Woop woop! Let's hear it for Matasila Freshwater, one of the four lucky writers selected for the 2023 Tāhuna Writers Residency in Queenstown.
Matasila (Nusa Hope, Roviana Lagoon (Western Province) /Matakota, Dugaha and Baguri / Vuregare / Pākeha) was one of about 80 applicants. The Wellington director cut her filmmaking teeth on the 48 Hour filmmaking competitions. winning Best Animation in 2017 for The Real Rare Arctic Firefly. Her award-winning short Shmeat – the tale of a mad scientist who devises a new food source – was chosen for the New Zealand’s Best section of the 2016 NZIFF. Matasila was one of eight directors on Vai, a Pacific Island follow-up to the feature Waru, and that same year, she won New Filmmaker of the Year at the 2019 SPADA Screen Industry Awards.
The one-month Tāhuna residency will involve workshops on writing for international television markets, the provision of personal mentors, accommodation and coverage of living costs.
Over the course of the retreat, the writers will each develop a concept for a scripted drama series to be based and produced in, the Queenstown Lakes. At the conclusion of the month, writers will pitch their concepts to a selection committee. Great Southern Television will have the first right to option chosen concepts and commission a pilot script.