BRINGING DISNEY CLASSICS INTO TE AO MĀORI
When people say “There’s no audience for that”…. we say “Let us show you”
Hear how Matewa Media worked with the biggest entertainment company in the world to produce Disney Reo Māori films for audiences in Aotearoa and around the world. Established in 2017, Matewa Media is a multi-media organisation whose goal is to contribute to te reo Māori, the culture and indigenous stories. To date their Reo Māori titles include The Lion King, Moana, Encanto, Coco, Frozen and most recently Moana 2.
The wāhine toa collective leading this kaupapa are Chelsea Winstanley, Tweedie Waititi and Mia Mārama Henry-Teirney, bringing decades of experience to this mahi. Through this work they have elevated Māori storytelling to new heights and created a legacy for generations of mokopuna.
As well as being a celebration of this extraordinary achievement, this will be a fascinating and entertaining conversation and is not to be missed.
SPEAKERS
TWEEDIE WAITITI
Te Whānau a Apanui, Rongowhakaata
Tweedie Waititi is a producer and director, driven by a deep desire to push the boundaries and forge new pathways for Te Reo Māori in a wide range of creative spaces. She is happiest when serving her people on her marae in Te Whānau a Pararaki while building towards creating the ultimate iwi environment for the next generation.
Under Matewa Media Tweedie has produced and directed Disney’s Lion King Reo Māori, Frozen Reo Māori, Moana Reo Māori and Encanto Reo Māori; and Disney and Pixar’s Coco Reo Māori.
In 2021, Tweedie was awarded an International Emmy in her role as co-producer for the series Rūrangi, a ground-breaking transgender drama series set in rural Aotearoa, New Zealand. Tweedie is also producing several projects under her company Kokko Media including Puta Mōhio a Māori STEM program and Get Home a docuseries about responding to the call home for TVNZ OnDemand. In 2022, Tweedie was awarded the Te Aupounamu, Māori Excellence in Film & Television award for her contribution to Te Reo and the industry.
CHELSEA WINSTANLEY
Chelsea Winstanley is an Oscar® nominated producer, an award-winning filmmaker and has worked across many genres as a producer, writer and director for over two decades.
As a p.g.a. producer on Taika Waititi’s Academy nominated feature Jojo Rabbit, Chelsea became the first indigenous female Oscar® nominee for Best Picture.
In 2014, she produced the hit mockumentary What We Do In The Shadows, directed by Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement – now a TV show for FX. And early in her career, she produced several award winning short films two of which premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival.
In 2019 she joined Night Raiders as a producer on the first Canadian / NZ Indigenous Co-Production written and directed by Creē first nations filmmaker Danis Goulet.
She produced the critically-acclaimed documentary feature, Merata: How Mum Decolonised The Screen. It was distributed by visionary filmmaker Ava Duvernay and Array, which played at the 2019 Sundance and Berlin film festivals and is now on NETFLIX worldwide.
In 2017 under Matewa Media she produced the first ever DISNEY reo māori animated film MOANA Reo Māori and has since reimagined and theatrically released six films over seven years.
In November 2024 Matewa Media became the first indigenous company in the world to theatrically release a new Disney title in an indigenous language, alongside the English version, of MOANA 2 in the same territory.
As a Director she was one of nine women who made the anthology feature WARU which won the LAAPFF best film award in 2018. Her short film Forgive Me has screened at ImagineNATIVE Film Festival and NZIFF. She is currently in Post Production with her Documentary Debut Feature Toi Tū Toi Ora Toitū!
Under production company This Too Shall Pass, Chelsea has several projects in various stages of development and production as both a director and producer and is in post production with her feature documentary TOITŪ Visual Sovereignty.
Heading into the future, Chelsea aims to create a distribution disruption and along with a growing circuit of independently owned cinemas, Chelsea’s focus to participate in every part of the filmmaking pipeline is being realised.
Chelsea is a member of The Academy of Motion Picture and Science, The Academy Indigenous Alliance, Women in Film & Television, and co-chair of The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi.
MIA HENRY-TEIRNEY
Mia Henry-Teirney (Ngāti Kahu ki Whangaroa, Ngāti Kuri, Te Rarawa) is an accomplished Producer and Line Producer based in Tāmaki Makaurau. With a deep commitment to Indigenous storytelling, Mia has produced a wide slate of film, television, and digital projects that centre Māori and Pasifika voices. Her credits span high-profile productions such as Disney’s Reo Māori adaptations of The Lion King, Frozen, Coco, Encanto, and Moana 2, as well as the internationally acclaimed anthology film We Are Still Here, which premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival.
Mia continues to champion bold, world-class Indigenous narratives—including award-winning works like First Horse, Season 1 of Baby Mamas Club, and a range of acclaimed short films, brand campaigns, and music videos featured in Vogue, The Guardian, and beyond.
