVNZ spokeswoman said: “The High Court found our reporting to be responsible journalism on matters of genuine public interest.

“Talley’s has exercised its right to appeal, but we’re confident in the judgment and will respond through the court process as strongly as we did last year.”

With KCs set to line up on both sides once again, it will likely be a costly exercise.

TVNZ senior reporter Yvonne Tahana has left the organisation, and is already into her next big challenge - a full immersion te reo class.

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.

Her career at TVNZ spanned a decade. Before that, she was a reporter on Marae and, in her formative years, at the NZ Herald.

She told Media Insider that she felt her journalism career to date has been bookended by two significant events - the tangi for Māori Queen Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu in 2006 and then Māori King Te Arikinui Kiingi Tuheitia‘s own tangi in 2024.

“It’s a very sad time for the whanau, but it’s a beautiful time for Māoridom, actually,” Tahana said.

“I felt it at the Queen’s tangi as well, but with Tuheitia it was like the country learns about Māori all over again - tikanga Māori and tangihanga. Everything is so elevated. It was sad but there were a lot of human moments in it.”

She says she will always remember the people she met and the stories they told, in her time at TVNZ. “I think I have brought Māori stories to the mainstream in a hopefully accessible way.”

That included her broader, in-depth investigations into people who might have been up to no good.

“You do want people to actually live. Just because you’ve done one thing doesn’t mean you can’t go on and do something else and contribute. Do you know what I mean?

“I think journalism - at least I think I have with my journalism, I’ve tried to see the grey as well. Nothing’s black and white.”

Now she’s fully immersed in the te reo course at Te Wānanga Takiura - the same course that the likes of broadcasters Mike McRoberts, Jenny-May Clarkson, Astley Nathan and Kruze Tangira have also completed.

“I just really want to obtain fluency. I’ve always had some reo but never been conversational. It’s enough to get me by, but it’s not like enough to have jokes and laugh on the marae. My reo goals are simple - to be able to speak to my whānau in reo.”

She may yet return to journalism and television, but for now she’s excited about the opportunities her study will open up.

“It feels reinvigorating. I’m loving the people that I’m around, they’re 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.

“I like to laugh - let’s see if that works for me this time.

“If I come back to journalism, and I love stories, I just want to be energised. It’s like a challenge - what’s the next challenge?”

Why does Tina from Turners sing Paekākāriki when she’s clearly standing in front of the L&P bottle in Paeroa ...?

We are not the first people to ask this.

“We didn’t realise that we’d get concerned people very nicely writing in to point out that we’d made a mistake – and worrying that it will cost us a bit to change,” says Turners marketing general manager Sean Wiggans.

“And a few people who actually seemed fairly angry about it. It is, after all, just an ad.”

Wiggans explains the discrepancy.

“The reason the L&P bottle (from Paeroa) comes up while Tina is singing Paekākāriki (and we say Putaruru while Tina is in Tīrau) is pretty simple. We were just trying to cover as much of NZ as possible in the ad.”

Investigation concluded.

“A good result for Turners, however, as it seems to have made the ad even more memorable and people continue to talk about it,” noted Wiggans.

Last week’s Media Insider column was devoted to the investigation into the life of Alex Breingan in Los Angeles. There have been several other significant media news stories and personnel movements in the past 10 days.

Broadcaster John Campbell will start as RNZ Morning Report host on April 13, RNZ has announced.

“John was an incredibly popular presenter on RNZ National previously, and, from the feedback we’ve seen, listeners can’t wait to have him back on radio, in this new role with Morning Report," said RNZ chief audio officer Pip Keane.

By that stage, Tova O’Brien 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.

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.

And former TVNZ Auckland news boss Sharon Fergusson has been named the executive producer of NZME’s soon-to-launch, half-hour business morning show, hosted by Garth Bray.

My colleague Carolyne Meng-Yee reported last Thursday that NZME has launched an independent workplace review after three senior managers, Greg Hornblow and Nicholas Hammond from OneRoof and Ross Flahive from ZM, left the company abruptly.

NZME chairman Steven Joyce has said he expects the review to be completed in six weeks.

“In light of three recent management departures from two of NZME’s business units, the board has decided it would be beneficial to conduct an independent review into events leading up to those departures,” Joyce said in a statement sent to Meng-Yee.

“... 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.”

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: “I 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.”

Hammond did not return a phone call or message this week.

One of New Zealand’s most respected journalists, Anna Fifield, is among the more than 300 journalists who have lost their roles in brutal cuts at one of the world’s most storied newsrooms, The Washington Post.

Fifield, The Post’s Asia-Pacific editor, wrote on LinkedIn that the cuts - officially announced last week, amid a flurry of criticism of owner Jeff Bezos - were devastating for journalism.

“More than 300 journalists have been laid off, including almost the entire international desk, and including me,” she wrote.

“I loved working at the Washington Post so much I did it twice: First as Tokyo then Beijing bureau chief. Most recently as Asia-Pacific editor. I have felt so privileged to travel to far-flung places and tell stories that hopefully made this puzzling world a little smaller and emphasised our shared humanity.”

Fifield - a former Financial Times journalist, editor of The Dominion Post and a published author - noted she had been in daily journalism for 29 years.

“It’s been an incredible adventure, but I think it’s time for me to try something new. I’m going to take a beat and figure out what that might be.”

Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald editor and Herald on Sunday editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.