^Photographer credit: Jay French (NZ)

RUN / MTB / Hike NZ

content residency

Wānaka, Aotearoa / New Zealand | 9-22 February 2026

The Outsiders’ next Content Residency will take place in Wānaka this February, focused on running (gravel, trail), MTB, and hike storytelling across New Zealand’s late summer season.

This two-week program brings together outdoor brands, elite athletes, and leading creatives to produce premium content in wild places — connecting global audiences to the landscapes and experiences we film.

Our pilot Snow & Ski Content Residency in August (check it out here), delivered with Defender (Land Rover NZ), Helly Hansen, DB Journey, Nikon, and more, proved the model works — with more than 812,000 combined following across athletes, brands, and crew. Teaser content alone on our new IG account delivered 50,000+ views, 1,600+ engagements, 123 shares, 40 saves, and drove strong inbound interest in the tourism experiences featured.

Our residencies now go beyond awareness — creating bookable tourism content powered by distribution.

program overview

  • Filming aligned with Natural Selection Tour (14 Feb) and Tarawera Ultra-Trail by UTMB (14–15 Feb)

  • Brand-integrated content across alpine, trail, and lake terrain

  • Athlete workshops with Aaron Lutze (ex-Red Bull, Ōura) focused on sponsorship and commercial strategy

  • Elite athlete dinner for advanced sponsorship and partnership insights with Aaron Lutze

  • Nikon NZ Talent Development Weekend: technical gear workshops and mentoring for up to 30 participants

  • Feature content produced with global media talent, including:

    • Global trail and adventure influencer (500K following)

    • MTB YouTuber (100K IG + 100K YouTube) creating a 12-minute tourism video

  • Long-form feature distributed via a digital news channel with a guaranteed 1.5M audience (Mercedes in-car, Samsung Smart TVs, airline in-flight)

  • Social event in partnership with Canyons Brewery

Distribution & Reach

  • Digital News Channel: 1.5M guaranteed distribution in our Outsiders Adventure Tourism Segment that airs globally via Mercedes In-car, Samsung Smart TV, Airlines in flight.

  • Athlete, Creator/Media, Influencer Combined Following: 1M+ combined audience across US, and global adventure and action sports communities.

  • The Outsiders Platform: Long-tail evergreen content through our Bookable Trips platform → see example: NZ Snow Adventure

Partnership opportunities

  • Tourism Offices & RTOs: Showcase the region, predominantly in the US. Guaranteed distribution of 1.5M.

  • Outdoor & Lifestyle Brands: Align with authentic athlete storytelling and world-class content.

  • Key tourism partners across accomodation, car rental, airlines: Inclusion in the bookable trip page launching post-residency, promoted across Outsiders channels for 12 months via a Meta campaign, and 12 months ‘always-on’ Meta spend.

want to get involved?

We are confirming partners for February. If you would like to explore partnering for this project Book a Meeting with Michelle Bates - LinkedIn

Looking forward to another epic time in Aotearoa! Let’s go.

Pictured in Kingston at Snowmoto: Justin Mayers (L) lead film maker and production partner (WestBank Media, US) and Michelle Bates The Outsiders Founder (R) - Photographer credit: Scott Ruzzene (AUS)