Avatar filmmaker James Cameron will executive produce Taonga, a Maori-centric drama from actor and first-time director Shane Rangi.
Rangi, who worked with Cameron on the Avatar movies, which were shot in New Zealand, wrote the script and will direct the feature that has the backing of Fandomodo Films, a boutique development, production and financing company that seeks to raise underrepresented voices.
Drawing on his own life, Rangi, who is of Ngāti Porou descent, wrote Taonga to tell the story of an indigenous Polynesian rugby star who becomes homeless before a violent encounter with law enforcement leaves him for dead. The story aims to navigate the realities of homelessness and modern-day policing.
Many of those realities were a lifetime ago for Rangi, who managed to drag himself out of those dire straits to become an actor and stunt performer on major Hollywood productions that shot in that part of the world.
Rangi, who worked with Cameron on the Avatar movies, which were shot in New Zealand, wrote the script and will direct the feature that has the backing of Fandomodo Films, a boutique development, production and financing company that seeks to raise underrepresented voices.
Drawing on his own life, Rangi, who is of Ngāti Porou descent, wrote Taonga to tell the story of an indigenous Polynesian rugby star who becomes homeless before a violent encounter with law enforcement leaves him for dead. The story aims to navigate the realities of homelessness and modern-day policing.
Many of those realities were a lifetime ago for Rangi, who managed to drag himself out of those dire straits to become an actor and stunt performer on major Hollywood productions that shot in that part of the world.
- 9/18/2023
- by Borys Kit
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Dominique Appleby and McKenzie Van Dorne Rice have joined the boutique content company Fandomodo as president of film and TV and VP of film and TV acquisitions.
“I’m so thrilled to add these powerhouse women who more than anything, share the same values and vision for what we are building at Fandomodo — content that can open hearts and minds, content that can change the world,” said Anthony Kaan, CEO of Fandomodo Films.
Appleby previously worked in a venture capital division of a Hollywood studio before becoming co-founder and president of Harmony Gold Finance. She is also an entrepreneur who has financed pharmaceutical ventures and oil and gas endeavors. Appleby’s mother, the Egyptian-born Aida Takla O’Reilly, was a former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
“Dominique’s experience in finance and venture capital at both the major studio and independent levels, not to mention her own experience as a producer,...
“I’m so thrilled to add these powerhouse women who more than anything, share the same values and vision for what we are building at Fandomodo — content that can open hearts and minds, content that can change the world,” said Anthony Kaan, CEO of Fandomodo Films.
Appleby previously worked in a venture capital division of a Hollywood studio before becoming co-founder and president of Harmony Gold Finance. She is also an entrepreneur who has financed pharmaceutical ventures and oil and gas endeavors. Appleby’s mother, the Egyptian-born Aida Takla O’Reilly, was a former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
“Dominique’s experience in finance and venture capital at both the major studio and independent levels, not to mention her own experience as a producer,...
- 6/12/2023
- by Sophia Scorziello
- Variety Film + TV
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