Te Lab

14/10/2017

"Letting go is the hardest part"

Starring Poroaki Merritt-McDonald as Todd

My Brother Mitchell
Written & Directed by Todd Karehana
Produced by Mia Mārama Henry-Teirney
Cinematography by Alun Bollinger

12/09/2017

New Zealand Writers Guild - Puni Taatuhi o Aotearoa

Exciting news whanau. My Brother Mitchell is a finalist in the Best Short Film Script category for the NZ Writer's Guild 2017 SWANZ awards and our writer Todd is also a finalist in the Best New Writer category. Results will be out on Thursday September 28th 10pm. Big aroha to all the other nominees. 👌🎬

And the & finalists are......

2017 SWANZ - Finalists

South Pacific Pictures – Best Feature Film
The Inland Road – Jackie van Beek
Waru – Briar Grace Smith, Casey Kaa, Ainsley Gardiner, Katie Wolfe, Chelsea Cohen, Renae Maihi, Paula Jones, Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu

Best Short Film
Mr Bernstein – Guy Hamling, Deb Filler
My Brother Mitchell – Todd Karehana
Shout at the Ground – Joe Lonie
The Pissy T**s Street Gang – Rosie Howells

Best Play
Magdalena of Mangere – Louise Tu’u
Te Puhi – Cian Elyse White (Waiti)
Top This – Emilia Marriott

Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED) Best Episode TV Series – Drama
Dirty Laundry, Episode 12 – Jess Sayer
The Brokenwood Mysteries Series 3, Episode 4 – Tim Balme
The Cul de Sac, Series 2, Episode 6 – Stephen J Campbell
Shortland Street 25th Anniversary Special – Nick Malmholt, Harry Dickinson (McNaughton)
Westside Series 2, Episode 10 – James Griffin

Best Web Episode
Auckward Love, Season 3, Episode 1 – Jess Sayer
Darryl. An Outward Bound Story, Episode 2 – Millen Baird, John Argall
Guess I'm Coming to Dinner – Roseanne Liang
The Cricket Bat – Mike Minogue

Best One-off TV Drama
Jean – Paula Boock, Donna Malane
Why Does Love? – Pip Hall, Philip Smith

Best New Writer
Cian Elyse White (Waiti)
Jess Sayer
Mike Minogue
Rosie Howells
Todd Karehana

2017 Unproduced Script Competition - Finalists

TV Pilot
Mountain View – Carl Smith
Saviour – Rene Le Bas
The Wrong Side of the Grass – Rene Le Bas

Feature Film
Daisy Chain – Shoshana McCallum, Natalie Medlock
Blind Eye – April Phillips
Bootblack – Richard Goodwin

16/08/2017

My Brother Mitchell
Starring Tyrell Gregoire as Mitchell

Written & Directed by Todd Karehana
Produced by Mia Mārama Henry-Teirney
Cinematography by Alun Bollinger

11/08/2017

Jump Film in association with Ngā Aho Whakaari presents My Brother Mitchell.

Starring Poroaki Merritt-McDonald, Sadelle Fe'ao, Tyrell Gregoire & Camilla Karehana.

Written & Directed by Todd Karehana
Produced by Mia Mārama Henry-Teirney
Cinematography by Alun Bollinger

11/08/2017

We're stoked to share our poster with you all. Enjoy x

11/08/2017

My Brother Mitchell
Written & Directed by Todd Karehana
Produced by Mia Mārama Henry-Teirney
Cinematography by Alun Bollinger

06/08/2017

We can happily announce that My Brother Mitchell is finished! It's been a beautiful journey and we would like to thank each and every person that helped us create this taonga. What's next? The first exciting event will be our cast, crew and whanau screening- which Todd and Mia are in the midst of organising. We'll keep you updated in good time. Until then, here is one of our favourite set pictures taken by our lovely crew member, Brett Saunders.

04/07/2017

Native Affairs - Māoriwood

If you missed it, you can watch our director's interview with Native Affairs here. http://www.maoritelevision.com/news/regional/native-affairs-maoriwood

Kiwi film director Lee Tamahori says that being Māori won’t make the cut in Hollywood.

30/06/2017

Native Affairs

Watch our director Todd Karehana talking about My Brother Mitchell with Lee Tamahori and Aroha Awarau on Native Affairs this week. You'll also be the first people in the world to see scenes from My Brother Mitchell. Tuesday July 4th at 8pm. Tau ke!

RISING STAR: Todd Karehana is an emerging Māori director whose films have already won awards. He could be our next big thing and is receiving guidance from Once Were Warriors and James Bond director Lee Tamahori. The Tuakana-Teina story this Tuesday 8pm on

25/06/2017

Watch our director Todd Karehana talk about My Brother Mitchell on Native Affairs, Tuesday 4th July at 8pm.

25/06/2017

My Brother Mitchell
Photograph by Brett Saunders

15/03/2017

"None of the Polynesian races, including Māori people, come from a literary heritage. So it suits me to make pictures on celluloid that were formerly pictures of the mind, memory pictures, pictures of the imagination, that the storyteller uses [...] to make their stories more interesting and exciting. With the invention of film, the fact that you are able to transpose these pictures of memory, imagination and reality, mix them all up and make a story from them that you can see with your eye rather than with your mind's eye, is, I think, merely a continuation of the oral tradition" - Merata Mita, 1984.

01/03/2017

How Filmmaking Is Helping This Young Kiwi Deal With the Tragic Death of His Brother - VICE

We had the pleasure of speaking to VICE about healing and catharsis through the making of My Brother Mitchell. Check out the article below if you wanted more insight into Todd's journey and the background of the film.
Mauri Ora.

"Losing him was devastating and I hadn't properly dealt with my emotion as I was young and confused."

25/02/2017

Shrouded In The Mist by Whirimako Black on Apple Music

If you would like to hear a beautiful version of Engari Te T**i- the moteatea which features in My Brother Mitchell- then buy this album by one of our favourite Māori musicians. Shrouded In The Mist by Whirimako Black. Ka mau te wehi!
https://itun.es/nz/2EoBw

Listen to songs from the album Shrouded In The Mist, including "Engari Te T**i", "Te Tini O Toi", "E Kui Kumara" and many more. Buy the album for $18.99. Songs start at $1.79. Free with an Apple Music subscription.