Duncan Greive 
Is globalisation good or bad? What will a job look like in 10 years time? And is tech coming to kill us all? We’re answering those questions and more in our new pop-up section looking at the changing New Zealand economy. Spinoff editor Duncan Greive explains what it’s all about. Today we launch ‘The New … Read more
While the golden age of television continues to blossom overseas, New Zealand’s TV drama output remains stubbornly mediocre. But it didn’t have to be that way, says Duncan Greive – and he has the show to prove it. A couple of years ago, about the same time that the big budget dramas Filthy Rich and … Read more
Known for over a decade as a social pages fixture and little else, Gilda Kirkpatrick blazed into sharp relief on the just-completed first season of Real Housewives of Auckland. Duncan Greive sat down and drank a bottle of wine with her for On the Lash, our interview series brought to you by Australian wine geniuses Vinomofo. Photography … Read more
TVNZ has been the doughy dinosaur in the media room for years now, content to defend the biggest, oldest and least mobile audience in the country. Last Thursday though, they suddenly showed their teeth at a very different new season launch. Duncan Greive was there to watch. Kevin Kenrick is on stage, looking oddly like … Read more
The second big-budget local drama of the year debuted last night. Duncan Greive watches and finds some promise buried under very familiar problems – and one serious lapse of judgement. When a brand new company was awarded $15m in NZ on Air funding for two brand new shows within a matter of months, it sent shockwaves … Read more
This morning, an hour after news of a Real Housewives racism scandal broke, Duncan Greive spoke with Michelle Blanchard on the phone from the US about the episode. “This flat champagne, it’s driving me nuts,” says Michelle Blanchard, from an airline lounge in New York. She’s drinking in the afternoon, an hour away from boarding a flight … Read more
The Spinoff was granted an exclusive preview of next week’s racism-scarred episode of The Real Housewives of Auckland on Friday. Here Duncan Greive discusses the shocking moment, and the fallout within and without of the episode. This morning the Herald on Sunday reports that one cast member of Real Housewives of Auckland calls another cast member “n*****” … Read more
The Spinoff continues its sprint to become a proper grownup company by hiring Kerryanne Nelson to become its first GM. Duncan Greive explains why this matters – and why she’s the perfect fit. Today, less than a week after our second birthday, I’m psyched to announce that we’ve recruited a GM to help co-parent the … Read more
On the occasion of its second birthday The Spinoff editor Duncan Greive brings you this update on what we’ve done, and more importantly what we’re about to do. (Please read to the end.) Two years ago today, The Spinoff first appeared on the chilled out global chat room we now call “the internet”. Back then, we were … Read more
Every immigration debate in history* has been riddled with racism. Duncan Greive looked at current coverage of the issue – and its impact on housing – and came away pleasantly surprised. September’s North & South came out a couple of Mondays ago and devoted a large chunk of its feature well to a single issue: immigration. It’s … Read more
After accusing Kiwi Living of ‘lifestyle shaming‘, Duncan Greive returns to TV One’s magazine show and finds a vision of New Zealand much closer to reality. Last year’s debut of Kiwi Living felt like a kind of television dystopia: the kind of witlessly aspirational brand-soaked programming Leigh Hart had been parodying on The Late Night Big … Read more
The timing of a show about the wilful extravagance of the ultra-rich could not be worse. But the show couldn’t be better, says Duncan Greive. There are only two things you need to know about The Real Housewives of Auckland. Firstly, it is absolutely appallingly timed: a show featuring some of the city’s wealthiest residents … Read more
Duncan Greive watches The Hard Stuff with Nigel Latta, TVNZ’s new series that boldly explores some of the most complex issues facing New Zealanders today. Content warning: this article contains discussion of mental health and suicide Nigel Latta is a weird fish. A diminutive and thin fellow, he’s a psychologist by training, but has evolved into an … Read more
Two brilliant pieces of longform current affairs just showed up on Stuff within hours of each other. Duncan Greive looks at the work of Stuff Circuit, and asks why it is that we leave the production of this critical style of journalism largely to chance. The year 2015 saw a great bloodletting at TV3, once … Read more
New research from NZ On Air has confirmed that television audiences have moved aggressively toward online platforms. So why are we still waiting for the funding to catch up? “Where are the audiences?”, asked a new piece of research commissioned by NZ On Air and published late last month. It’s arguably the signal question of our … Read more
