WIFT NZ Events

Thursday

Mar

2023

Auckland Auckland

In Conversation with Rachel Lang

Posted Thursday 02 Mar 2023

WIFT NZ and the NZWG bring you this fabulous workshop with one of New Zealand's best screenwriters, showrunners and executive producers.

Rachel Lang MNZM, has co-created many of New Zealand's most successful television shows: Outrageous Fortune, The Almighty Johnsons, Mercy Peak, Nothing Trivial, Go Girls, Bad Mothers, and many more. She was the first New Zealand story editor for Shortland Street, and has also been a writer and an executive producer for the show.

Rachel will discuss writing and showrunning, and if her workshops last year are anything to go by, you will not want to miss this one! Facilitated by Fiona Samuel.

Fiona Samuel MNZM is an award-winning screenwriter and director, playwright, actor, trained wrestler, Arts Laureate, and current co-president of the NZ Writers Guild.

The discussion will cover the following topics:

· What a showrunner does;

· How you get to be a showrunner;

· How COVID has changed the practicalities of writing for television;

· What the ingredients for a successful writers room are;

· Tips for creating ideas and how to market them.

Bring your questions and Rachel will do her best to answer them!

WIFT and NZWG members free; non members $15 cash; includes wine and nibbles.

RSVP essential to office@wiftnz.org.nz

Date: Thursday 09 Mar 2023
Location: Click Studios, Harbourside Business Park, 525 Rosebank Rd, Avondale
Time: 6pm networking for a 6:30pm start

Thursday

Mar

2023

Upcoming events...

Tuesday 21 Jul 2026

Finding Your Voice & Tribe: In Conversation with Jerusha Hess

UNDER 10 TICKETS LEFT

When you deep-dive into Jerusha Hess's slate, the same names turn up again and again. That's no accident. Over two decades, she and her collaborators have built the kind of working relationships that let a creative voice grow, and that loyalty shows up on screen.

From co-writing the cult classic Napoleon Dynamite (2004) to her directorial debut Austenland (2013) and her Oscar-nominated animated short Ninety-Five Senses (2024), Jerusha has made unmistakably original work alongside a tight circle of cast and crew she's returned to time and again. It's a reminder that a career isn't built alone, and that the people you choose to make things with matter as much as the ideas themselves.

WIFT NZ is delighted to host Jerusha Hess for an honest conversation about staying true to your originality, the value of long-term creative partnerships, and how finding the right people early can shape everything that follows. For all who are carving out their own creative path, this is one to bring your notebook to.

This session will be moderated by Zoe McIntosh, director of Stylebender (2023).

CLICK HERE TO BOOK VIA HUMANITIX

Free for WIFT, DEGANZ & NZWG Members, $25 for non-members. Drinks & Nibbles Provided.

About Jerusha Hess:

Jerusha Hess is an American screenwriter, director, and producer best known as a co-writer of the cult comedy classics Napoleon Dynamite (2004) and Nacho Libre (2006), both of which she developed with her husband and longtime creative collaborator Jared Hess. A graduate of Brigham Young University's film program, where she began her filmmaking partnership, she made her directorial debut with Austenland (2013), a romantic comedy at the Sundance Film Festival and nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. More recently, Hess moved into animation, earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Short Film for Ninety-Five Senses (2022). She also co-wrote the Netflix animated musical feature Thelma the Unicorn (2024). Across a career spanning two decades, her work is distinguished by a fondness for underdog characters and a singular comedic sensibility that has made her films enduring favourites.

Auckland