Morgana O’Reilly chases White Lotus in the bust-up of the New Zealand Procedural Crime series.
Production began last month with a New Zealand original and a series commissioned by the German ZDF.
O’Reilly and Fox play Deb Brighton and Mihi Renata, respectively. He is a former romantic partner who unexpectedly reunited after 10 years apart. When Mihi returns to her hometown, they are forced to team up as police officers in the beat of the fictional town of Waitute, the fictional North Island town of Waitute.
Each episode of Bust Up is a slow-burning relationship story between the duo, focusing on independent crimes that unfold throughout the series.
Lippy Pictures is collaboratively produced with MadeFor Film, ZDF, and ZDF Studios.
The script is written by Max Currie and Awanui Simich-Pene Direct, Donna Malane, Paula Boock, Holly Hudson and Annette Tahitahi Fifield.
Executive producers are Paula Boock and Donna Malane from Lippy Pictures, Nicole Horan from Madefor Films, Gunnar Juncken and Katrin Goetter, and Sebastian Krekeler and Sarah Eichenlaub from ZDF Studios. Claus Wunn and Frank Seyberth are responsible for ZDF with Sky New Zealand’s original commissioning officer Thomas Robins as executive producer and executive producer of Sky.
“It is a special occasion to create a procedural drama that shows off the diversity and beauty of Aotearoa and openly centers the charm between two female police officers, and we are proud of ZDF, as well as the sales team ready to sell to the world,” Book and Marane said in a joint statement.
“It was a lot of fun to take the much-loved fellow policeman genre out of the closet and explore the struggle, victory and eccentricity that exists in New Zealand’s two-cultural community, while giving it a modern and strange twist.
The series is supported by NZ On Air and New Zealand’s Screen Production Rebate.
Bust Up is scheduled to screen Aotearoa’s Sky Open, Neon and Sky Go in 2026.