Duncan Greive watches Māori Television’s new dating show Finding Aroha, and finds a surprisingly authentic reality quest for love. As a highly-paid television columnist, I am in possession of piercing insights which will rock you back in your seat. Buckle up, there’s a whopper coming. You ready? You sure? Here goes: The Bachelor NZ is not … Read more
The events of this week have cast a shadow across rugby, with the despicable behaviour of one of its most beloved teams shocking the nation. But, Steve Hansen aside, its most prominent voices have stayed silent. Why? In US sports they have this nickname, “America’s Team”. Initially bestowed upon the dominant Dallas Cowboys team of … Read more
The Kettering Incident is drawing rave reviews for its ‘Tasmanian Noir’ – a small town with terrifying secrets lurking within and without. What’s the story? Two young women head into the woods in a remote Tasmanian logging town. Only one comes out. Anna Macy is found, hours later, bloody and traumatised, having met with a mysterious … Read more
After Alex Behan’s essay chronicling his attempts to change the long-running historic mispronunciation of Radio Hauraki went viral on Thursday, a news report on Te Kaea yesterday indicates change is coming soon. On Thursday morning, 15 minutes after finishing what should have been his second-to-last shift on the station, we hit publish on Radio Hauraki … Read more
The Spinoff editor Duncan Greive writes about the response to our announcement of The War for Auckland. A version of this post was posted on PledgeMe at 6am. Because I’m a grownup with good work/life balance, I woke up at 4.30am and checked our PledgeMe balance on my phone. When I’d gone to bed we’d … Read more
War?! We know, we know. But what else would you call the vastly differing visions for Auckland presented by Auckland 2040 and Generation Zero? We feel like the next few months will define this city’s future, and will thus cover the Unitary Plan and the subsequent election with a rare fury. Read on to hear our justification – … Read more
NZ On Air announced this week that a second season of TV2 drama Filthy Rich has received funding to the tune of $6,896,419 – a baffling decision if you look at the first season’s ratings, writes Duncan Greive. On Monday, with little fanfare, NZ on Air announced the renewal of Filthy Rich, TV2’s soapy inheritance … Read more
Aaradhna Patel comes into the room near visibly shaking. She hates interviews, does them because she must, and afterwards feels like she’s said all the wrong things. Given her occupation, it’s an unfortunate situation. This one promises to be particularly trying. She’s talking about racism. About her personal experience of it, in fine detail. Haltingly … Read more
The New Zealand Home is a new docu-series which tells the story of New Zealand housing via a parade of gloating baby boomers. “Two men, from wildly different words, join forces to explore the New Zealand home on a road trip – in a 1960s Jag!” So intones the voiceover which announces The New Zealand … Read more
Turns out TVNZ were just kidding about when they said Terry Teo would only play online! Those trickers! Update: now includes a statement from the creators at the bottom. Yesterday we published a piece scorning TVNZ’s decision to release the brilliant kidult action dramedy Terry Teo solely on TVNZ OnDemand, noting that $1.3m of public money … Read more
Strident remarks by Stephen Jennings, one of New Zealand’s wealthiest citizens, on housing, education and the economy suggest that the even the business community is tiring of the government’s endless softly-softly, writes Duncan Greive. Over the past few days we’ve seen a startling insertion into the public discourse of Stephen Jennings, a relatively low profile … Read more
Terry Teo was taxpayer-funded to the tune of $1.3m, helmed by a director fresh off a hit film and has been raved about by critics. TVNZ’s appalling treatment of the show will come back to haunt them, writes Duncan Greive. Update: TVNZ have announced that Terry Teo will air in primetime after all A New Zealand show … Read more
Today The Spinoff officially turns off comments. Here editor Duncan Greive explains his reasoning behind the decision. As of today, as of exactly right now, The Spinoff is turning off Disqus, the comments engine we’ve used since we started in September of 2014. The motivations are simple and twofold. First, comments make us no money but … Read more
This morning ex-Xero MD Victoria Crone announced a strong response to the housing crisis, one which squarely targeted the land-bankers and ‘property investors’ holding Auckland to ransom. This is a big deal, writes Duncan Greive. Auckland is, as everyone but the National cabinet acknowledges, in the grips of a diabolical housing crisis, with effects running from … Read more