Archive April 2024

Loading Docs is bursting with announcements; firstly, four of the six new documentaries are being made by WIFT members (featured in the following articles)! Help them reach the all-or-nothing goal of $5,000. By reaching this minimum target, each team will unlock further funding and support…

Congratulations to Hope in the Stars by Alexis Smith & Harry Wynn for their selection into the 10th season of Loadings Docs. Contribute to their campaign, featured in the Boosted link below - where they need all the funding in order advance into production! 

One…

Congratulations! Support this film through the Loading Docs initaitve: Here the Wild Things Are by Madison Smith and Kelly Gilbride. 

A global race to discover the weird and wonderful wild hidden in our city streets.

For one weekend each year, Aotearoa enters a high-stakes global…

Congratulations to the team of Hifi Ulu for their selection into Loading Doc's 10th season! The team has already reached their funding request! 

Hifi Ulu – Hayley Felise (Nee Becht) and Chantelle Burgoyne.
When your culture rests on your shoulders.

Nine-year-old Luka is a boy of…

Congratulations to Liv McClymont and Jessica Todd on their selection of The Man Outside –
Abandoned by the law, a woman’s flatmates struggle to protect her from a relentless stalker, for loading Docs Season 10. This team has already reached their goal! 

After a number of…

That’s right, the early bird registration for the Vista Foundations 48 Hour Film Challenge closes in 7 days on 17 April.  This is NZ's largest guerrilla filmmaking competition, and there is nothing quite like it.

And! WIFT is offerring up some mouth-watering prizes for this…

Dearest WIFTees,

We are amping up our social media, and we want to feature you and your craft, with a campaign:
'This is what a ... looks like’.  So, whether you are an director, editor, writer, boom operator, production assistant, 1st AD,  crafty, whatever it is…

Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival, NZIFF, has announced a wonderful development for local cinemas and cinemagoers for the 2024 film festival! Six regions around Aotearoa will now deliver the festival.

Executive Director Sally Woodfield said “we appreciate the passion that Aotearoa cinemagoers have…

We have been blessed with 5 x double passes for this upcoming film ORIGIN, coming to New Zealand cinemas April 18. See below for details to enter the draw!

Watch the Trailer and finish this sentence (hint, you must watch the whole trailer):

“I don’t…

Congratulations to Anna Rose Duckworth on her appointment as the new Director of Day One Hāpai te Haeata (formerly Someday Stories). This is a very exciting move for Day One. Check out their website here to see them in their full glory!

"I'm stoked that…

Māoriland Film Festival 2024 was an absolute hit, and WIFT members' film won Best Short Film (Drama)! 

Congratulations to the team of Lea Tupu’anga/Mother Tongue, directed by Vea Mafile’o and written by Luciane Buchanan, production designed by Emily Mafile'o, 1st AD was WIFT member Ana…

Congratulations to Catherine Bisley, for her short film Cetology, (you can read about her production process back in 2023) that will be screening in Brazil later this month at Fantaspoa, the largest genre film festival in Latin America!

Also, if you find yourself at a…

Round Tahi from NZ on Air opened on 4th April 2024. Check out the guidelines. We wish you all the best with your applications. 

A minimum of $12M has been allocated for Non-Fiction projects in this round. The focus will be on larger scale Non-Fiction…

Watch this, THE END CREDITS: The part where we credit the big picture filmmakers. But here’s the bigger picture that you don’t see…

A film put together by WIF (Women in Film, LA), where they expose the stats of how men and women measure up…

NZ Web Fest takes place in November 2024, and features webseries, podcasts, and short films, and has a stunning reputation!

'Incredibly run festival that not only made the program accessible to watch for those who couldn't attend in person, but also allowed for international creators…

Content London is the world’s leading development marketplace and conference. It takes place over three days between December 3 – 5, with registration and opening party and screening on December 2. It attracts more than 3000 leading content executives from all over the world, with…

Aesthetica Short Film Festival is a BAFTA and BIFA Qualifying Festival and is one of the UK’s largest and most revered events in the screen industries.

They love independent films. It is at the heart of everything they do. Their programming is innovative and expansive…

Last week, on a Thursday morning, I met up with Loren Taylor. It was 11 am. I told her I had just finished watching her latest award winning film ‘The Moon is Upside Down’. She wasn’t expecting filmgoers to see this film before 11 am,…

More wins for our WIFT women! We are over the moon. Again, WIFT women are bringing amazing stories to life through the NZ on Air unscripted funding round!

Grace, 1 x 85’, Gaylene Preston Productions for viewing on RNZ and Sky Arts, up to $551,035

We are thrilled to see a stellar list of WIFT members as the recipients of this funding round!

NZ on Air announced their funding commitments for scripted drama, comedy and animation projects. $13.4 million will be invested in new scripted content!

The Ridge, 6 x…

WIFTees are on a roll. Another win! Congratulations to the members who’ve received offers from the NZFC!

