Alex Breingan

Alex Breingan (born May 4, 1972) is a television producer, television writer and former radio producer and host based in Los Angeles, USA, previously in New Zealand. He is currently facing 33 fraud and forgery related charges in New Zealand. Breingan has denied the charges against him and has said the matter was before the New Zealand courts.

In August 2026, Breingan appeared in the Auckland District Court by video link from the United States and pleaded not guilty to all charges. The court subsequently rejected his application to withdraw an outstanding arrest warrant and ordered him to return to New Zealand for further proceedings. The SFO has initiated extradition proceedings in the United States, and a jury trial is expected in mid-2028.

Early life Breingan was born and raised in Lyme Regis, England. He attended Woodroffe School and left in 1989. He then started working at RACAL Electronics in Seaton, England before going to Durham University in the mid 1990s. After leaving University he then went on to work as an intern for BBC Radio 1.

Personal life He is legally married to Rachel Hart, a former Three News reporter and food blogger. The couple were both a subject for the 2019 series 100 Day Renovation. Breingan and Hart have since separated.

Breingan has lived in Los Angeles with his partner, since 2024. In late 2025, Breingan applied for permanent residency in the United States. He spent 10 years in NZ radio including as Mediawork's Radio Operations Manager and Assistant Programme Director for both More FM and RadioLIVE.

After working in Radio, Breingan then moved into TV as Channel Manager for SKY TV's Food TV and The Living Channel. 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.

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 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.

From 2019 to 2026, Breingan was a semi finals judge for the International Emmy Awards and later a finals judge in 2022.

Legal issues

Company collapse and move to the United States In February 2024 reports emerged that Stripe Studios had failed to pay post-production companies for their work. In March 2024, one of the company's production entities, Stripe Studios (Comedy) Ltd, was placed into court-ordered liquidation, and Stripe Media entered both receivership and voluntary receivership. A receiver's report initially identified over NZD $20 million in outstanding debts and financial irregularities were subsequently referred to the Serious Fraud Office. Additional companies associated with Stripe Studios were placed into liquidation in July 2024.

Breingan stated that allegations reported were false and defamatory, writing that the NZ Herald was provided with false information. This was later followed up by a statement in September 2025 from a law firm in the US, purportedly representing Breingan. The production registration and website subsequently closed down.

Breingan then later established 2nd Hour Films with under the alias Alex James. Another show, This Tastes Funny with Iliza Shlesinger was also rescued and released in 2026. It was understood that David Hasslehoff and Iliza Shlesinger both were owed money for the work on the productions.

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.

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. Media reports stated that no date had been set for his first court appearance and raised questions about whether he would return to New Zealand voluntarily or face extradition proceedings.

Court proceedings In August 2026, Breingan appeared in the Auckland District Court by video link from the United States and pleaded not guilty to all 33 charges. He elected a jury trial, which the court indicated was unlikely to take place before May 2028.

Filmography

Television

Footnotes