Jonah Lomu documentary gets $800k funding as trademark dispute comes to an end

Jonah Lomu ahead of a match against France in 2002. Photo/ Marty Melville/Photosport

A documentary being made about rugby legend Jonah Lomu has received $800,000 in funding but is still in the early days of production after a lengthy trademark dispute.

Originally scheduled for release at the end of last year, the long-awaited chronicle of Lomu has been strongly opposed by his widow, Nadene Lomu.

However, this week a lengthy trademark dispute came to an end after a tribunal found that Nadene did not have the right to control who and how the rugby great’s name and image were used.

Instead, the executor of his estate, lawyer Chris Darlow, to whom Lomu left his business interests after his death from chronic kidney disease in 2015, has the keys to the intellectual property.

Darlow has since authorised a documentary titled Lomu to be filmed as a collaboration between British production company Sylver Entertainment and New Zealand’s Tahi Production.

“There are very few sportsmen and women who transcend their chosen game. This is about a boy, rejected by his father, searching for the love he was denied as a child,” promotional material for the film reads.

“The most feared and admired player of all time, rugby’s first global superstar, Jonah Lomu. The essence of this film is profoundly human, leaving a six-foot-five [1.9m] hole in all of our hearts.”

The New Zealand-based co-director of the documentary, Vea Mafile’o, told NZME it was intended as a “legacy” for Lomu.

“It’s a very complex story with a lot of moving parts,” she said.

“But it will cover both the light and the dark parts of his life.”

Mafile’o is from the same small Island in Tonga as Lomu and said being able to honour him in film was particularly special.

“I couldn’t not do this … My dad would kill me if I didn’t,” she said.

Tongan Kiwi Vea Mafile’o is co-directing the Jonah Lomu documentary.

Mafile’o said it was too early to say exactly what the film’s focal point would be but she and co-director Gavin Fitzgerald were enjoying the process.

“My heart is in it for the cultural and family side of things, but Gavin, he just loves rugby. It’s a good mix and balance,” she said.

Mafile’o stressed that the documentary was a collaboration rather than a foreign production team coming in and taking over the storytelling about a national treasure.

However, the film is still in the “early days” of production, with Mafile’o remaining coy about its progress or release date.

It was not known whether any of Lomu’s All Blacks colleagues would make a cameo.

Cease and Desist

Work on the documentary slowed due to a trademark dispute between Nadene Lomu and the executor of her late husband’s estate.

At the height of his rugby career, Jonah Lomu trademarked his name, persona and image under a trust he left to his lawyer, Chris Darlow, to administer when he died.

However, since her husband’s death Nadene has contested who has the rights to his intellectual property and since 2017 has needed Darlow’s sign-off to utilise the “Jonah Lomu” brand.

Despite signing this agreement she attempted to wrest control of the brand by lodging her own trademarks for her husband’s name in 2021 which this week were invalidated by the Intellectual Property Office.

The ruling also clarified Darlow’s right to administer Jonah Lomu’s intellectual property as he sees fit, though in reality he’s legally been able to since becoming executor in 2015.

Jonah Lomu and wife Nadene in 2011. Photo / Michael Craig

It’s a right he’s used to give Sylver Entertainment and Tahi Production the green light to commence filming.

But production was stymied by a cease and desist letter from Nadene Lomu late last year.

“I have been forced to write a ‘cease and desist’ to the New Zealand Film Commission and the producers involved from continuing down the path that breaches and infringes on my intellectual property rights,” part of that letter reads.

“My intellectual property rights have been violated on the production of a Jonah Lomu documentary, made without my authority or consent.”

This prompted the Film Commission to issue a statement saying it didn’t believe it had infringed on any trademark but advised the film’s producers to hold fire until the legal issue had been cleared up.

This week the commission told NZME that the ruling just confirmed it wasn’t in breach of trademark and that it had approved $800,000 in funding for the documentary to go ahead.

Darlow said he was confident the two production companies had the skills and experience to pull off the documentary with the respect it deserved.

“Everybody of a certain age remembers Jonah, of course they do,” he said.

“His is an extraordinary story and is well-suited for a high-quality documentary.”

Darlow said that other than negotiating the intellectual property rights on behalf of Lomu’s estate he didn’t have any input into what would feature in the film.

But he wants to see the real story told, not a sensationalised version.

“There have been other attempts to chronicle his life that have been either narrow in focus or quite low budget,” he said.

Co-director Gavin Fitzgerald.

“It’s time for something top shelf.”

According to the pitch for the documentary, it would paint an “intimate portrait of a once-in-a-generation athlete”.

“Ten years on from his untimely passing, and with exclusive access to his family, friends and teammates, Lomu is the definitive, final chapter on the greatest rugby player the world has ever known,” promotional material for the film reads.

“A 6ft 5-inch Tongan warrior who could run 100 metres in under 11 seconds, Jonah was an explosive, formidable athlete who quickly became a sporting legend, holding the record for the most tries scored in World Cup history.

“But despite his gentle giant persona, his life was marred by tragedy, often forcing him to battle adversity and confront his inner demons as the public watched on.”

Co-director Fitzgerald directed the highest-grossing Irish documentary of all time, Conor McGregor: Notorious (2017). Two years later he released As It Was, which charted Liam Gallagher’s musical journey after his split from the band Oasis.

Tongan Kiwi Mafile’o is sharing the director’s seat with Fitzgerald after having worked as art director for Pacific Beat Street as well as a string of short films.

Mafile’o has also helmed several TV shows including Tagata Pasifika, Fresh and I AM TV and debuted her first feature film For My Father’s Kingdom in 2019.

Jeremy Wilkinson is an Open Justice reporter based in Manawatū covering courts and justice issues with an interest in tribunals. He has been a journalist for nearly a decade and has worked for NZME since 2022.