Archive Jan 2021

Here's a chance to help activate gender equality internationally! In 2019, Japanese women made headlines so documentary maker Gwen Isaacs went to Japan to find out why. Gwen observed the ignition of female-empowerment (Feminizumu) within the Japanese women she encountered, began filming their st…

The New Zealand Film Commission, New Zealand on Air and Te Māngai Pāho are seeking Expressions of Interest from candidates who wish to be considered for appointment as the Independent Chair of the Premium Production Fund Funding Panel.

The Premium Productions for International Audiences Fun…

Calling all filmmakers! Going West's inaugural mini documentary season needs you! If you're keen to produce a short video portrait of a storyteller, or a narrative about your creative community, contact the team at the Going West Books & Writers Festival. They have a small…

Applications are open for this fund, which makes $50 million available to support the production of high-quality feature films or series dramas that tell strong Aotearoa New Zealand stories with international appeal. The NZFC will be responsible for administering the Fund.

Deadline to apply: 1p…

If.com.au reports that almost three quarters of parents and carers who responded to a 2018 Raising Films Australia survey said their caring responsibilities have had a negative impact on their career in the screen industry. Of those, 86% were women.

As a result, many wer…

We're thrilled to see this long-awaited documentary is opening in cinemas tomorrow - 21 January! It documents the rise, fall and spiritual rebirth of the most iconic and influential music label in Pacific history, Dawn Raid Entertainment. Directed by Oscar Kightley, it's produced b…

Calling actors, writers and directors! Further develop your skills with these intensive classes run by expert acting coach Vicky Yiannoutsos. Over five weeks, actors work twice a week on scripted scenes with partners. All work is filmed and reviewed and all participants work as actors.

The rich and diverse cultures of the Pacific are now available to explore online via Digital Pasifik, a massive  search tool. Discover thousands of items held in museums, libraries, galleries, and collections around the world including Ngā Taonga, Auckland Museum, the National Library and Te Papa. This site (a…

Radio New Zealand has released a Request For Proposal (RFP) for story-driven, humorous or conversational podcasts with mass audience appeal.

Projects should be of a modest budget of up to approximately $50,000, and preference will be given to currently underserved and growth audiences, in particula…

It's fabulous to hear that this obviously popular Script To Screen feature film workshop in Auckland has sold out! You can join the waitlist though, click the link below for more information.

When: Saturday 20 - Sunday 21 February 2021, from 9am - 5pm each da…

Congratulations to Tara Riddell, co-producer of Frankie Jean and the Morning Star which has been selected for the 2021 Flickerfest Short Film Festival. Funded by Catalyst He Kauahi, the short is written and directed by Hannah Marshall and produced by Riddell and Gareth Williams. I…

Congratulations to producer Desray Armstrong who received Catalyst He Kauahi Funding from the NZFC for Hello Earthling. The film follows the journey of an isolated child in a small mountainside town who knows themself to be neither boy nor girl, and who experiences life-changing events…

Production Manager
Rogue Productions is looking for a Production Manager for a year long contract. Flexible hours and work conditions, part-time or full-time. Feb start, Auckland based.

Please send your CV to charlotte@rogueproductions.co.nz

Audio Post Operator
Whitebait Media

Producer
TVNZ Blacksand

Senior Executive Premi…

Boutique film-tech production company The Granary has released a fantastic demo of what its talented team can do shooting on a virtual LED stage.

Here's a fabulous chance to meet local filmmakers, catch a horror flick and support an award-winning local film! Join producers Emma Beale, Ed Sampson and Nicola Peeperkorn, with director Alex Galvin and actor Greer Phillips, for a special Q&A screening to celebrate the cinemati…

A big congratulations to WIFT member producers Desray Armstrong and Catherine Fitzgerald and the team of this thriller which will have its World Premiere in the Midnight section of the 2021 Sundance Film Festival!

Coming Home In The Dark is director James Ashcroft's fir…

We're pleased to see that WIFT members Alice Shearman, Marg Slater and Amber Wakefield are returning to the board of Film Auckland. Alice steps into the role of Deputy Chair, Marg returns as Secretary and Amber as Executive Officer.

Mandi Lynn is about to embark on a 25-stop roadtrip around New Zealand teaching photography and wellbeing to youth (aged 10-22). Mandi, a past winner of New Zealand's Creative Photographer of the Year and a Canon Eyecon mentor, is offering scholarships to study with her.

UK-based TVF International has picked up Irene Chapple and Annie Goldson's new documentary about the deadly eruption of Whakaari / White Island on December 9, 2019. The Eruption: Stories of Survival offers very personal insights into the tragedy, which killed 22 people and injured 25.

The Eruptio…

Spread the word! This rollicking crime caper produced by Robin Murphy and starring James Rolleston and Rebecca Gibney is out online! The second Covid lockdown in August meant this film couldn't reach a wide audience at the movies, but you can help make i…

Here's an excellent opportunity to learn or further develop your knowledge of a very important part of the screen industry: Location management.

Share the Knowledge: Auckland Location Managers' Course is supported by Screen Auckland, and is an exclusive specialised training course designed for committed, hardworkin…

It's great to see that South Pacific Pictures' long-running and hugely popular Kiwi TV soap, has a new home on SBS Vice in Australia.

