Taratoa was born in Hawera, Aotearoa. His father was English and his mother is Māori (Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa). 

He is currently developing his next project, TAUMANU (Reclaim) for TVNZ and writing his first feature, MĀRAMA, a Māori revenge horror set in Victorian England, 1869. 

MĀRAMA received early development funding from the BFI and was selected for the imagineNATIVE Indigenous Screenwriting Intensive 2020 program, funded by Netflix.

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

He lives in London and speaks German and French.

EIFF ‘Talent Lab’ participant, 2019

John Brabourne Award recipient, 2020