Indigenous and Māori Co-Production 'Maui & Elvis' Sets Alien Adventure Series for New Zealand and BC Shoot in Late 2026

A genuinely exciting international co-production is taking shape, and working professionals in both New Zealand and British Columbia should have this one on their radar now. Maui & Elvis, a children's and family adventure series described as Goonies in New Zealand with a dash of Goosebumps, is currently in casting and pre-production ahead of a principal photography start in Canterbury, New Zealand on November 2, 2026. The New Zealand leg runs through December 11, with a short but significant BC shoot to follow from January 18 to 22, 2027. With Rene Haynes already attached as casting director, the hiring engine on this production is clearly in motion.

The creative team is led by director Peter Burger, a New Zealand filmmaker best known for helming the beloved 2006 family adventure The Underwater Wish (also known internationally as Under the Mountain) and other New Zealand productions that have demonstrated a strong command of genre storytelling aimed at younger audiences. Burger's experience with practical, character-driven adventure content makes him a natural fit for a series that mixes alien invasion stakes with genuine warmth and cultural specificity. The writing team is a deep bench of New Zealand-based talent: Briar Grace Smith, a respected Māori writer and dramatist with credits spanning theatre and screen, is joined by Te Waiarangi Ratana, Arnolda Dufour Bowes, Matt Alden Dykes, and Camille Beaudoin. That Beaudoin carries multiple roles here, serving as executive producer, producer, director, and writer, signals she is a key creative architect of the project on the Canadian side of the partnership.

The Canadian producing arm is anchored by Camille Beaudoin alongside producer Eric Rebalkin, both operating under Presley Productions Inc. On the New Zealand side, Janine Morrell Gunn holds both executive producer and producer credits through Maui and Elvis Ltd., and she is joined by producer Emma Martini. Morrell Gunn is a well-regarded figure in New Zealand film and television, with a long track record of producing locally resonant and internationally appealing projects. The structure of this production, two production companies bridging two countries and two distinct Indigenous cultures, is itself a signal of the ambition and complexity involved. Co-productions of this nature typically carry strong public broadcaster and funding body support on both sides, which often translates into meaningful crew call sizes and well-resourced departments. Casting director Rene Haynes is one of the most respected names in North American Indigenous casting, with a long list of credits that includes Reservation Dogs, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, and countless productions requiring authentic representation of Indigenous communities. Her presence here confirms the production's commitment to genuine cultural authenticity in its casting process, and it also tells agents and talent managers that the right connections are in place to find the best Indigenous and Māori performers for these roles.

Canterbury, New Zealand will serve as the primary production base for the bulk of filming. The Canterbury region, centered around Christchurch, has developed into a reliable and well-serviced production hub over the past decade. The city offers a strong local crew base, established stages and production infrastructure, and a remarkable variety of landscapes within easy reach. The region's rolling plains, mountain backdrops, and character-rich small-town locations make it particularly well suited to an adventure series requiring diverse practical settings on a contained schedule. Screen Canterbury and New Zealand Film Commission support structures are well established, and productions based in the region benefit from New Zealand's competitive international screen production rebate, which currently sits at 20 percent for qualifying international productions and can climb higher with additional uplift for significant New Zealand content. For crew based in Christchurch and across the South Island, this is the kind of mid-scale family series that generates real department-head opportunities. The BC component in January is brief at just five days, suggesting it likely covers specific Canadian story elements or pick-up material, but local Vancouver-area crew and facilities contacts are worth establishing now.

In terms of production scale and crew signals, Maui & Elvis reads as a well-resourced union-eligible production operating in the mid-budget family series range. The genre requires a capable art department to realize both the grounded New Zealand small-town world and the alien invasion elements, which will likely involve practical props, creature work, and visual effects pipelines that need to be planned well in advance. The cast is ensemble-heavy and youth-led, meaning the casting process is complex and time-consuming, something that explains why Rene Haynes is already engaged months ahead of the camera start. Adventure content with alien and science fiction elements also tends to require a strong stunt department and experienced VFX supervisors brought in during pre-production to establish on-set methodology. Costume and production design teams will need to build out two distinct cultural visual worlds, Māori and First Nations, with the kind of care and community consultation that productions like this appropriately require. The compressed New Zealand schedule of six weeks also means departments will need to be lean, efficient, and experienced with fast-turnaround location filming.

For crew in New Zealand's South Island especially, the November 2026 start puts active pre-production hiring likely beginning in the late winter and early spring of 2026. Department heads across production design, costume, locations, camera, and sound should begin watching this listing closely and making contact with the production offices as they open. The full crew list, production office contacts, and scheduling updates as they become available are all tracked in the complete production listing at ProductionList.com. This is a culturally significant and creatively ambitious project, and the kind of series that resonates well beyond its initial broadcast. Getting in early on productions like this one is worth the effort.

Click here for production info or to contact producers