Great Southern Film and Television (GSFT) secured $6.5 million from the Crown entity New Zealand On Air towards The Cult, a 13-part, one-hour thriller series written along the lines of Lost and Prison Break.
The company was granted about $500,000 to help deliver Bogan Brothers, a new comedy drama from the talents behind Back Of The Y.
The Cult is billed as a fast-moving, tense drama that follows the exploits of a group of New Zealanders and internationals trying to get their friends and family out of a cult.
The story explores the relationships between the people trapped in the compound, and between them and their estranged parents, GSFT managing director Philip Smith said.
The $7 million show will star a core cast of 14 characters and casting was expected to be finalised by mid-February.
More than 100 crew members would work on the project.
Its team of writers includes Kathryn Burnett (The Lost Children, Street Legal), Nick Ward (Stickmen, Second Hand Wedding) and Peter Cox (The Pretender, The Insider's Guide to Love).
Peter Burger (The Pretender, The Tattooist) will direct.
Shooting would start on location in Auckland's Riverhead and in studios in west Auckland in April with broadcast on TVNZ's TV2 later this year.
A deal was in place with a British company for distribution.
Mr Smith said The Cult was inspired by secretive life enhancement colleges, "which infiltrate and exploit people's minds".
"We took the premise of what if the New Zealand franchise of this global corporation goes off the rails and takes their cult in a weird and sinister direction.
"We wanted to create something that was away from the middle-class, chardonnay-swilling dramas that seem to be everywhere right now and do something really edgy that attracts a younger audience."
For Bogan Brothers, GSFT is teaming up with Matt Heath and Chris Stapp to produce the $700,000, eight-part scripted comedy drama series for C4 airing later this year.
Mr Smith said the show would take Back Of The Y to a new level.
"It's about two brothers who are freelancing film-makers who make videos and they get it all wrong.
"It involves a lot of stunts, explosions, car chases and anarchy, but it all comes together for the client in the end."
Million Dollar Catch was shot in the high season of 2008 and follows the activities of seven cray fishermen from Bluff as they race to feed the huge and hungry Chinese market.
Mr Smith said Million Dollar Catch was a story of hard work and fortitude that involved "success and endeavour, adventure, risk and danger".
The 10 half-hour episodes would begin airing on TV3 in March.
