Tahi is a production services company founded and led by five independent New Zealand producers, working mainly in film, feature documentary and series television.
We chose Tahi as our name because it has various meanings in the indigenous language of New Zealand, Te Reo Māori, including 'one'.
A rich language abundant in metaphor, Te Reo Māori layers meanings in a singular word, in those layers we cloak 'tahi' in proverbial sayings to express the breadth of the Tahi experience.
Mahi tahi - Working together.
Kotahitanga - Unity.
He Tangata Kī tahi – a person who says something once - and means it.
Our approach is to work as one, in unison with your team, to offer a tailored service for your production.
We take pride in ensuring quality productions are made here, and believe the experience should be meaningful and positive for both local and international stakeholders, with those relationships becoming long lasting. We’ll make sure your production’s plans and dreams are realised through “The Tahi Experience”, a well-rounded circle that always delivers excellence: blending diversity, inclusivity, great hospitality and a good dose of kiwi humour.
We are dedicated to collective success. Success and excellence is achieved because it’s easy to work with us, we deliver on time, through a working experience that’s pleasing and enjoyable.
That’s the Tahi experience
The Tahi whānau are Emma, Desray, Victoria, Fraser and Leela; all producers/line producers with extensive production, incentives, legal & business affairs knowledge who created Tahi with one goal in mind: to ensure international productions achieve their dreams in Aotearoa New Zealand through delivering a unique, world-class production service.
The Tahi founding directors are:
Emma Slade
Managing Director and Talent Development
Emma Slade’s family film, UPROAR, starring Julian Dennison, Minnie Driver and Rhys Darby has had its world premiere at TIFF in September this year, while in post-production on Ant Timpson’s second feature, BOOKWORM, starring Elijah Wood, Nell Fisher and Michael Smiley. Last year, David Farrier’s (Dark Tourist, Tickled) feature documentary MISTER ORGAN, premiered at Fantastic Festival and was New Zealand’s highest grossing documentary for 2022. In 2021, her absurd comedy, NUDE TUESDAY, premiered at the Sydney Film Festival and was also selected for Tribeca and Edinburgh. The critically acclaimed drama, THE JUSTICE OF BUNNY KING, starring Essie Davis and Thomasin McKenzie, had its world premiere at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival and then continued on the film festival circuit. Slade also produced COME TO DADDY, an NZ/Irish/Canadian official co-production, which premiered at Tribeca 2019 and after premiering at numerous festivals, was released world-wide in 2020. The project won best director (Ant Timpson) and actor (Elijah Wood) at the Toronto After Dark Festival 2019. In 2017, her young adult thriller THE CHANGEOVER starring Timothy Spall (Mr Turner) and Melanie Lynskey (The Intervention), was in competition at the Alice Nella Citta, Rome Film Festival. Earlier that year, Slade produced INTO THE RAINBOW, which was the first Chinese/NZ co-production, starring Willow Shields (Hunger Games) and the Brazilian/NZ feature LITTLE SECRET, which was nominated as Brazil’s Oscar entry for Best Foreign Film 2017. Emma is a co-founder of SWAG (Screen Women's Action Group), which is committed to tackling sexual harassment in New Zealand’s screen industry. She has recently co-founded SHARE THE KNOWLEDGE, a training & apprenticeship programme for below-the-line crew.
Click here to send Emma an email.
Desray Armstrong
Operations and Sustainability
Desray (Te Aitanga-ā-Hauiti, Ngāti Porou) is a producer/line producer/UPM with 20 years of physical production experience, predominantly in feature film, scripted series drama and documentary. Credits include: MULAN, MERATA: HOW MUM DECOLONISED THE SCREEN, MORTAL ENGINES, A WRINKLE IN TIME, THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS, PETE’S DRAGON, TRACKER, HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE and WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS. Desray was UPM for SLOW WEST starring Michael Fassbender and Ben Mendelsohn and Z FOR ZACHARIAH starring Margot Robbie, Chris Pine and Chiwetel Ejiofor. She line produced REUNION starring Julia Ormond, THE REHEARSAL, Seasons 1 & 2 of WELLINGTON PARANORMAL and was the NZ fixer for Fremantle Media’s reality series THE BIGGEST LOSER and two years later for NBC. She line produced picks ups for Netflix’s THE CHRISTMAS CHRONICLES 2 and amidst the global pandemic oversaw production of online classes for American online education subscription platform MASTERCLASS featuring choreographer Parris Goebel and director James Cameron which subsequently led her to line producing a number of commercials, including the Mercedes Benz EQS.