The release of the final 40 episodes of 2020 and the premiere of season 29 on 11 January means that Australian fans of th…

Strap yourselves in folks! Our movie ticket giveaway this issue is five double passes to Shadow In The Cloud, to be released in New Zealand cinemas on 4 February.

Directed by our own Roseanne Liang and with effects by Weta Digital, Shadow In T…

Just a reminder that the deadline for entering the Māori Screen Excellence Award is fast approaching! The Award will offer a maximum of a $50,000 grant to one recipient. Nominate yourself or someone else through the NZFC application portal; anyone can submit a nomination but…

The NZ Mountain Film Festival is a competitive event bringing the best adventure films from around the world to the alpine village of Wanaka, Aotearoa New Zealand. The subject matter criteria is extremely broad; as long as there is a link with adventurous sport…

The team at MF2021 have been doing the mahi and now have a date for this popular indigenous festival: Put March 24 - 28 in your calendar now!

For five days in March, Ōtaki is home to the largest Indigenous Film Festival in the souther…

Here's a great chance to show off your work across the Tasman! Our sister chapter (WIFT Australia) is running the WIFT V-FEST, a film and new-media (VR, 360, AR) festival aimed at celebrating, supporting, and elevating the work of women and gender diverse filmmakers and…

It's fair to say most of us would prefer to forget last year, but believe it or not, there were some positives! 2020 proved to be a milestone year for female filmmakers. The Centre for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San…

We were pleased to see WIFT NZ members in each of these funded films! All three teams have been funded for a total of $100,000 ($90,000 towards their short film and $10,000 towards development of the feature film concept).

Angela Cudd produces on Flagfall: an…

It's fabulous to see another Kiwi film invited to this year's Berlinale Film Festival. The Sharlene George-produced short Datsun, written and directed by Mark Albiston, will join Millie Lies Low in the Generation strand of this year's Berlinale.

In Datsun, 14-year-old Matt takes his dad’s…

Congratulations to all those who received funding! Seven projects were successful in this round, one feature documentary and six drama series projects. The WIFT NZ member projects are:

FluroBlack (Leela Menon) receives funding for Bones of Strangers. 

Great Southern Television receives funding for Casketeers (dramatised)…

Are you a Pasifika woman with a story to tell? This 15-week programme is designed for female, female-identifying or non-binary people of all ages and experience who identify as Pasifika and want to write long-form stories for the screen. Whether you have a short story,…

For 19 years, thousands of women protested nuclear weapons being kept at the Royal Airforce Greenham Common in England. Now, 40 years on, two Wifters are taking the story to the big screen. Mothers of the Revolution will hit cinemas in January, thanks to producers…

Aucklanders, here's something exciting for you this Saturday evening! The Auckland premiere of Fiona Clark: Unafraid is screening at Avondale's Hollywood Cinema followed by a Q&A with director Lula Cucchiara and artist Fiona Clark. The screening is part of the In The Shade film festival.

The Screen CanterburyNZ Production Grant provides just under $1.5 million in funding over the next three years to domestic and international productions. SCNZ says it received an overwhelming number of applications and has so far been able to offer funding to seven of those projects.…

In The Shade was created for two reasons: to fill the gap left by the cancellation of the NZ International Film Festival and to help two cool independent venues greatly affected by the lockdown. Every dollar spent on tickets, beverages, candy etc will go a…

Get your entries in! These are the leading awards for the global format business, recognising creativity and excellence across 11 categories.

The awards are open to any show that first went to air during 2021 and is being marketed to the international community as a…

Te Māngai Pāho and NZ On Air are joining forces once again with a co-fund round for receptive and/or fluent Māori language content (30-100% te reo Māori) made to appeal to a broad audience, early in 2022.

NZOA and TMP are seeking pitches for both…

NZ On Air reminds us that April is the last funding round of the current financial year and with the majority of its pūtea already committed, this round is limited to the following specific initiatives:

• Factual – only applications to the NZ On Air /…

Get in quick! A limited amount of Earlybird tickets to the Big Screen Symposium 2022 are still on sale until 30 January or until sold out. Use your WIFT member discount! A BSS 2022 ticket gets you two days of sessions with local and international…

Film Otago Southland is offering two regional scholarships this year to enable regional industry practitioners to attend the event.
 
Each scholarship will include:

• 1 x ticket to the two-day conference in Auckland (thanks to Big Screen Symposium for offering a discounted rate on the ticket)
…

Are you "going" to the Sundance Film Festival this year? Because single-film tickets are on sale, Women In Film (WIF), ReFrame, and IMDbPro have put together a watchlist highlighting more than 80 films at the Sundance Film Festival from women and non-binary directors, with special…

We could all do with a good laugh! Check out this year’s MWFF programme, Laugh Louder, which focuses on all things funny, with specially curated screenings, retrospectives, conversations and workshops featuring Australian, Aotearoa New Zealand and Pasifika women and gender diverse filmmakers.

There's a dynamic…

Fancy a little light reading this summer? We've picked out a few highlights from Economic Trends in the New Zealand Screen Sector: Firms and Employment below, or you can delve into it online at this link.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment report shows:

Senior producer - Newshub
Discovery NZ

Visual producer Q+A
TVNZ

Producer
Sports Entertainment Network

Senior interactive producer
Method Studios

Caption producer
Able

Video producer
The University of Auckland

Supervising producer 
Discovery NZ 

Integrated producer
Dentsu