Riwia Brown (Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui and Taranaki) has been involved with Māori Theatre in Wellington since the early eighties, performing as an actor with Te Ohu Whakaari. Her first play Roimata premiered at The Depot Theatre in 1988 and was later adapted for television and published by Playmarket in He Reo Hou, a collection of Māori plays. She continued to write successfully for theatre and in 1992 adapted Alan Duff's novel Once Were Warriors into an acclaimed film. Since then she has worked on several national and international film and television projects as well having new plays produced. In 2021, Riwia won Best Drama Script at the NZ TV Awards alongside co-writer Kathryn Burnett, for The Tender Trap.