The Story Board

What The Story Board does

The Story Board is a private creative production collective headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand, operating across New Zealand, Australia, and select Asian markets. The company provides full-service video production across four core product lines: television commercials, music videos, short films, and branded content for marketing campaigns. Its work spans concept development through post-production, and the portfolio includes campaigns for major brands such as FORD, Dove, Rexona, Tourism New Zealand, Sky City, ASB, Spark, and Auckland Transport. Under the DBA 'The Story Board | Collective.Creative,' the company positions itself as a multi-director collective rather than a single-shop production house.

The collective comprises Executive Producer Tanya Haitoua, Managing Director Lance Cathro, and directors Miles Murphy, Brian Challis, and Glenn Wood, each with distinct creative credentials including Cannes Lions recognition and international film festival awards. The underlying technology is conventional film and video production supported by long-standing relationships with NZ industry rental houses and equipment operators. The business also maintains a development partnership with the New Zealand Film Commission, with multiple feature film projects in the pipeline, indicating an intent to evolve from pure service work into IP-owning production.

The company operates on a sales-led, project-based professional services revenue model, with quote-based pricing for each engagement. It serves two primary customer segments — advertising agencies (acting on behalf of brand clients) and direct brand clients — and distributes through direct relationships managed by the executive team. Marketing is limited to a portfolio website plus organic social channels (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn), with no evidence of paid acquisition or formal outbound sales motion. The company was originally founded as Fatboy Productions by Tanya Haitoua and has rebranded twice — through Fatboy Films and ultimately to The Story Board in 2016.

Name

The Story Board

Legal name

The Story Board

Website

https://thestoryboard.co.nz

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Story Board is an Auckland-based creative production collective offering full-service video production — television commercials, music videos, short films, and branded content — for advertising agencies and direct brand clients across New Zealand, Australia, and Asia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Video Production Services

NAICS

Motion Picture and Video Production (51211), Postproduction Services and Other Motion Picture and Video Industries (51219), Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries (512)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812), Services-Advertising (7310)

akta.pro primary industry

Commercial Production Companies (Live-Action) (MPAAAMAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Video Production & Post-Production (BPAFAIAB), Live-Action Production Management & Line Producing (MPADABAH)

Keywords

• Video production services
• Commercial production
• Branded content creation
• Music video production
• Short film production

Headquarters

HQ city

Auckland

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Production Services: Project-based production fees for commercials, music videos, short films, and branded content. Revenue generated through client commissions for creative production services.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Story Board is a creative production collective based in Auckland, New Zealand, providing end-to-end video production services. The company produces television commercials, music videos, short films, and branded content for advertising agencies and direct brand clients, with projects extending across New Zealand, Australia, and Asia. Services span from concept development and directing through to shooting and post-production delivery, executed by a roster of directors and an executive producer.

Product overview

The Story Board is a creative production collective based in Auckland, New Zealand, offering integrated video production services. The portfolio encompasses four interconnected offerings: Television Commercial Production for brand advertising campaigns, Music Video Production for recording artists, Short Film Production including award-winning projects, and Branded Content Production for marketing initiatives. The collective comprises directors (Miles Murphy, Brian Challis, Glenn Wood) and Executive Producer Tanya Haitoua, who collectively deliver production services across New Zealand, Australia, and Asia. The company operates from concept development through post-production, serving agency clients and direct brand relationships.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Television Commercial Production Full-service commercial video production for brands and businesses, including concept development, shooting, and post-production editing. Delivered for agency and direct brand clients across New Zealand, Australia, and Asia.
• Music Video Production Production of music videos for recording artists, featuring directors with international experience and award recognition. Past clients include Daniel Bedingfield and Scribe.
• Short Film Production Development and production of short films, including award-winning projects that have screened at international film festivals such as Drifting Clouds Film Festival and Cork Film Festival.
• Branded Content Production Creation of branded video content for marketing campaigns, including promotional materials, social media content, and corporate videos for brands and government clients.

Named customers11 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• New Zealand Film CommissioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Story Board works with NZ Film Commission on feature film development. Brian Challis has three feature film projects in development with the commission, including Rocking Horse Road selected for No Borders financing at IFC. Miles Murphy is also developing a debut feature romantic comedy with the commission.
• Industry Rental HousesminorOthersLong-standing relationships with top industry operators and rental houses who provide production equipment and resources. Tanya Haitoua maintains these relationships to deliver outstanding production value for clients.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Good Oil: New Zealand-based production company producing commercials and content for brands and agencies. Direct competitor for the same NZ TVC and branded-content briefs.
• Finch: Asia-Pacific commercial and content production network with offices in Australia, NZ, and Asia producing TVCs, music videos, and branded content. Comparable on multi-market scale, creative collective model, and brand-side customer base.
• Colonel Tan: Australian commercial and content production company working with major brands. Comparable on commercial production focus and regional agency-client ecosystem, with similar collective-style talent structure.
• Film Construction: Auckland/New Zealand production house producing commercials, branded content, and long-form work for major brands. Closely comparable as a domestic NZ production collective serving the same agency and brand clients.
• Exit Films: Australia- and NZ-based commercial production company producing TV commercials and branded content for major advertisers. Comparable as a regional DIRECT_PEER serving the same Australasian agency ecosystem.
• Sweetshop & Co. Auckland-based content and commercial production company with directors known for music videos and global brand work. Comparable on service mix (commercials, music video, branded content) and on the NZ/Asia-Pacific cross-border positioning.
• Blockhead: Auckland-based NZ production house specializing in commercials, music videos, and branded content, working with major advertisers and their agencies in the same ecosystem.
• Flying Fish: Auckland-based commercial and content production company offering TVC, music video, and branded content — directly comparable on service mix, geography, and target customer (NZ ad agencies and brands).

Emerging players

• Assembly: New Zealand creative production company producing commercial, music video, and branded content work. Comparable on service mix and NZ market footprint, though smaller in scale.

Regional players

• Revolver/Will O'Rourke: Trans-Tasman (NZ and Australia) production company and talent agency representing directors for commercial work. Comparable as an Australasian production partner serving brands across both markets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/TheStoryBoard1
• Facebookfacebook.com/thestoryboardnz
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-story-board

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Story Board