Under The Vines, starring Rebecca Gibney and Charles Edwards, of The Crown and Downton Abbey fame, launched in New Zealand this week.
The six part romantic comedy commissioned by TVNZ and Acorn Films is set in Central Otago, with the incredible vineyards around Gibbston Valley and Alexandra landscape as its backdrop.
Rebecca Gibney as Daisy Munroe in ‘Under the Vines’. Photo: Acorn TV
The reaction so far has been enthusiastic, executive producer Richard Fletcher told Anna Thomas.
“We had a really fantastic review from James Croot in Stuff. And we've been out internationally late last year and in the UK last week. So, there's been some great feedback and reviews internationally.”
"I think given the mad times we're currently in it's very timely. People want to feel good, they want to escape, and thankfully, Under the Vines offers a perfect opportunity.”
The show has been picked up internationally, he says
“We've got two great partners on board, TVNZ in New Zealand and internationally our partner is Acorn TV, they are a niche streaming service who specialise in non-US English language programming. So, they went out in December last year in the US and Canada and Australia. And then last week they went out in the UK and Ireland and also and other territories like Spain and Mexico and Canada.”
Acorn has around 9 million subscribers worldwide and in the territories it doesn’t have, Under the Vines will be sold to individual broadcasters in each country, he says.
“It's sharing our culture and exposing New Zealand's landscape, its people and our culture to audiences who may not have seen them.
“And hopefully, when the world returns to some normality it helps drives business interest in New Zealand, but also tourism and all those other things.”
A second series is on the cards, he says
“Both TVNZ and Acorn recommissioned it before it had even gone to air on, which is very unusual.”
They are currently in pre-production and will start filming late February. Productions such as this giving Central Otago a much-needed shot in the arm, he says.
“They've been hit really hard down there obviously with a lack of tourism but for two years running now there's two local New Zealand shows with our own Under The Vines and One Lane Bridge shooting in that area and it's a big boost for that area.”
