Making Turtle Town: Rarotonga has been a matter of urgency for producer Pouarii Tanner and Cook Islands broadcaster Vaka TV.
When Pacific Cooperation Broadcasting Limited (PCBL) invited affiliated broadcasters to pitch an original format series for round one of Pasifika on Air (PoA) funding, Rarotonga-based Pouarii says it presented an opportunity to prove original television formats could come from the Cook Islands.
“I wanted to prove that a project like this could be developed and produced from Rarotonga by Cook Island people,” Pouarii says.
Vaka TV is one of three broadcasters selected from the nine who pitched, to receive $75,000 each to go towards three pilot episodes of an original format series.
Fiji’s Mai TV also successfully pitched and produced a quiz series Mo Kila, while Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation (VBTC) produced a factual series, Island Innovators.
Pressing matters
Pouarii was introduced to television formats and the business behind them while working overseas.
“I felt I understood what made a strong format series, and Turtle Town was one of several ideas I had, but it felt the most urgent,” she adds.
Pouarii says Turtle Town follows the turtle tour operators working in Avaavaroa Passage, and what happens when people, nature and tourism all share the same space.
“Living in Rarotonga, I’d watched Avaavaroa Passage change through tourism, business, conservation, environmental pressures and the conversations surrounding it,” she explains.
“There were already plenty of opinions about Turtle Town online.
“I wasn’t interested in amplifying that noise – I wanted to hear what the people actually working there had to say from their own perspectives.
“I wanted to step away from the headlines and social media comments and ask, ‘What’s actually happening here?’ and I also wanted to create a record of this place so people can one day look back and see what Avaavaroa Passage was like at this moment in time.”
The concept is not all the story
For the pilot, Pouarii’s crew chose to concentrate on one small corner of the passage and a handful of operators.
“A pilot proves the concept; it doesn’t tell every story – there are many more people and perspectives there for the series to explore,” she says.
“My biggest challenge was staying focused on the story I wanted to tell when the subject already came with so many opinions.
“I wasn’t there to solve the problems of the turtle tour industry, I was there to observe, lead the production safely and tell the story honestly.”
Working with an incredible crew has been the highlight of the project for Pouarii, who says four out of six crew members are of Cook Island heritage and half are Cook Islanders living in Rarotonga.
“When you live here, you can come to a story with local knowledge, family connections and things you’ve heard,” she says.
“I appreciate their professionalism and their trust in me to put that aside and make the show I had envisioned.
“So, a very special meitaki ma’ata from me to Gina Terii, our second camera operator, whose knowledge of and confidence in Avaavaroa Passage is invaluable…and to Ben Raela, who came on as our editor.
“Having an editor based in Rarotonga has meant our director Nikki Si’ulepa and I could work closely with Ben and establish how the episodes would take shape.”
New perspective
One of the biggest takeaways Pouarii has gained from the project is perspective.
“Shortly after we delivered the series, one of our cast members, Tereapii Crummer, who is also family to me, passed away.
“Seeing different operators come together to farewell her put the difficulties we had witnessed into perspective and reminded me of the value of what we’d recorded.
“After Aunty Tereapii’s passing, I thought about the fact that we had captured her talking about her life and work while she was still doing it.
“The people and places we are filming now will one day be history.
“We used archival footage ourselves to make Turtle Town and now we’ve added something to that record for future Cook Island storytellers. Go be great!”
Pouarii Tanner talks story with Aunty Tereapii Crummer while filming Turtle Town: Rarotonga. Photo credit: Supplied.
Pouarii hopes projects such as this, show what happens when funding reaches Pacific creatives where they live and work.
“You do not just get a television series, people gain credits, skills are shared, relationships form, and those people go on to make the next thing together.
“That’s what Turtle Town has already done for me in Rarotonga and that is how I think an ecosystem grows: one production helps make the next one possible.”
Check the Pasifika TV schedule for when to view Turtle Town and the other format series.