Archive Dec 2022

Executive Producer
Discovery NZ

Video Content Producer
TVNZ

Production Coordinator
NEP NZ

Crew & Travel Coordinator
NEP NZ

Wedding Video Editor
Eureka Films

Junior Integrated Producer
Saatchi & Saatchi

Senior Advisor and Classification Unit Manager
Te Mana Whakaatu - The Classification Office

Office Manager/Personal Assistant
Cause & FX

Cinema Manager
The Capitol, Auckland

A big congratulations to all our members who won at the NZ TV Awards. We're especially proud to see longtime WIFT member Janine Morrell-Gunn's amazing work with Whitebait Media formally recognised, earning her the title of this year's Television Legend.

We'd also like to highlight…

A huge round of applause for the team behind New Zealand series Rūrangi, named the Best Short Form Series at the International Emmy Awards in New York. 

The series was created by Oliver Page and Cole Meyers, who worked alongside director Max Currie and producers…

Congratulations to all those who received funding for Matariki-related programmes for 2023 from Te Māngai Pāho and NZ On Air. We've listed you in bold below, with details of your project and its funding. We're looking forward to seeing your work.

Motherhood Anthology – NZ…

Let's hear it for Morag Brownlie, whose short film Perfect Storm was nominated in three categories in this year's CLIMAX film awards, based in Spain. The categories are Best Cinematography, Best Experimental Film, and Best Dance and Poetic.

The film, which screened in this year's…

How fantastic to see WIFT members' work among the main winners at the Hawai'i International Film Festival Awards (HIFF) this month! 

Whina, directed by James Napier Robertson and Paula Whetu Jones, who also co-wrote the script, received the Pasifika Award for Best Feature Film. Whina…

If you're a filmmaker who wants to kickstart your business journey, here's your chance to get direct advice from a real local success story.

Come and hear documentary filmmaker and successful creative businesswoman Julia Parnell on Saturday, December 3 at 10:30am, the last clinic for…

Backed by a group of anonymous female film executives, The Alice Initiative regularly releases a list of up-and-coming female directing talent, ready for their first studio feature. Called The Alice List, this year it includes long-time WIFT member, director Roseanne Liang. It's actually the second…

High fives to directors  Michelle Ang and Julie Zhu who both won gongs at the NZ Webfest Awards this month. Michelle took away an award for Best Director – NZ Factual for her work on Hair Now which also won the award for Best Show…

A shout out to Belinda Bradley one of the producers of the Show Me Shorts 2022 People's Choice Award-winner Atali'i O Le Crezent (Sons of the Crezent). 

The short film is a mesmerising dance film, a story of cultural connection that won two other awards…

Here's a shout-out to director Nina Nawalowalo, producer Katherine Wyeth, and all involved in bringing this powerful feature documentary to the screen. It has been making waves all over the country - and the world.

A Boy Called Piano - The Story of Fa'amoana John…

Get behind your fellow WIFT members' quest to make their short comedy-drama inspired by real life events.

There are just five days left in the Boosted campaign run by Elinor Teele, Emma Martini and Phillida Perry for their short film Pulling Up Stumps, starring veteran…

This Festival has grown into the premiere women's film festival in the US, with an Oscar-style awards gala, important prizes, celebrity guests and competitive submission fees!

The City of Angels Women's Film Festival aims to empower and connect women and those identifying as female in…

If you haven't already, it is well-worth checking out the valuable offerings of this event. FOCUS is aimed at all the creative screen industries – film, TV, advertising, animation and interactive – and its virtual sessions, FOCUS DIGITAL on December 7-8 (UK time), provide networking,…

The findings from NZ On Air’s Where Are The Audiences research have laid down a challenge for local content makers.

The industry benchmark research this year homed in on 15-24 year olds and the combined findings reveal a picture of young people largely not spending…

The old saying applies here - you've got to be in it to win it! The good people at the NZCS have extended the Awards entries deadline by a week to 7 December 2022 to give more people a chance to enter. 
We know you're…

Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down tells the extraordinary story of former Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords; her relentless fight to recover following an assassination attempt in 2011, and her new life as one of the most effective activists in the battle against gun violence. Featuring extensive…

Share the Knowledge are running a series of six Practical Producing Courses - make sure you secure your spot!
It's a series of 90 min Zoom workshops that will give you a toolbox of producing tips and tricks to help you get your film made.
Topics…

Get those applications in for South Shorts folks - the deadline is fast approaching! This annual mentorship programme that supports new and emerging screenwriters from the South Auckland community to develop their short film scripts. Participants are led through focused script development over a six-month…

Applications are now open for the Writers Campus, a professional week-long workshop open to screenwriters worldwide run by Series Mania. Applicants must have had at least one professional experience on a broadcast TV/digital series, short or feature film broadcast/festival, and currently developing a project (TV…

Film industry datahound Stephen Follows secured a professional script development deal to create a feature film script entirely written by artificial intelligence (AI). To do this, he teamed up with  particle physicist and built a writers’ room filled with different AI writers, all there to…

If you couldn't make the Big Screen Symposium earlier this year, technology has your back. The team behind the BSS have released podcasts of all the sessions and highlighted those voted the 'favourites' by BSS survey respondents. 

