Oliver Tukino Coddington (Olly Coddington)
Waikato-raised Olly Coddington was working for Māori Television when he got his break as a TV presenter.
Coddington began learning te reo while growing up in Raglan. In the sixth form at Hamilton Boys' High School, he competed in Māori speech contests. Coddington's ancestry is Māori (Te Arawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa), Rarotongan and Pākeha. He got early screen experience as host of Making Mistakes, a 2003 educational video about marae protocol.
After leaving school he spent six months touring primary schools, playing a pirate in Duffy's High Sea Adventure.
By 2005 Coddington was working as a tape operator at Māori Television. He was busy digitising and dubbing footage when he heard about an audition for Mai Time. The TVNZ show for Māori youth was hunting for a new co-presenter. "I just auditioned and gave it heaps."
Mai Time was one of New Zealand's longest-running youth shows. Swapping between English and te reo, Coddington interviewed musicians, skydived, and came up with ideas for skits. But after two seasons, he was called on to present the final episode, alongside Gabrielle Paringatai-Lemisio.
Mai Time had "evolved", as Coddington puts it. The show was reborn in April 2008 as I AM TV, with Coddington and Paringatai-Lemisio now joined by a third presenter, Candice Davis. This time around interactivity was key, with viewers contributing content via social networking website Bebo. Initially the TV studio was abandoned, as the team headed out on the road. After two seasons, Coddington took his own trip — back to Raglan, to spend three years as bar manager at live venue The YOT Club.
In 2008 he had a small acting role in award-winning Dutch movie Bride Flight, which follows three women who emigrate to New Zealand as war brides.
Coddington returned to television in 2013. That year he wrote scripts and directed segments for TV2 Māori youth show Totes Māori. In 2016 he presented a similiar show in the same slot, 2Kaha, this time with co-host Bree Peters. In-between, Coddington worked in varied production roles on cooking show Pete and Pio and Hunting Aotearoa — everything from assisting the cameraperson, to helping out with te reo on location.
In 2016 Coddington began working as a producer for Lisa Taouma's company Tikilounge Productions. He produced the third season of reality show Game of Bros, and helped produce Pasifika youth show Fresh, which was twice nominated for Best Pasifika Programme at the NZ Television Awards. In 2019 he began presenting Coconet TV’s web series, Know Your Roots. He hosted three seasons of the game show, which put competitors to the test with rounds of Māori and Pasifika-based challenges.
Coddington became the creative lead (creative producer) at Whakaata Māori in 2021, producing PR and video content for the channel and its partners. While there he produced He Kohinga Kōrero: Advancing Māori Aspirations, a web series resource sharing learning from Te Tihi o Ruahine, an alliance of iwi, hapū and Māori organisations.
After leaving Whakaata Māori in 2023, he formed production company Fourplait with his partner, director Jessica Sanderson. In 2023 they produced True Love, a music video for singer AJA (Aja Wairere Ropata).
Profile updated on 15 January 2024
Sources include
Oliver (Olly) Tukino Coddington
'Olly Coddington' (broken link). Wicked website. Accessed 31 January 2018
'Oliver Coddington' LinkedIn website. Accessed 31 January 2018
'Olly Coddington' (broken link) TVNZ website. Accessed 31 January 2018
'Mai Time' (broken link) Throng website. Loaded 1 December 2007. Accessed 31 January 2018
'I Am TV Presenter Profile: Olly' (broken link) NZGirl website. Accessed 30 January 2018