Taratoa was born in Hawera, Aotearoa New Zealand.

His father was English and his mother is Māori (Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa). 

In 2021 he directed his half-hour script, TAUMANU (Reclaim) in Aotearoa for TVNZ 2.

Taratoa is currently developing his first feature, MĀRAMA, a Māori Gothic thriller, set in Victorian England, 1859. MĀRAMA received initial early development at the 2019 Edinburgh I.F.F. ‘Talent Lab’ and after a treatment funding award from the BFI, the project was selected for the year-long 2020 imagineNATIVE Indigenous Screenwriting Intensive program, supported by Netflix. His subsequent drafts of MĀRAMA were chosen for further development in the 2021 Toronto I.F.F. ‘Writers Studio’,  the inaugural 2021 ‘Black List New Zealand Project’ and the 2022 Zurich F.F. ‘Academy’. 

Taratoa has directed six short films, screening in festivals including Angers, Busan, BFI London, Edinburgh, Encounters and Māoriland. These have been broadcast on BBC2, BBC3, Film4 and Canal+.

He lives in London and speaks German and French.

John Brabourne Award recipient, 2020