Vegas is a New Zealand drama television series which officially premiered on TVNZ 2 on 19 April 2021 at 8:30 pm. The series was released on TVNZ On Demand on the same date at 9:30 pm. Vegas was co-created by Michael Bennett and Harriet Crampton and produced by Greenstone TV, 10,000 Company, and Steambox Film Collective with support from NZ On Air and TVNZ Te Reo Tataki.
The 6-part series is set in the fictional tourist town of Wairoto (a thinly anonymised Rotorua). A drug deal gone wrong on a blood-stained night sets off a chain of events for dangerous factions and an innocent bystander in this action-thriller series. Vegas stars Eds Eramiha (The Legend of Baron ToâÂÂa), Cian Elyse White (Cousins), Katie Wolfe and Rena Owen (Once Were Warriors). Filmed entirely on location in Rotorua.
Vegas is the first mainstream television production in New Zealand to be helmed by a predominantly MÃÂori cast and crew.
Vegas was the third-highest streamed show on TVNZ On Demand in 2021, reaching an average audience of 92.660 New Zealanders per episode. It then doubled that audience with its TVNZ 2 viewership.
Toro Studios created the title sequence Into The Flames composed by Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper, lyrics written and performed by Maaka PÃ Âhatu and the Modern MÃÂori Quartet, with additional performance by Awhimai Fraser and Te Ohorere Williams. Karyn Rachtman is the Music Supervisor.
The series is written by Michael Bennett, based on the novel Inside the Black Horse by Ray Berard.
Paul Lear won Best Post Production Design 2021 for Vegas.