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Of Tokalau Island and Samoan descent, she grew up in Mangere, South Auckland in a family of musicians. As a six-year-old she began lessons with Sister Mary Leo, the singing teacher
well-known for her tutelage of Dame Kiri Te Kanawa.
On leaving school at 17, she joined the Society of Performing Arts Training Scheme (SPATS), founded by renowned entertainer Sir Howard Morrison and run by
Television New Zealand in the early 1980s. It was a “Fame” type of school for young entertainers, teaching music, singing, dance, deportment and other aspects of show business. Don C Selwyn was a guest tutor.
She then became singing teacher for the group called Tu Tangata, which was based in the same building as Selwyn’s He Taonga I Tawhiti film and television training course. He invited her to help with his course and
in 1987 she trained under Dick Reade as a sound recordist because she has always had technical ability and it was a natural extension of her musical talent.
Her first job as a boom operator/sound trainee was
with the E Tipu E Rea series of Maori television dramas produced by Larry Parr. She then assisted sound recordist Ru Rakena at Comedia Productions, a production company specialising in television comedy, and later
freelanced as a sound recordist and foley recordist for television companies, including Communicado, New Zealand’s largest production house.
In 1992, she and Selwyn formed He Taonga Films, a production
company for Maori and Pacific television drama and feature films. The company was founded to create productions that would provide employment for course graduates and outlets for Maori and Pacific writers. Its
second production was the New York Festival award-winning TV drama Don’t Go Past With Your Nose in the Air.
Kaupua Panapa says she was forced to become the producer after Ross Jennings, producer of the Nga
Puna drama series in 1993 completed his contract.
She has been a guiding force in the development of the company throughout its nine-year existence. In addition to her producer role, she also works as unit production manager and runs the technical side of the company.
To date, He Taonga Films has made 15 drama productions in English and Maori, including The Maori Merchant of Venice, the first Maori language feature film, and has four projects currently in development.
She has also assisted Selwyn in his role as casting director for major productions, including the feature films Once Were Warriors, What Becomes of the Broken Hearted, Broken English, Jubilee and Crooked Earth,
while continuing to freelance as a sound recordist on occasion.
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