Gore may have been the butt of many a parochial joke, but all jokes aside, Gore is about to have the last laugh, taking centre stage in the big time of television at Cannes International Series Festival this month.

Homegrown Kiwi TV series n00b – set in Gore, is one of only six series worldwide and the only one in Australasia that’s up for the ‘short form’ award at Cannes International Series Festival 2025 in France this month.

Victoria Boult, 27 - daughter of former Queenstown Lakes Mayor Jim Boult, wrote, co-directed and co-created the show with Aucklander Rachel Fawcett. It’s already hit the big time, premiering on Three last October, since then picked up by Netflix Australia and showcased at Europe’s Berlinale Series Market. It’s believed to be the first time a New Zealand show has been chosen as a finalist at the prestigious Cannes event.

The core cast from n00b. Photo: Supplied/Great Southern Television

The show was first conceived as a TikTok series, receiving $50,000 funding through the ‘Every Voice’ initiative, run by NZ On Air, Screen Australia and Tik Tok, in 2021. It drew more than a million views on Tik Tok, before being picked up by Great Southern Television and Three. It then received $1.5m funding through New Zealand on Air.

Boult, who’s off to France this week with the n00b team, taking Mum Karen as her ‘date’, says she’s still reeling from the excitement of being chosen from among the best in the world and really hopes she can “put Gore on the map”.

“To think that little, tiny Gore has screened on Netflix and now in Berlin and Cannes…” she says. The show was designed to be “a love letter showcasing smalltown New Zealand” and while Gore can sometimes be the butt of jokes and jibes, Boult, whose parents are Southlanders, says Gore fitted the bill. “We’re definitely out there representing a small town in Aotearoa.”

Boult says n00b was created in response to a hole in the market for shows about the early 2000s and set in Gore in 2005 focusing on young NZ teenagers “coming of age on the dawn of social media during the days of Bebo and Myspace”.

“We wanted to entertain NZ youth and set out to explore a period not explored before,” she says. “Social media back then was like the Wild

West, not policed like it is now. People could fall down a rabbit hole talking to anyone around the world. It was free and liberating,” she says.

It feels “very, very special” to be up against the best in the world and Boult says she’s super excited to meet other writers and directors on the creative buzz in what can be a “hyper-competitive industry”.

“I’d love to bring back an award from Cannes for Gore,” she says.

Gore would too!

Gore Mayor Ben Bell at 25 may be a bit young to remember Bebo but he’s still pretty excited about n00b’s selection. “It’s pretty special. Our little town will be on the big stage,” Bell says. “All credit to the creators. It’s fantastic work they’ve done. While teen comedy may not appeal to much of Gore’s populace, he says the town is proud that Gore’s “making it this far on the big TV screen.”

Gemma Perry, who oversees a team working with youth in Gore, says she loved the first episode of n00b which was “nostalgic” for her having grown up in Gore in the early 2000s. “I wanted it to feel familiar and it was cool. Gore was a fun place to grow up in, pretty laidback and relaxed,” she says.

While it was exciting that Gore was making big in Cannes, Perry jokes that she hopes the series isn’t too complimentary: “Hopefully we don’t look too good on the big screen as we don’t want our secret getting out,” she grins. “It wouldn’t be Gore if it was full of tourists.”

Queenstown-based Great Southern Television owner and n00b executive producer Phil Smith, who Boult started out with as drama assistant in her early 20s, says she showed extraordinary talent from the outset. “She can write, create and direct but can also package and produce,” he says. “It’s really unique to find creative producers and she is one,” Smith says. “If you can do all that you’ve got an incredible career in the world.”

He says he’s looking forward to going to Cannes for the awards. “This is a wonderful effort by Victoria. We’re very proud. It puts her on the international stage at a young age.”