{{short description|New Zealand trans woman documentarian, singer-songwriter and television presenter}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=September 2014}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | name = Ramon Te Wake | honorific_suffix = | image = <!-- filename only, no "File:" or "Image:" prefix, and no enclosing brackets --> | image_upright = | landscape = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank --> | alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software --> | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | pronunciation = | birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name --> | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1976|03|26}} | birth_place = Dargaville, New Zealand | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (enter DEATH date then BIRTH date (e.g., ...|1908|31|8|1967|28|2}} use both this parameter and |birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> | death_place = | occupation = {{hlist|Singer|tv presenter|reality tv star|model|filmmaker}} | known_for = | notable_works = <!-- produces label "Notable work"; may be overridden by |credits=, which produces label "Notable credit(s)"; or by |works=, which produces label "Works"; or by |label_name=, which produces label "Label(s)" --> | spouse = <!-- Use article title or common name --> | partner = <!-- (unmarried long-term partner) --> | children = | relatives = | family = Jay Tewake }} '''Ramon Te Wake''' (born 25 March 1976) is a New Zealand trans woman documentarian, singer-songwriter and television presenter. Her first presenting job was for Māori Television, where she was one of three people fronting ''Takatāpui'', which is Maori Television's first ever LGBT show.<ref name="mtvn">{{cite web |title=Profile: Ramon Te Wake |accessdate=11 July 2007 |url=http://maoritv.actrix.co.nz/newsletter/issue31/index.htm |work=Maori Television |date=27 September 2004 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927122311/http://maoritv.actrix.co.nz/newsletter/issue31/index.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedate = 27 September 2007}}</ref><ref name=moment>{{cite news|title=A moment to remember Carmen at DNA tonight: Transgender songwriter and singer Ramon Te Wake will be acknowledging the passing of one of her heroes, Carmen Rupe, during her Soul Session With Ramon at Auckland's DNA tonight.|url=http://www.gaynz.com/articles/publish/2/printer_11213.php|accessdate=27 September 2012|newspaper=GayNZ.com|date=15 December 2011|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924021045/http://www.gaynz.com/articles/publish/2/printer_11213.php|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Early life== Te Wake was born in Dargaville to Māori parents Ray and Tilly Te Wake.<ref name="doc">[http://www.frontofthebox.co.nz/Our-Programmes/Documentaries/The-Making-of-Ramon/MenuId/113.aspx "The Making of Ramon"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014091310/http://www.frontofthebox.co.nz/Our-Programmes/Documentaries/The-Making-of-Ramon/MenuId/113.aspx |date=14 October 2008 }} documentary film</ref> She is the decentdant of Heremia Te Wake who was a notable tribe leader, who is the father of respected kuia (Māori elder), Dame Whina Cooper.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfNsazURj7E |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/sfNsazURj7E |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Queens of Panguru {{!}} Episode 2 {{!}} Te Reo Māori Version |publisher=Mika Haka Studio |date=11 July 2017 |accessdate=3 August 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref> She grew up in Ascot Park, a suburb in Porirua. She moved to Wellington in the early 1990s, and then to Auckland shortly after.
==Music== She released her debut EP, ''The Arrival'' in 2002 and toured New Zealand in R&B / Funk band Pure Funk during 1995 and 1996.<ref name=queerlife>{{cite news|title=Queer Life Maori Style Is Back|url=http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0702/S00378.htm|accessdate=27 September 2012|newspaper=Scoop Independent News|date=28 February 2007}}</ref> In June 2005 she received a grant of up to $15,000 to record a new CD from Te Waka Toi, the Màori arts board of Creative New Zealand.<ref>{{cite news|title=Music Features in Te Waka Toi Grants|url=http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0506/S00026.htm|accessdate=27 September 2012|newspaper=Scoop Independent News|date=2 June 2005}}</ref> Her second album, ''Movement is Essential'', came out in 2008.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ramon premières new songs on MySpace: Auckland-based transgender singer-songwriter Ramon Te Wake has premièred six songs on MySpace.com from her long-awaited second album Movement is Essential.|url=http://www.gaynz.com/articles/publish/2/article_6115.php|accessdate=27 September 2012|newspaper=Gay NZ|date=23 June 2008|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303232427/http://www.gaynz.com/articles/publish/2/article_6115.php|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2008 Ramon started a DJ residency at Kiss bar called "Delicious Thursdays."<ref>{{cite news|title=Party marks a decade of K' Rd's Kiss bar|url=http://www.gaynz.com/articles/publish/2/printer_6591.php|accessdate=27 September 2012|newspaper=GayNZ|date=10 October 2008|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304051308/http://www.gaynz.com/articles/publish/2/printer_6591.php|url-status=dead}}</ref> She is also a well known model and "the first transgender girl to appear in music video clips and a Coca-Cola commercial."<ref name=queerlife/> In 2005 Te Wake joined King Kapisi in presenting ''Pasifika 2005'' festival, the biggest Polynesian culture festival in the world held in Auckland every year since 1992, it was televised on TV2.<ref>{{cite news |authorlink= Claudette Hauiti |last=Hauiti, Executive Producer |first=Claudette|title=Pasifika 2005: Synopsis|url=http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/pasifika-2005-2005|accessdate=27 September 2012|newspaper=NZ On Screen|author2=Makerita Urale, director, producer|year=2005}}</ref>
