{"id":8637,"date":"2026-07-17T12:57:37","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T07:57:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=8637"},"modified":"2026-07-17T12:57:37","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T07:57:37","slug":"netflix-unveils-queenstown-its-first-new-zealand-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=8637","title":{"rendered":"Netflix Unveils &#8216;Queenstown,&#8217; Its First New Zealand Series"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div xmlns:default=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tAfter more than 10 years of streaming content to the country, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/netflix\/\" id=\"auto-tag_netflix_1\" data-tag=\"netflix\">Netflix<\/a> has kicked off production on its first original series ever commissioned in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/t\/new-zealand\/\" id=\"auto-tag_new-zealand_1\" data-tag=\"new-zealand\">New Zealand<\/a>. On Friday, the company unveiled <em>Queenstown<\/em>, an eight-episode drama set amid the luxury ski scene of the titular South Island resort town.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tUnfolding amid the moneyed gloss of the town\u2019s ski-resort elite, the series follows a privileged family and the people who work for them as their lives collide over power, loyalty and desire \u2014 or, as Netflix put it, \u201ca wealthy family at war with itself.\u201d Production is underway on location in Queenstown itself.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t<em>Queenstown<\/em> was created and written by Chloe Stearns (<em>Wolf Like Me<\/em>, <em>The Falling Girls<\/em>, <em>Evergreen<\/em>), who executive produces. Glendyn Ivin (<em>The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart<\/em>, <em>Penguin Bloom<\/em>) serves as lead director and executive producer, with New Zealand filmmaker Roseanne Liang (Netflix\u2019s <em>Avatar: The Last Airbender<\/em>) also directing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tEmmy nominee Rufus Sewell (<em>The Diplomat<\/em>, <em>Scoop<\/em>, <em>The Father<\/em>) leads the ensemble alongside Frances O\u2019Connor (<em>Wednesday<\/em>, <em>The Missing<\/em>), Australian actress Alycia Debnam-Carey (<em>Apple Cider Vinegar<\/em>, <em>The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart<\/em>, <em>Godzilla x Kong: Supernova<\/em>) and New Zealand actor Te Kohe Tuhaka (<em>Chief of War<\/em>, <em>The Convert<\/em>, <em>K\u014dk\u0101<\/em>).<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\t\u201cShooting our first locally-commissioned series here in New Zealand is a huge moment for us,\u201d said Amanda Duthie, Netflix\u2019s content director for Australia and New Zealand. \u201cThis is a bold, propulsive story of power, class and family set against the opulent world of a luxury ski town, and we can\u2019t wait for our members to fall in love with this series the way we have.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tJodi Matterson (<em>The Dry<\/em>, <em>The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart<\/em>) \u2014 who launched her Silent Firework banner in 2024 after exiting Bruna Papandrea\u2019s Made Up Stories \u2014 executive produces alongside Libbie Doherty (<em>Bluey<\/em>, <em>Crazy Fun Park<\/em>) of Runaway Unicorn, with Jeremy Platt and Erika North rounding out the exec producer team.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tMatterson and Doherty, in a joint statement, hailed Stearns as \u201can extraordinary new voice\u201d \u2014 and predicted the series will become \u201caudiences\u2019 next obsession.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n\tThe commission marks a notable step for Netflix\u2019s originals strategy Down Under, which has so far centered on Australia with hits including <em>Heartbreak High<\/em>, <em>Boy Swallows Universe<\/em> and <em>Apple Cider Vinegar<\/em>. New Zealand, by contrast, has long served the streamer primarily as a spectacular production location \u2014 <em>Sweet Tooth<\/em> and Jane Campion\u2019s Oscar-winning <em>The Power of the Dog<\/em> both shot there \u2014 without ever hosting a homegrown series of its own. The <em>Queenstown<\/em> production is backed by the New Zealand Film Commission and the country\u2019s Screen Production Rebate. A premiere date has yet to be announced.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After more than 10 years of streaming content to the country, Netflix has kicked off production on its first original series ever commissioned in New Zealand. On Friday, the company unveiled Queenstown, an eight-episode drama set amid the luxury ski scene of the titular South Island resort town. Unfolding amid the moneyed gloss of the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8638,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Queenstown-Split-H-2026.jpg?w=1296&h=730&crop=1","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}