Flying Fish
Flying Fish is a 40-year-old Auckland-based production company offering commercial and film production services through a 14-director roster, serving global advertising agencies and major brand clients across multiple industries, with divisions in long-form content (Fish.Ent), VR/AR (DOTDOT), and VFX (MandyVFX).
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1985
- HeadquartersPonsonby, New Zealand
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Flying Fish does
Flying Fish is a 40-year-old New Zealand-owned commercial and film production company founded in 1985 by acclaimed Māori filmmaker Lee Tamahori. Headquartered at 230 Ponsonby Road, Auckland, with owned production offices, post-production facilities, and studio space, the company operates as a full-service production house offering pre-production, production, and post-production capabilities. Its core business model is project-based commercial production for advertising agencies and direct brand clients, with revenue generated per production contract under quote-based pricing. The company maintains relationships with major international advertising agencies (MJZ, Stink, Iconoclast, Pretty Bird) and serves an enterprise client portfolio spanning 30+ global brands across automotive, technology, F&B, fashion, luxury, finance, government, sports, and travel verticals (Apple, Nike, Toyota, McDonald's, Adidas, Heineken, Westpac, Tag Heuer, among others).
The business is organized into multiple operating divisions and sub-brands beyond its core production arm. Fish.Ent (Fish Entertainment) is the long-form content division producing feature films, television, and documentary content, including Lee Tamahori's feature The Convert. DOTDOT is an award-winning creative studio represented in New Zealand and Australia for VR, AR, Tech, and Gaming enquiries, with clients including Google, Samsung, and Giorgio Armani. Additional sub-brands include MandyVFX (visual effects services), Fish&Clips (portfolio platform), and Fanclub (community engagement). Production Services provides location scouting, crew coordination, equipment sourcing, and production management for international productions filming in New Zealand.
The go-to-market is enterprise field sales — direct engagement with creative agencies and brand marketing teams globally, facilitated by a roster of 14 directors including internationally recognized talent such as Fredrik Bond, Lee Tamahori, Gregor Nicholas, and Stacey Lee. The company employs a Managing Director (James Moore), Executive Producers across Auckland and Los Angeles, an Accountant, and Studio management. Its geographic footprint centers on Oceania (New Zealand and Australia) with producer presence in Los Angeles serving US-based clients. Flying Fish is privately held with no disclosed institutional investor backing or parent company.
Flying Fish firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Flying Fish
- Legal name
- Flying Fish
- Website
- https://flyingfish.nz
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1985
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Flying Fish is a 40-year-old Auckland-based production company offering commercial and film production services through a 14-director roster, serving global advertising agencies and major brand clients across multiple industries, with divisions in long-form content (Fish.Ent), VR/AR (DOTDOT), and VFX (MandyVFX).
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Flying Fish is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Ponsonby
- HQ country
- New Zealand
- HQ region
- Oceania
Offices1 record
Markets served
Flying Fish business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Commercial Production: Flying Fish generates revenue through producing television commercials, digital content, and film projects for agencies and brand clients. Revenue is project-based, typically contracted per production.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels4 records
Flying Fish product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Flying Fish is a full-service production company that produces television commercials, digital content, and film projects for advertising agencies and brand clients. The company provides directing talent, end-to-end production services (pre-production, production, and post-production), studio facilities, and specialized divisions covering long-form content, VR/AR production, and visual effects. Operations are anchored in Auckland, New Zealand, with producer presence in Los Angeles.
