Netflix Launches ‘Queenstown,’ Its Inaugural Original Series Produced in New Zealand

More than a decade after first offering streaming services in New Zealand, Netflix has begun production on its first locally commissioned original series. The company revealed Queenstown on Friday, an eight-part drama set against the backdrop of the luxury ski industry in the South Island resort town of the same name.

Set within the affluent world of the town’s ski-resort elite, the story centers on a wealthy family and their employees as their lives intersect around power, loyalty, and desire — described by Netflix as “a wealthy family at war with itself.” Filming is currently taking place on location in Queenstown.

Queenstown was created and written by Chloe Stearns (Wolf Like Me, The Falling Girls, Evergreen), who also serves as executive producer. Glendyn Ivin (The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, Penguin Bloom) is lead director and executive producer, with New Zealand filmmaker Roseanne Liang (Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender) directing as well.

The ensemble is led by Emmy nominee Rufus Sewell (The Diplomat, Scoop, The Father), alongside Frances O’Connor (Wednesday, The Missing), Australian actor Alycia Debnam-Carey (Apple Cider Vinegar, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, Godzilla x Kong: Supernova), and New Zealand actor Te Kohe Tuhaka (Chief of War, The Convert, Rather).

“Shooting our first locally-commissioned series here in New Zealand is a huge moment for us,” said Amanda Duthie, Netflix’s content director for Australia and New Zealand. “This is a bold, propulsive story of power, class and family set against the opulent world of a luxury ski town, and we can’t wait for our members to fall in love with this series the way we have.”

Jodi Matterson (The Dry, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart) — who founded her Silent Firework production company in 2024 after leaving Bruna Papandrea’s Made Up Stories — executive produces with Libbie Doherty (Bluey, Crazy Fun Park) of Runaway Unicorn. Jeremy Platt and Erika North complete the executive producing team.

In a joint statement, Matterson and Doherty praised Stearns as “an extraordinary new voice” and predicted the series would become “audiences’ next obsession.”

The commission represents a significant move in Netflix’s original content strategy across the region, which has until now been anchored in Australia with successes such as Heartbreak High, Boy Swallows Universe, and Apple Cider Vinegar. New Zealand has largely functioned as a filming destination for the streamer — with productions like Sweet Tooth and Jane Campion’s Oscar-winning The Power of the Dog shot there — but has not previously hosted its own homegrown series. Queenstown is supported by the New Zealand Film Commission and the country’s Screen Production Rebate. A release date has not yet been confirmed.

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