Rhys Darby's Short Poppies

[size=150:3q6uwfsy]Darby and Clement film in Auckland park
Last updated 05:00 11/01/2013


RIGHT DIRECTON: Flight of the Conchords star Jemaine Clement sitting in the director's chair in Auckland yesterday.

Rhys Darby has called on some famous friends to help bring his new television show to life.

The actor's Flight of the Conchords co-star Jemaine Clement took a seat in the director's chair during the filming of Short Poppies in Auckland's Western Park yesterday.

While Clement was behind the camera, Darby donned a wig and pink tracksuit top to play an older woman fighting with a lycra-clad cyclist. Former TV3 journalist David Farrier is also part of the show's cast.

Short Poppies has been shrouded in secrecy since and received more than $700,000 in NZ On Air funding in August last year. Filming began in November.

However, in an American radio interview three months ago, Darby - who wrote the series - described it as a series of fictional, long-form filmed interviews where he plays the main characters. At the end of the season, the characters come together to watch the final result

"
This is a chance for me to show my character skills and it's the first time I get to write the whole thing myself as opposed to being a part of someone else's show,"
he said.

The eight half hour episodes will screen on TV One later this year.


ACTING UP: Rhys Darby, dressed as an elderly woman, filming in Auckland yesterday.

emira wrote:Director Jemaine Clement. I love how it sounds :#love3#:

Amily wrote:

emira wrote:Director Jemaine Clement. I love how it sounds :#love3#:

Same but probably for different reasons.

I like to imagine him being all bossy and shit. :#wise#:

emira wrote:I think those five girls around him in the photo and pretending they're working like it too. :#evilgrin#:

Amily wrote:

emira wrote:I think those five girls around him in the photo and pretending they're working like it too. :#evilgrin#:

:#haha#: I only saw four girls until you said that!!

Amily wrote:I like to imagine him being all bossy and shit. :#wise#:

Amily wrote:

emira wrote:I think those five girls around him in the photo and pretending they're working like it too. :#evilgrin#:

:#haha#: I only saw four girls until you said that!!

He's surrounded and there's no way out!! Can't blame them. :#happyno#:

[size=150:iwxzh26s]Netflix to Debut Rhys Darby's Mockumentary Series 'Short Poppies'
11:29 AM PDT 3/20/2014 by Stuart Kemp

The "
Flight of the Conchords"
actor stars (as multiple characters) in the comedy, set in a small town in his native New Zealand.


LONDON – Netflix has nabbed exclusive rights to Short Poppies, a comedy series written by and starring New Zealand actor Rhys Darby.

Darby, best known for his portrayal of Murray Hewitt in cult hit Flight of the Conchords, created the series that follows a journalist as he meets the not-so-ordinary characters in a small New Zealand town. All of the townsfolk are also played by Darby.

The eight episodes will roll on Netflix from April 3 in the U.S., Canada and the U.K.

Short Poppies is billed as an "
hilarious, quirky mockumentary"
and marks Darby’s first foray into writing and starring in his own vehicle.

The move continues Netflix's efforts to bring exclusive content to its video-on-demand subscription service to pull in monthly subscribers and grow market share.