Product overview
Flying Fish operates as a multi-faceted New Zealand production company comprising a core production arm offering commercial directing talent, supported by specialized divisions. The main Flying Fish entity handles commercials and branded content through its roster of directors. Fish.Ent extends capabilities into long-form feature film and television production. DOTDOT provides VR, AR, and immersive technology solutions for gaming and experiential projects. Production Services offers comprehensive location and logistical support for filming in New Zealand. Additional sub-brands including Fish&Clips, Fanclub, and MandyVFX serve portfolio, community, and visual effects needs respectively.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Fish.Ent: Long-form division of Flying Fish for feature films and television production
- DOTDOT
- Fish&Clips
- MandyVFX
- Fanclub
Products and services
- Flying Fish Commercial Production
- Fish.Ent (Fish Entertainment)
- DOTDOT
- Production Services
- MandyVFX
Companies that use Flying Fish
Customer profileNamed customers35 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Flying Fish technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Flying Fish partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- DOTDOTcoreFlying Fish represents the award-winning creative studio DOTDOT in New Zealand and Australia for VR, AR, Tech and Gaming enquiries. DOTDOT has a presence in New York, Australia, and New Zealand, with clients including Google, Samsung, Fast Company, and Giorgio Armani. The partnership enables Flying Fish to offer best-in-class local VR/AR/Tech/Gaming production capabilities through DOTDOT's team of artists, software developers, game designers, and hardware specialists.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Flying Fish competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Iconoclast: LA-based commercial production company representing a roster of A-list directors for global agency and brand clients. Listed among Flying Fish's agency partners, and directly comparable in talent-driven commercial production at the premium end of the market.
- Biscuit Filmworks: Los Angeles and London-headquartered commercial production company with a roster of top-tier directors serving global agencies and brands. Highly comparable in scope (premium commercials, branded content) and clientele overlap with Flying Fish.
- MJZ: Long-standing, LA/NYC-headquartered commercial production house with a roster of internationally recognized directors serving global ad agencies and brand clients. Directly comparable in scope (commercials + long-form), clientele, and production-services model — and is explicitly listed as one of Flying Fish's agency partners.
- PrettyBird: Culver City commercial production company known for representing award-winning directors across TV commercials, branded content and music videos. Direct peer in director-led commercial production serving Fortune 500 brands, and named as one of Flying Fish's established agency partners.
- RSA Films: Ridley Scott-founded commercial and feature-film production company headquartered in London and LA. Direct peer in combining elite directing talent for commercials with feature-film capability and global brand relationships akin to Flying Fish's Lee Tamahori-anchored slate.
- Stink Studios: Global creative production company with offices in London, New York and LA, producing commercials, branded content and interactive experiences for major brands. Directly comparable in international commercial-production model and creative scope (including Tag Heuer and Cuprinol work listed on Flying Fish's reel).
- Anonymous Content: Culver City-based talent-driven production company representing a stable of award-winning directors for commercials, branded content, and feature films. Closely comparable to Flying Fish in its director-led model, premium-brand client base, and long-form (Film/TV) extension.
- Pulse Films: London/LA-based production company spanning commercials, music videos, branded content, features and TV series. Closely comparable to Flying Fish + Fish.Ent combined in mixing top-tier commercial production with a long-form content development arm.
- Radical Media: New York-based production company producing commercials, branded content, documentaries and feature films for global brands. Comparable full-service offering (pre- through post-production) and diversified revenue across commercial and long-form mirroring Flying Fish's structure.
- Academy Films: London-based commercial production company representing a roster of internationally awarded directors for advertising and brand content. Comparable director-led model and global brand client base serving the same agency ecosystem as Flying Fish.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Flying Fish social profiles
Digital presenceFlying Fish financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Flying Fish leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Flying Fish subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries2 records
Flying Fish funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Flying Fish M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Flying Fish
What does Flying Fish do?
Flying Fish is a full-service production company that produces television commercials, digital content, and film projects for advertising agencies and brand clients. The company provides directing talent, end-to-end production services (pre-production, production, and post-production), studio facilities, and specialized divisions covering long-form content, VR/AR production, and visual effects. Operations are anchored in Auckland, New Zealand, with producer presence in Los Angeles.
Is Flying Fish a public or private company?
Flying Fish is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Flying Fish founded?
Flying Fish was founded in 1985. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Flying Fish based?
Flying Fish is headquartered in Ponsonby, New Zealand, in the Oceania region.
How does Flying Fish make money?
One revenue line is on record: commercial Production.
Who are Flying Fish's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Iconoclast, Biscuit Filmworks, MJZ, PrettyBird, RSA Films, Stink Studios, Anonymous Content, Pulse Films, Radical Media and Academy Films.
Does Flying Fish have an API?
No public API is recorded for Flying Fish.