Alex Breingan is a UK-born New Zealand television executive producer, television writer and former radio producer and host now based in Los Angeles, USA.[1] He is currently facing fraud charges in New Zealand.[2]
Starting his career in UK commercial radio and later as a producer at the BBC, Breingan moved to New Zealand in 2002, where he worked in radio management before transitioning into television. He co-founded Choice TV, now known as Eden in 2012, which was later acquired by international media companies, and established Stripe Studios, a production company responsible for various TV series in New Zealand.[3]
In February 2026, the Serious Fraud Office announced that they had filed 33 charges of fraud in the Auckland District Court against Breingan. The charges allege that Breingan made false representations and used forged documents to obtain approximately NZ$14.5 million in funding, comprising more than NZ$4.3 million in government funded rebates and NZ$10.2 million in lending.[2][4]
He began his career in the mid 1990s in UK commercial radio and later as a producer at the BBC before moving to NZ in 2002.[9] He spent 10 years in NZ radio including as Mediawork's Radio Operations Manager and Assistant Programme Director for both More FM and RadioLIVE.[10] Breingan then moved into TV as Channel Manager for SKY TV's Food TV and The Living Channel.[10][11]
In 2012 Breingan co-founded free to air TV channel Choice TV which launched on Freeview and Sky that year. Canadian Media company Blue Ant Media acquired the channel in 2014. Discovery Inc. later acquired Choice TV in 2019.[9][12][13]
In TV production, Breingan established production company Stripe Media in 2014, also known as Stripe Studios. The production company produced various television shows across New Zealand including the TV3 morning series, The Cafe[14][15][16] which aired from 2016 until 2020.
Stripe Studios production includes series previously on SKY Open New Zealand, Discovery Australia New Zealand, TVNZ and NBCU NZ for the channel Bravo. Breingan created, co-wrote and produced The Circus, Rich Listers, and Discovery's Great Southern Truckers.[17]Rich Listers received criticism after Breingan publicly mentioned that the show was fictional.[18]
Since 2019, Breingan has been a semi finals judge for the International Emmy Awards and later a finals judge in 2022.[19][20]
Legal issues
In February 2024 reports emerged that Stripe Studios had failed to pay post-production companies for their work.[21] In March 2024, one of the company’s production entities, Stripe Studios (Comedy) Ltd, was placed into court-ordered liquidation,[22] and Stripe Media entered both receivership and voluntary receivership.[23] A receiver’s report initially identified over NZD $20 million in outstanding debts due to incomplete productions,[24] along with financial irregularities that were subsequently referred to the Serious Fraud Office.[24][25] Additional companies associated with Stripe Studios were placed into liquidation in July 2024 due to unpaid taxes and outstanding debts to creditors.[26]
Breingan has claimed that a U-turn decision by the New Zealand Film Commission was a cause for the financial issues. The Commission has denied this.[24] Breingan also stated that such allegations were false and defamatory, writing that the NZ Herald was provided with false information.[27] This was later followed up by a message that was sent to the Herald in September 2025 from a law firm in the USA, purportedly representing Breingan.[2] They later told media that they were no longer representing Breingan.
In September 2024, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's (MBIE) Integrity and Enforcement Team confirmed that it was investigating whether Breingan should be prohibited from directing New Zealand companies in New Zealand.[1]
In March 2025 Stripe Media's liquidators reported that no assets had been recovered, and that Breingan could not be located.[28] In August 2025 it was reported Breingan was now living in the USA.[29]
During the liquidation process Breingan attempted to re-establish himself overseas, establishing two production companies in the UK.[30][31] An attempt to raise money for a documentary film about the English singer Tony Hadley was aborted after it was reported in the New Zealand media.[32] The production website which was up until it was removed featured upcoming productions such as an ‘Untitled Horror Slasher Film’ and a documentary about music manager Simon Napier-Bell.[31][33]
In May 2024 the NZ Herald claimed Breingan was using various aliases including AJ James, with a page on film industry website IMDb referencing several new projects. Breingan's middle name is James. Following media reports, the IMDb page was edited with several shows removed or anonymised as ‘untitled.’ [34]
In September 2024, Breingan was linked to another new alias on IMDb, Darci Penn. The original biography for Penn stated she was female - "a dynamic television and film producer hailing from Los Angeles celebrated for her innovative contributions to both non-scripted TV and scripted film”. However, outside of IMDb, there is no significant record of Darci Penn having produced, directed, or written any film or television projects. The biography was later updated to state that Darci Penn is also known as Alex Breingan, Alex B, A.J. James and Alex James. It referenced several projects in the works, including a feature film titled Doing it for the Money—“the true story of an all-American nightmare”—and Queens of the Court, which follows “the lives, loves, and dramas of California’s hottest new Pickleball club.” [35] It was reported in February 2026 that Penn is the current partner of Breingan.[7] Breingan then later established 2nd Hour Films with several projects in development under the alias Alex James.[7]
TV show Hoff Roading, which was heavily delayed in post production due to Stripe Studios' legal issues, finally aired in New Zealand in September 2025 after being rescued by another production house. The travel show featured David Hasselhoff and Rhys Darby traveling New Zealand.[36]
Serious Fraud Investigation
In February 2026, the Serious Fraud Office announced that it had filed 33 charges of fraud in the Auckland District Court against Breingan. The charges allege that Breingan made false representations and used forged documents to obtain approximately NZ$14.5 million in funding, comprising more than NZ$4.3 million in government funded rebates and NZ$10.2 million in lending.[2]
The alleged offending relates to the financing of 13 television programmes that were produced, or proposed to be produced, through companies associated with Breingan, including Stripe Studios. The investigation followed a referral from the New Zealand Film Commission, which raised concerns about applications made for the New Zealand Screen Production Rebate by entities linked to Stripe Media.
At the time the charges were filed, Breingan was still reported to be residing overseas in the Calabasas area of Los Angeles and had not yet appeared in court.[37][38][7]
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