Archive May 2010

Former members of WIFT Wellington have voted to remain as members of WIFT New Zealand under current arrangements, so WIFT Wellington will now complete its wind up and legally de-register.  The overwhelming majority of former full members of WIFT Wellington who voted last month o…

Congratulations to the following members of WIFT NZ whose teams have been selected by the New Zealand Film Commission from among 251 applications to attend the Escalator Low Budget Feature Film boot camp in June: Juliet Bergh and Jessica Charlton (with Philip Thomas), Bonnie Sl…

WIFT member Ronel Schodt, Managing Director of 3DLive, has just finished New Zealand's first 3D music video with J Williams and Scribe; while digital effects studio Oktobor, a WIFT partner and discount provider, last month gave details of the unique interactive music video it rece…

While New Zealand film production, television broadcasting, and film and video distribution experienced slight drops in revenue last year, post-production revenue rose by 51 per cent.  Digital graphics, animation and effects accounted for 75%, or $362 million, of total post-production revenue, according to the an…

An increase in television revenue this year suggests confidence is returning to the New Zealand advertising market in free-to-air television.  Television revenue for the first quarter of 2010 was $122 million, an increase of $3 million, or 2.9%, from the $118.6 million achieved in…

The new Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill passed its first reading in Parliament last month and has been referred to the Commerce Select Committee.  The Select Committee will soon be calling for submissio…

Following the recent acquisition of a major stake in the leading South African production company Aquavision, NHNZ has announced that it has become the lead-agent for Aquavision's stock footage library, which can now be licensed through NHNZ Moving Images. Aquavision's stock footage library is…

The Women In Film (LA) Foundation's Film Finishing Fund annually provides up to $15,000 cash and in-kind production services to filmmakers completing projects by, for, or about women.  The only programme of its kind in the industry, the projects submitted have a broad rang…

The Independent Filmmakers Fund was established as a partnership fund between Creative New Zealand and the New Zealand Film Commission in 2009, replacing the former Screen Innovation Production Fund.  Although the New Zealand Film Commission is no longer supporting the Independent Filmmakers Fund, it conti…

This June, Script to Screen in association with CoLab and Nga Aho Whakaari will run a digital media workshop. Up to nine selected teams will spend a weekend producing a 2-minute story-based project for the mobile phone or internet, under the tutelage of experienced practitio…

The following mentoring partnerships have been proposed for 2010, with most well on the way to contracting and commencement.  Congratulations to all our successful applicants and a warm thank you to our generous mentors.  We also want to acknowledge the New Zealand Film Commission…

WIFT NZ Award Nominations are due Friday 28 May.  Don't miss this opportunity to honour the women of the industry, sung and unsung, and their amazing work.  The nominations form is available here or from the WIFT office.

Also, all Board positions (7 in …

Finalists for the Gaylene Preston WIFT NZ Best Female Director Award as part of V48HOURS have been announced.  Congratulations to:

Carolyn Batt (Auckland) - Team Kitty Katt - Need To Love

Micah Puklowski (Hamilton) - Team Reel Good People - Gone

Francesca Jago (Wellingto…

Popular local drama Go Girls, which is produced by WIFT partner South Pacific Pictures, has been commission for another series.  Screening on TV2, huge audience growth this season has helped the series gain $6.7 million in funding from NZ On Air for a furthe…

The 63^rd Cannes Film Festival has opened, but not one female director has a film selected for competition at this year's festival.  Filmdirecting4women, a UK-based grassroots group founded by filmmaker Ruth Torjussen to support women film directors, has mounted a petition destined for the fes…

Eyeworks TV has introduced a new policy of contracting editors on a per-episode basis, aiming to reward faster and better editors, but sparking concerns that editors will be penalised for production problems they have no control over.  Screen Directors Guild representative Peter Roberts describes the…

Statistics New Zealand's Screen Industry Survey Regional Data for 2008/09, released last week, shows the Auckland region dominated the New Zealand screen industry last year in both total revenue and number of businesses, while the Wellington region was ahead in feature film and post-production revenue.&n…

The Auckland City Council plans to increase its funding for Film Auckland by more than 300 percent.  The City Development Committee voted last week to increase the contribution to the film industry body from the current annual allocation of $45,000 to $150,000 for 2010/2011. …

A Ministry for Culture and Heritage report on giving and sponsorship in the cultural sector illustrates the low level of private fundraising and sponsorship taken up by cultural organisations, something which the Ministerial Cultural Philanthropy Taskforce is currently investigating. The Ministry's research, which cover…

The second round of Auckland City Council's 2010 Community Group Assistance Fund is now open for applications.  The fund aims to ensure that a wide range of community activities, projects, programmes and events are supported at a citywide level.  Application forms are downloadable from t…

The Lower Hutt Creative Communities New Zealand Scheme is a partnership between Creative New Zealand and the Hutt City Council. Its purpose is to increase participation in the arts at a local level, and to increase the range and diversity of arts available to communi…

Onfilm's June issue will include the magazine's annual sound recording and post production sound feature.  Editor Nick Grant is interested in receiving suggestions and/or pitches regarding editorial coverage for this issue: please contact nick@onfilm.co.nz by no later than Wednesday 19th May.  Onfilm has company / product profiles available fro…