Big business and a small, struggling rural support town are on a collision course in this good-natured comedy made on a shoestring budget with extensive community goodwill. Policeman, author and film director Stefen Harris reunites the cast from his debut The Waimate Conspiracy, but moves the action up SH1 to Temuka. An adaptation of his novel The Hydrosnipe, it features Mark Hadlow as an amoral corporate trouble-shooter threatening the town’s only petrol station after its recently deceased owner may have stumbled on a priceless scientific breakthrough.

Don McGlashan has played drums, horns, guitars and PVC pipes, created memorable songs with Blam Blam Blam, The Mutton Birds and as a solo artist, and won a run of awards for his soundtrack work. As Nick Bollinger puts it in this backgrounder, his songs are good for occasions big and small. 

In this second part of a documentary on Kiwis and cars, host Rita Te Wiata explores motoring in the latter half of the 20th Century. She begins in Christchurch where Ford V8s were a vehicle for post-war romance, then heads to Tahuna for beach racing. Te Wiata pockets the licence she supposedly got in part one and heads to Raglan to look at the car-enabled freedom of the 60s and 70s: surfing, fishing, caravans. While downsides are mentioned (motorways, pollution, accidents), mostly it’s a paean to petrolhead passion. The tour ends with a cruise up Queen St in a muscle car.

Reality series Tough Act follows first-year students at New Zealand's most famous drama school. In this episode personal lives clash with professional aspirations. The students' first professional production looms. As they rehearse scenes from Shakespeare, distractions are everywhere. Hollie is grieving after news of an accident and class romances are put to the test when partners perform intimate scenes with colleagues. When Sophie sleeps in and misses a rehearsal, she faces serious consequences. The series was nominated for two local awards for Best Reality Series.

This sci-fi telefeature for kids follows the adventures of runaways Peter (Toby Laing) and Maggie (Toni Driscoll), who meet when Maggie’s attempt to get Picnic bars on a five finger discount go awry and "rich brat" Peter is on the lam on a 10-speed. After falling into a grave of golden light at a farm cemetery, they wake up in the house of the strange Piper family. Laing is now trumpeter for Fat Freddys Drop, and a young Kerry Fox appears briefly as a policewoman in the opening. Scripted by veteran Ken Catran, the telefeature was re-cut from a four-part series.

When a man is found dead in the petrol station run by Horace Jones (Mark Hadlow), a surprising opportunity arises to get rid of some debt. But things get complicated when a menacing customer (Jed Brophy from The Hobbit ) shows up looking for the dead man’s money. Shot entirely on an iPhone at a petrol station in Motueka, Blue Moon is the third feature from writer/director Stefen Harris, who used his years as a police officer as inspiration for what goes on in the wee small hours. The film debuted in the Christchurch leg of the 2018 NZ International Film Festival.

Lovers move towards each other through space and time in this episode of te reo series Aroha. Tapu (Cliff Curtis) plays a doctor who is unnerved by the strange behaviour of elderly patient Kahu. Kahu's death affects his niece Irikura (Ngarimu Daniels) deeply, and at the tangi secrets are revealed. Tapu and Irikura are haunted by visions of a shared past; Kahu's ghost has plans for them. This episode played in black and white. Celebrated Māori actor and mentor Don Selwyn plays Kahu. Director Guy Moana created tā moko and carvings for classic 1994 film Once Were Warriors.

A Thousand Apologies is a fast-paced series of comic sketches by and about Asian New Zealanders. In this first episode, common cliches and racial tropes ( bad Asian driver, nerdy Chinese student) are sharply mocked. The writers sprinkle in some quick sight gags between longer sketches. Tarun Mohanbhai and Rajeev Varma team up as posessive Hindu parents trying to orchestrate the perfect arranged marriage; and Scribe's 2003 hip hop hit 'Not Many' is transformed into a celebration of Asian 'nerd styles', including shout-outs to "North Takapuna" and "West Henderson".

Designed to inspire school leavers to find their career, Pathways sees a selection of young New Zealanders talk about their job paths. The pilot episode of this 1994 Careers NZ resource is bookended with a 'mini-drama' about young people flatting together, which includes some familiar faces. Karl Urban plays lazy surfer Wayne, while Robbie Magasiva is the sales assistant whose plans of climbing the career ladder go awry. Marcus Lush plays a DJ who links a series of interviews with people either working or training. Later Lush interviews experts on youth employment prospects.

Don McGlashan's lyrics have often told stories. His observational talents are again on display in 2015 single 'Lucky Stars', from his third solo album of the same name. McGlashan captures a small moment in time: an everyday journey in West Auckland becomes an opportunity for reflection, and the conclusions he draws are simple and profound. Ian Hart's video is a diorama; McGlashan stars, but in two dimensional form — cut-out scenes play out against coloured backgrounds, like a children's storybook come to life.