An active member of Women in Film & Television NZ, Screen Producers Association, NZ Film Producers Alliance and Ngā Aho Whakaari Māori in Screen, Desray regularly advocates and advises on various issues pertinent to the New Zealand screen sector and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Click here to send Desray an email.
Victoria Dabbs
Incentives
Victoria Dabbs has just completed shooting the family film BOOKWORM, starring Elijah Wood and Michael Smiley and is packaging Nathalie Boltt’s debut feature HOLY DAYS, staring Judy Davis, Joanna Scanlan, Miriam Margolyes. UPROAR, starring Julian Dennison, Minnie Driver and Rhys Darby has had its premiere at TIFF ’23. Victoria has commenced packaging AT THE END OF THE WORLD WE LEARN TO DANCE, UK/NZ/TAIWAN co-production WITH LOVE, Vincent Ward’s epic drama HANNAH AND REBECCA, Ant Timpson’s THE SALAMANDER LIVES TWICE and the NZ/UK war film UPHAM. Victoria is currently in development on NZ/Scottish co-production television series, NIGHT VISION.
Victoria is an international Producer, Line Producer and Production Accountant who has worked on films and television series in Europe, Asia and Australasia. Since 2003, Victoria has worked on primarily independent feature films, including Dexter Fletcher’s SUNSHINE ON LEITH, Terence Davies’ SUNSET SONG and Michael Caton-Jones’ OUR LADIES, Nicolas Winding Refn’s VALHALLA RISING, Peter Mullan’s NED’S, the BBC’s ABC MURDERS and THE SINGAPORE GRIP, Australian/Scottish co-production FALLING FOR FIGARO, UK TV series ANNIKA, UK BFI funded independent feature GIRL and WORMEATER for Disney as well as New Zealand productions such as independent feature WHINA, BAD BEHAVIOUR and documentaries STYLEBENDER, NEVER LOOK AWAY and THE LORD OF LIES.
Click here to send Victoria an email.
Fraser Brown
Co-Productions
Fraser is an award-winning producer and professional actor with more than twenty years’ experience in the screen industry. He first produced and line produced TVC’s and branded content at Flying Fish, where he began collaborating with Leela Menon. The pair went on to co-found Auckland based creative company, FluroBlack. Recently, Fraser executive produced the AMC-Shudder/TVNZ television series THE DEAD LANDS and has produced or executive produced a string of feature documentaries for Universal, including Roger Donaldson’s MCLAREN, Bryn Evans’ BORN RACER, Leanne Pooley’s WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT A.I., Oscar Knightley’s DAWN RAID and Briar March’s MOTHERS OF THE REVOLUTION as well as Jeremy Sims’ WAYNE, an official New Zealand/Australian co-production. Fraser has line-produced content for the UFC and he and Leela are currently releasing STYLEBENDER, a major feature documentary on Kiwi-Nigerian UFC star, Israel Adesanya. Fraser has a degree in finance from the University of Otago Business School and a BA in acting from Toi Whakaari - NZ Drama School. He is a director of a leading New Zealand tiny home company, Coastal Cabins, and a former managing director of internationally renowned mineral water brand, Waiwera.
Click here to send Fraser an email.
Leela Menon
Legal Affairs
Leela worked as a lawyer for 13 years, including 5 years as a partner in a commercial law firm in Auckland. In 2008, Leela followed her passion and crossed over into production, producing commercials for Flying Fish and line producing award-winning feature ORPHANS & KINGDOMS with Fraser. The pair went on to co-found Auckland based creative company, FluroBlack. Recently she has line produced the feature documentaries WAYNE, BORN RACER, and WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT A.I, and produced BILLION DOLLAR HEIST, DAWN RAID and MOTHERS OF THE REVOLUTION with Universal, as well as being an associate producer on THE DEAD LANDS television series for AMC/Shudder. She and Fraser are currently releasing STYLEBENDER, a feature documentary on UFC superstar Israel Adesanya. Leela is a founding member of the Pan Asian Screen Collective (‘PASC’) which supports emerging and experienced screen practitioners of pan-Asian heritage in New Zealand.
Click here to send Leela an email.