Trivia

Tanya's TV series, James & Co., was dedicated to her grandmother, Iris Heays who died the day Tanya finished writing the pilot script.

Tanya's feature film adaptation of Australian novel, Whispering in the Wind by Alan Marshall, titled The Last Beautiful Princess, is dedicated to her nephew, Liam Wheeler, who was born the same day the script was started. Liam was born with a problem with his foot, and had to wear a leg brace, much like Alan Marshall who famously had polio and wrote the autobiographical, I Can Jump Puddles, about his childhood spent in leg braces.

Son, Griffin Lawler, was born in September 2006.

Tanya credits American actress, Lin Shaye, with inspiring her to pursue screenwriting as a career and not just a hobby.

The idea for Tanya's feature, Husband Boot Camp, came to her while unloading the dishwasher in her kitchen. She credits housework with many of her movie ideas, as she says the monotony provides opportunities for thinking.

Tanya's maternal grandfather, Frank W. Heays, was a wonderfully warm and engaging writer in his WWII war letters home, which Tanya spent months transcribing. She rereads them every couple of years for inspiration.

Having a gifted son and an autistic son has broadened Tanya's approach to different ways of thinking and interpreting the world. She says that her children are a fascinating life lesson and a daily joy.

Writer, Nora Ephron, has been another inspiration for Tanya.

Tanya sometimes goes to a local bar to sit and write without interruption, especially in the final stages. She has typed Fade Out on three screenplays there, and says she likes it there because the bar owner lets her plug in her laptop when the battery gets low. Some of the bar staff have read the screenplays written in their midst.

Tanya has worked closely with Greenhithe Kindergarten as a fund-raiser since her oldest son attended in 2007. Tanya credits the Kindergarten staff with giving her a lot of support in the early years of writing, when coming to terms with having an autistic child, and when going through a separation, so she tries to give back as much as she can to help support the Kindergarten in return. Tanya says that having a sense of community is an important thing to instill in your children, because if you embrace a community, it is there to hold you afloat when life is turbulent.

After coming up with the concept and storyline for 'Girl Viking', Tanya enlisted the help of a former student, Robert D. Edwards, then aged only seventeen, as a collaborator. Tanya and Robert discussed the story and characters for weeks while Tanya wrote the screenplay.

Tanya and Robert D. Edwards formed a company together to manage their project, 'Girl Viking'. Artistic Robert designed the Girl Viking logo, and owns the first T-shirt merchandise ever produced for Girl Viking.

Often works on short films with Director Lennie Hill and Producer Tania Hill. Tanya met the brother and sister film-making pair at a Christmas Party in 2011 and hit it off, forging a successful partnership with six short films in 2012 alone.

June 2013: Tanya traveled to Rarotonga in the Cook Islands in the wake of the Film Raro event and her work on a short film, 'Footsteps' for Director Lennie Hill, in order to work on a new feature film screenplay for the Hawaiian producer, Teanaroa Paka Worthington.

Auckland,NZ: Working on new feature project (script and development) with Rarotongan/Hawai'ian producer, Teanaroa Paka Worthington. (May 2013)

Los Angeles, CA, USA: Attending Screenwriters World Conference 2013 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza. (September 2013)

Auckland, New Zealand: Working on developing a new animated TV series for kids for Nickelodeon Asia in Singapore. (December 2012)

Auckland, New Zealand: Appointed 'Head of Development and Co-Productions' for MediaCom Enterprise Ltd. (April 2013)

Auckland, NZ: Guest Speaker and Guest Lecturer in Screenwriting at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) (June 2013)

[July 2014] Tanya joined the writing team for Power Rangers Dino Charge TV series.

Mentioned in an online article about "Silent Fear" feature film project with Kevin Sorbo.

Tanya M. Wheeler was listed as a Finalist in the Screen Writers Awards of New Zealand 2014. Winners to be announced at the S.W.A.N.Z. Awards Night 2014. (September 2014)

October 2015 - Reset receives government funding when NZ on Air awards the web project NZD$100,000 to make the web series for kids. Maori Television come on board as broadcasters.

June 2015 - A bunch of volunteer film crew and cast make the no budget web series pilot for Reset, a children's Sci Fi series. Tanya writes and produces.

June 2015 - Tanya and Dominic Schmidt come up with a concept for a children's Science Fiction project while driving back from attending the premiere of Umbrella Man (2015) at the Wairoa Maori Film Festival.

Stage adaptation of Jane Austen's 'Persuasion', written by Tanya M. Wheeler, is performed by The Acting Collective at The Pumphouse Theatre in Takapuna, New Zealand from 14th to 19th February 2017. Rave reviews.

Wrote a stage adaptation of Jane Austen's 'Persuasion' for The Acting Collective in nine days. A deadline is very motivational. First stage play by Tanya M. Wheeler. October 2016.

Children's Sci Fi Web Series, 'Reset', written and produced by Tanya M. Wheeler launches on CyberSmarties platform in Ireland for Irish schoolchildren. Jan 2017.

Son, Lex Lawler, was born in June 2003.

2013: Guest Speaker and Guest Lecturer on Screenwriting at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT).

Auckland, New Zealand: In preproduction on The A List for Singapore-based Intense Animation. (March 2013)

Auckland, NZ: Director of Snake Fang Ink Ltd Company. (August 2013)