Far North television champion Rhonda Kite goes from the screen to hall of fame

Northland's Rhonda Kite (left), Co. OfWomen founder Tara Lorigan, with the night's other inductees Frances Valintine and Maxine Simmons. Photo / One-image Photography

Māori television champion Rhonda Kite is one of three new additions to the New Zealand Hall of Fame for Women Entrepreneurs.

Kite (Te Aupōuri, Ngai Tākoto, Ngāti Kuri) was inducted alongside biotech pioneer Maxine Simmons, CNZM, and tech futurist Frances Valintine, CNZM, at the 11th Co. OfWomen annual ceremony last Thursday night.

The award-winning producer and director's name joins 34 others including the likes of Dame Trelise Cooper, Karen Walker, Dame Suzie Moncrief, and Peri Drysdale in the Hall of Fame.

Co. OfWomen founder Tara Lorigan said the award was a "unique endeavour to champion female power" by celebrating the significant achievements of the country's business and entrepreneurial women.

The award is another prestigious nod to Kite, who was named an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2018 for services to media technology, television and film.

Rhonda Kite receiving her ONZM from former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy and husband Sir David Gascoigne in 2018. Photo / NZME

At the age of 38, the Northland stalwart decided to throw in her corporate job and invest in a recording studio instead.

Kiwa Digital was the beginning of Kite's 30-year voyage into creative production focused on sound and screen.

She founded the mixed media creative technology company with the intention to produce technologies that would spur the revitalisation and retention of indigenous languages.
Kite has since made a reputation for herself as a pioneer for the revoicing of cartoons into te reo Māori.

Through Kiwa, she developed the post-production dialogue-recording software VoiceQ, which is now used in worldwide production organisations.

Over the years Kite has created several successful film and television documentaries and dramatic series, including the long-running Māori arts show Kete Aronui and the feature-length documentary Squeegee Bandit.

In addition to her own works, Kite helps provide a platform for others to shine in her role as one of the foundation supporters of the imagineNative Film Festival held annually in Toronto, Canada, and is now in its 20th year.

Other feathers to Kite's cap include being a life member of the Māori Women's Welfare League, an Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum member, chairing the Te Hiku Iwi Development Trust, sitting on the Te Āupouri board, and co-chairing Toi Mai Workforce Development Council in regards to the reformation of vocational education.

Her latest gift to the industry is Toi Te Hiku – a film office based in Kaitāia.

For three years she laboured to bring her ambition to promote the Far North as a filming location to life.

A micro-credential in the creative sector will be developed through Toi Te Hiku in collaboration with NorthTec and Te Pukenga.

Kite said her South Auckland childhood set in Otara exposed her to poverty of the pocket and human spirit. This in turn drove her to devote her professional knowledge to improving the wellbeing of those touched by intergenerational trauma.

She said when growing up, her parents had instilled great pride in her mixed ethnic heritage that she applied to her life's work.