A round of applause please for WIFT members Gillian Ashurst and Alyx Duncan for securing a place with renowned Australian directing and acting coach Rob Marchand's Character-based Improvisation Workshop to be held from 20 - 24 March 2015 by the Directors & Editors Guild of NZ. Congratulations too to all the women who made it of course! The complete list is:
- Gillian Ashurst (Snakeskin)
- Max Currie (Everything We Loved)
- Alyx Duncan (The Red House)
- Lauren Jackson (I'm Going to Mum's)
"This workshop is all about directors working with actors-putting the script to one side and going 'off-road' to improvise and explore the wider possibilities of character in order to enrich the story," said writer/director Fiona Samuel.
"The selected projects and creative teams are bursting with potential, and I hope the five days working with Rob Marchand will give a huge boost to these new and exciting films in development."
The selection panel comprised Samuel, actor Theresa Healey and producer Christina Milligan.
"Rob fully explores UK director Mike Leigh's method of improvisation in his workshops," said DEGNZ Executive Director Tui Ruwhiu. "I am confident that this approach will be a rich and rewarding experience for not only the directors on the course, but for the actors they will bring with them as well as those they work with in future."
Rob Marchand is an award-winning film director with over 25 years experience who is hailed as Australia's foremost expert in this process. Rob runs his acclaimed workshops in Europe, the U.K. Australia and now in New Zealand.
The workshop is made possible with the financial assistance of the New Zealand Film Commission and the assistance of Script to Screen.
