WIFT NZ Events

Tuesday

May

2022

Auckland

The Director-Actor Relationship AKL

Posted Wednesday 27 Apr 2022

Continuing in our series examining key relationships for directors, we now bring you this workshop on the Actor-Director Relationship in collaboration with DEGANZ.

**WIFT NZ and DEGANZ members are free**

RSVP essential to office@wiftnz.org.nz

Our experienced panel will be discussing the following questions:

The Director-Actor Relationship

The relationship between directors and actors can be one of the most challenging and rewarding artistic collaborations. Our experienced panel will be discussing the following points:

How actors and directors can maintain a healthy collaborative relationship that lasts beyond one project;
How actors and directors can explore character in a way that is safe and enriching for both;
How a director can balance the needs of their actors while maintaining other relationships on set;
The best way to deal with a director-actor relationship breakdown;
What directors most want from their actors;
What actors most want from their directors.

Moderator: Sara Wiseman

Panellists:

Armagan Ballantyne, Director

Theresa Healey, Actor,

Aidee Walker, Director, Actor

Mia Blake, Actor, Director

The discussion panel will be followed by a Q&A session, so bring your burning questions along with you!

So we can ensure everyone is comfortable we're holding this event at the Click Studios building in Avondale where there's lots of room and plenty of parking.

Date: Tuesday 3 May 2022
Location: Click Studios, 525 Rosebank Rd, Avondale, Auckland
Time: 6:00pm drinks for a 6:30pm start

RSVP to office@wiftnz.org.nz

WIFT NZ and DEGANZ Members FREE, non-members $15 cash at the door.

Date: Tuesday 03 May 2022
Location: Click Studios, 525 Rosebank Rd, Avondale
Time: 6pm drinks for 6:30pm sharp start

Tuesday

May

2022

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