==TV== Her first presenting job was for Māori Television, where she was one of three people fronting Takatāpui, which is Maori Television's first ever LGBT show.<ref name="mtvn"/> The show began in 2004 and still continues today. Ramon's storytelling was noted by ''Scoop Independent News'' as "strong, creative and visual."<ref>{{cite news|title=Queer Life Maori Style Returns To Maori Television|url=http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0605/S00200.htm|accessdate=27 September 2012|newspaper=Scoop Independent News|date=22 May 2006}}</ref> Ramon's most celebrated work from the programme was the coverage of the 2011 death of activist Carmen Rupe.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.transhelp.net.nz/trans_news/TakataapuiCarmensstory.htm |title=Takataapui TV: Carmen's story |accessdate=25 September 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130207192438/http://transhelp.net.nz/trans_news/TakataapuiCarmensstory.htm |archivedate=7 February 2013 }}</ref> She had made a documentary of Rupe's life in 2006.<ref name=moment/> In 2008 she was one of several actors selected to portray Georgina Beyer, a trans woman who became the world's first openly transsexual mayor, as well as the world's first openly transsexual Member of Parliament, in a feature-length film.<ref>{{cite news|title=7-figure budget for Georgina Beyer movie: The Australian-based Kiwi couple making a feature film telling the story of transsexual former MP Georgina Beyer are sparing no expense when filming begins this year – their budget is in the millions of dollars, reports TV3 News.|url=http://www.gaynz.com/articles/publish/2/article_5450.php|accessdate=27 September 2012|newspaper=GayNZ|date=11 January 2008|archive-date=31 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131031014757/http://www.gaynz.com/articles/publish/2/article_5450.php|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2009 ''The Making of Ramon'' was a Takatāpui-produced documentary about Ramon which was aired as part of Triangle TV's ''Sunday Nights Out''.<ref>{{cite news|title=Triangle TV's Sunday Nights Out: After one week off, Triangle TV's Sunday evening festival of iconic Kiwi-made LGBT films and documentaries continue this weekend with some short docos about transgender New Zealanders.|url=http://www.gaynz.com/articles/publish/2/article_7860.php|accessdate=27 September 2012|newspaper=GayNZ|date=4 September 2009|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924021028/http://www.gaynz.com/articles/publish/2/article_7860.php|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2011 Te Wake directed a 25-minute video "Pacific Voices" for the NZ AIDS Foundation addressing issues and lives of Pacific LGBT people "such as identity, sexual health, bullying and family estrangement" the project "offers hope through mutual support and self-determination."<ref>{{cite news|title=Pacific Voices video resource goes online: A new resource addressing issues and lives of Pacific glbt people has gone online after being launched last Wednesday night.|url=http://www.gaynz.com/articles/publish/2/article_10613.php|accessdate=27 September 2012|newspaper=GayNZ|date=17 July 2011|archive-date=21 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140321031515/http://www.gaynz.com/articles/publish/2/article_10613.php|url-status=dead}}</ref> She has co-directed two series with Damon Fepulia'i, ''Inky Pinky Ponky'' (2023) and most recently ''The Boy, The Queen, and Everything in Between (2024),'' credited also as the Writer.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Boy, The Queen, And Everything In Between a love letter to K' Road|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/culture/350148096/boy-queen-and-everything-between-love-letter-k-road |access-date=2024-02-03 |website=www.stuff.co.nz}}</ref>
==Discography== ===Albums=== *The Arrival (2002) *Movement is Essential (2008)
===Music videos=== *To The Core (2007) *Still Remains (2010)
==Filmography== ===Feature films=== * ''Rūrangi''
===Short films=== *The Preacher Man (2004) *The Johnny Doo Good Show (2005) *AROHA – K' Road Stories (2015) *GURL (2020) *Wait, Wait, Now! (2024)<ref>{{Citation |last=Wake |first=Ramon Te |title=Wait, Wait, Now! |type=Short |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt35838349/ |access-date=2025-03-24}}</ref>
===TV=== *Takataapui (2005) *Neighbourhood (2016) *Queens of Panguru (2017) *Inky Pinky Ponky (2023) written by Amanaki Prescott-Faletau, co-directed by Damon Fepulea’i<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hopgood |first=Sela Jane |date=2023-06-27 |title=Why you should watch Inky Pinky Ponky |url=https://thespinoff.co.nz/pop-culture/27-06-2023/why-you-should-watch-inky-pinky-ponky |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=The Spinoff |language=en}}</ref> *The Boy, The Queen, and Everything in Between (2024) Written by Ramon Te Wake, co-directed by Damon Fepulia'i<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Boy, The Queen, and Everything in Between |url=https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/the-boy-the-queen-and-everything-in-between/episodes/s1-e1 |access-date=2024-02-03 |website=www.tvnz.co.nz}}</ref>
===Theatre=== *People Like Us (2016)
==See also== * List of New Zealand television personalities
== References == {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://whitihereaka.wordpress.com/2008/12/10/november-round-up-part-2/ November round up – part 2] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20130223005944/http://www.gayexpress.co.nz/2011/05/reinventing-ramon/ Reinventing Ramon | Express Online] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20130214124308/http://www.gayexpress.co.nz/2012/01/a-capital-a-fair/ A capital, a fair | Express Online]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Te Wake, Ramon}} Category:1976 births Category:Living people Category:New Zealand LGBTQ singer-songwriters Category:New Zealand LGBTQ broadcasters Category:New Zealand LGBTQ models Category:New Zealand Māori broadcasters Category:People from Dargaville Category:LGBTQ DJs Category:Transgender female models Category:Transgender singer-songwriters Category:Transgender women singers Category:New Zealand transgender women Category:New Zealand women television presenters Category:New Zealand women singer-songwriters Category:Takatāpui Category:21st-century New Zealand women singers Category:21st-century New Zealand singer-songwriters Category:20th-century New Zealand LGBTQ people Category:21st-century New Zealand LGBTQ people