Laura Daniel and Joseph Moore’s The Sanctuary starts shooting next year

Kiwi comedy duo Two Hearts have written a comedy series about an eccentric American billionaire hiding in New Zealand.

Laura Daniel and Joseph Moore’s eight-part series The Sanctuary  has just been given the green light, and will start production early in the new year.

It revolves around Hunter, who finds out that an apparently innocuous app he built  was sold to a Russian-affiliated private military company and can be weaponised.  And while hiding out from the FBI and Russian assassins, he transforms  his luxury island Retreat into a bird sanctuary 

Producers call it ‘a uniquely hilarious take on a collision of a riches to rags story and the familiarity of light crime and investigation infused with humour and local New Zealand quirks’.

The comedy will air on Three in New Zealand with hopes that it will be sold globally.

Tina McLaren, who commissioned the show for Three’s parent company Warner Bros Discovery NZ, told Deadline: ‘This standout comedy series boasts a unique blend of humour and heart, courtesy of its skilled creators and will make for a truly enjoyable viewing experience that our audiences won’t want to miss."

Two Hearts are regulars on the international comedy circuit and played the Edinburgh Fringe this year and in 2022. Both Daniel  and Joseph - who are married – have also been on separate series of Taskmaster NZ.

Three has also announced a raft of other comedies, including Vince, about a television presenter who is dumped by his network after an unfortunate mishap; Happiness, in which a Kiwi-born Broadway director’s return to smalltown New Zealand, where he is roped into directing a local musical theatre production; and New Zealand Tomorrow with comedian Guy Williams investigating local news stories, based on his cult YouTube channel.

Published: 11 Dec 2024