The Opening Keynotes were the top favourite, and…

Here's a Christmas present for you all - a new and independent distribution option for your films! 

Backed by a collective of like-minded industry professionals, including distribution specialist and owner of MATTER, Courtney Mayhew, who will be Ahi's Managing Director, Academy Award-nominated producer Chelsea Winstanley,…

We're thrilled to hear that the Desray Armstrong-produced film Bad Behaviour will have its world premiere in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition section of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Described as a dark comedy, Bad Behaviour is the directorial debut for Alice Englert, who also…

Woop woop! We were pleased to hear that the Firefly Films - Bloom Pictures documentary Mister Organ produced by Emma Slade and Alex Reed has become the highest grossing documentary in Aotearoa New Zealand this year!

You can still catch it at certain cinemas -…

It's always satisfying to report on members receiving funding for projects! We congratulate all of you who received NZFC funding in the December round, and we're looking forward to seeing your work on the big screen!
Here are the details:

Feature Film Production Investment

At the…

Streaming television seems to be offering the most hope for sustained gender parity on screen and for eventual parity behind the scenes, but film needs a giant push, says Dr Martha Lauzen, founder and executive director of San Diego State University’s Center for the Study…

FX Head of Department 
Wētā FX

Editor - The Project
Discovery NZ

Executive Producer - Digital Video
Discovery NZ

Camera Operator - Newshub
Discovery NZ

Marketing Manager
Ahi Films 

Sales Manager
Ahi Films

Reporter - The Hui
Great Southern Television

Video Editor
North Kiteboarding Australasia

Logistics Manager - CubaDupa Street Festival
Creative Capital Arts Trust

Funding…

A recent pānui from Whakaata Māori said the company has reviewed its process around contracts, aiming to reduce present contractual wait periods. It specifically looked at the raising of the Broadcast Commitments (BC) and License to Broadcast Agreements (LBA) for commissioned projects.

Last month, the…

WIFT NZ members are among the newest bunch of Seedlings to receive grants for their draft feature film scripts.

Anna Duckworth and Michele Powles' Seed grant is for Put a Baby in Me
Clucky as f*@k and crushed when she miscarries, a young woman's fight to…

We were delighted to see so many of you received funding for Factual programmes in the latest round from NZ On Air. We've listed you below with details of your projects. 

Sweet Productions receives up to $631,838 for Wheel Blacks: Bodies On The Line, for…

A big round of applause for Chelsea Winstanley (Ngāti Ranginui and Ngāi Te Rangi) who has been appointed co-chair of the Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi. The co-chair structure has been designed to better reflect the dual philanthropic and creative communities of the Foundation. Kent…

Local comedy is getting a boost in 2023, with six new and returning series receiving up to $5.8m funding in NZ On Air’s latest Scripted funding round. We were thrilled to see WIFT members involved in the projects awarded funding and we've listed you below…

Elvis may have left the building (so to speak) but The King is still an inspiration for many, including the 10-year-old main character in Lindsay Christopherson's short film, A Girl Called Elvis.

Lindsay's short has been selected for the Montreal Independent Film Festival, and nominated…

Our membership is the life blood of our organisation, and we couldn't do what we do without you. A warm WIFT NZ welcome to these lovely people who have joined us in the last three months: 

Ash Kelliher, Vhari Lennox, Julia Rutherford, Gloria Strawhan, Yuki…

A big congratulations to all members who received funding from the NZ On Air Public Interest Journalism fund. We've listed you below with details of your projects.

Sunpix (Ngaire Fuata) receives up to $2,019,190 for Tagata Pasifika 2023.
A 2023 season of the flagship Pasifika…

Be sure to check out the latest season of TVNZ+'s hit Kiwi comedy-drama 'Kura, executive produced by Hannah Marshall.

Set in the South Auckland suburb of Papakura, this season introduces a raft of new and exciting characters  and promises to deliver more laughs and warm…

After a successful release at this year's NZIFF and an international premiere at the Inside Out Toronto 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival, the Lula Cucchiara-directed documentary Fiona Clark: Unafraid, is now available to rent across digital platforms. 

The feature documentary recounts how New Zealand photographer Fiona Clark…

RNZ's latest pānui listed its 2022 programme highlights from TAHI, RNZ Music, RNZ.co.nz among other platforms. We noted the many WIFT NZ members included in that list and decided to highlight you too!

ASIA: Art Stories In Aotearoa (RNZ) - DIVA Productions (Arani Cuthbert)
18 Asian-New…

QWOCMAP invites LBTQIA+ BIPOC to submit your films to the 19th annual international Queer Women of Colour Film Festival, June 9-11, 2023.

It's completely FREE to submit your film! To be clear, that's $0.

Click here for submission guidelines and to submit

Submission Guidelines

1) Films must…

Calling all independent, experienced and adventurous artists for the 2023 residency at Tāwharanui Regional Park. The Artist in Residence creates new work influenced in some way by the park, and shares their work with the public.

This residency offers:

- a place and space to inspire…

The number of women working in animation in the US has increased, as has the number of women in top roles in the sector.

A Variety article quotes Marge Dean, CEO of Women In Animation, saying that in 2013 the number of women in the…