MātaiSmith
- Presenter
- Reporter
Mātai Smith began his screen career reporting on Marae. He was a long-running host of pioneering te reo children's show Pūkana and later co-hosted breakfast TV staple Good Morning (where he introduced te reo, and was hypnotised). Smith fronted popular Māori TV talent quest Homai Te Pakipaki, winning Best Presenter at the 2012 NZ TV Awards. He is currently station manager for Iwi Radio station Tūranga FM.
Screenography
Biography
Self-described "Māori boy from Gizzy" Mātai Rangi Smith was educated at Kaiti Primary School, Ilminster Intermediate and Gisborne's Lytton High School. When he began at Lytton, te reo classes "struck a certain chord with me and it just grew from there". While he won placings at a speech competition in Auckland, he was talent-spotted by TV producer Hinewehi Mohi. She offered Smith a job in 1996 as a researcher and reporter on Māori affairs show Marae.
Awards
2012 New Zealand Television Awards
Best Presenter - Entertainment/Factual: for Homai Te Pakipaki
2007 Māori Media Awards
Best Male Presenter in Te Reo Māori: for Pūkana
“Kura kaupapa Māori (Māori immersion schoolchildren) had nowhere to go to watch shows that would reflect them, show them and also hear them speak te reo, and so Pūkana became that vehicle to provide them with content that reflects the world they were growing up in.”