Mārama (Feature Drama) - Up to $2,420,000 
1859. When a young, Māori woman is summoned under mysterious circumstances from New Zealand to North Yorkshire, she uncovers the horrifying…

NZ On Air and Te Māngai Pāho have announced the successful applicants for the Te Māngai Pāho / NZ On Air Co-Fund, which opened in December 2023, with a priority for high quality Scripted te reo Māori content – and guess what? They are all…

NZ On Air is taking a bold new approach to engaging young New Zealanders with local content, with a $5m investment in new content that aims to both resonate with and reach youth while providing opportunities for new young creatives. Many of the recipients in…

Vicky Yiannoutsos has two Screen Acting workshops on offer:

Auckland May 11&12 

Wellington May 25& 26

In this workshop:

Working in pairs with scripts, actors learn the Art of Relating, which maximises creative choices and trains actor to bring their instincts to the screen.

Benefits…

Juliet Furness is inviting our directors to sit in on an acting class. This is a unique and wonderful opportunity for directors who may be interested in adding these tools to their directing tool kit. And, she is offering this for free! The outcome is…

Homecoming is a short film being made in Ōtautahi Christchurch from emerging transgender writer/director Grae Meek, producer Anna Canton, line producer, Amanda Jenkins, and editor, Emma Smart, all proud WIFT members!

This is a psychological thriller about the anxieties of coming out to those you…

A feature length documentary, Maurice and I, co-directed, and co-produced by Jane Mahoney, will have its World Premiere screening on Wednesday 1^st May at the James Hay Theatre, Christchurch, in conjunction with the Resene Architecture and Design Festival.  

Tickets can be purchased through the Resene…

You are invited to a performance of ‘Shhh!- Motherhood, Mayhem and Mental Health’ on Friday April 26 and Saturday April 27 at 730pm.

One woman's plunge into motherhood, the soothing power of cabbage and a tango with her inner critic.  Based on the true stories…

Here is a beautiful short film made by WIFT member Pia Sidhwa and Vinny Lohan.

Ladakh | Is Peaceful Coexistence Possible?

‘We are doing four immeasurable things: immeasurable love, immeasurable joy, immeasurable compassion, immeasurable equality.’ – quote from Tibetan Monk, Lama Paldan

Although, this film…

We have three double passes available for The Moon Is Upside Down, Loren Taylor’s directorial debut. A must-see, to be released on 2 May!

Three women - a duped mail-order bride, a numbed anaesthetist determined to have a romantic weekend, and an empty-nester on an…

The Spinoff is giving, Friends Like Her, a Great Southern Television production, a thumbs up!

“A compelling and intriguing psychological drama that’s easy to watch, but doesn’t show its hand too soon. Sure, the first few moments are a bit – ahem – shaky, but…

Te Māngai Pāho have released a Request For Proposals for the 2024/25 Tamariki Rangatahi funding round.

The purpose of this targeted audience funding is to support the creation of quality, reo Māori content that will contribute to the normalisation and wellbeing of te reo Māori…

A reminder! Have you submitted to TIFF yet? Toronto International Film Festival is a charitable cultural organization whose mission is to transform the way people see the world through film.

Submissions close on May 10. Submit here, via Film Freeway.

For any questions contact: submissions@tiff.net

Last chance for Ngā Aho Shorts!

In association with the NZ Film Commission, Te Māngai Pāho, NZ On Air, TMP and NZoA, is calling all production crews with a short film idea. Apply now for the 2024-2025 season of Ngā Aho Shorts funding and access…

Check out this unique opportunity through Māoriland, delivered in partnership with Abtec!

Machinima, M.A.T.C.H (a combination of the words machine and cinema) is a paid 12-week workplace training, the first of its kind in Aotearoa. This Creative Intensifier is to produce films using virtual environments.…

Luke Ross Post are offering WIFT members a 20% discount to their two workshops in June:

June 10-12: The Beginner Course for DaVinci Resolve 18: An official Blackmagic Design online course held over three days that covers the basics of editing, visual effects, motion graphics,…

There are big changes happening in our industry. When we are advised, and engaged we can make better decisions for our future.

In a media release on 10 April 2024, SPADA called for the government to make swift action to alleviate the threats placed on…

Cannes Film Festival announces a new competition dedicated to immersive works:

“The competition aims to spotlight the next generation of international artists who are redefining storytelling and inventing new narrative-driven experiences that move beyond the traditional two-dimensional cinema screen.”

“With the support of the CNC…

From Day One Hāpai te Haeata Press Release - Amid shrinking funding budgets, slashed opportunities and media outlet closures - there is one bright spark holding on, growing stronger and providing vital talent development opportunities for young people with a passion for screen storytelling.

Day…

On May 2, there will be an online seminar discussing sustainability in our industry. This will be a valuable conversation of integrating your film and tv productions with practices and tools that support our global ecosystem. 

Sustainability officers from three Auckland-based film and television productions…

WFT Ireland has a series of podcasts: Cannes Conversation Series Podcast and in this featured episode, they discuss Focus on Sustainability

 The future of the screen industry depends on consciously changing how we approach filming as well as telling stories that look at the world…

Berlinale 2024 featured a global forum for women organizations, in collaboration with the Embassy of Canada to Germany.  Here is video presentation with a powerful welcome address from Patricia Elliot of the Embassy of Canada, a presentation from keynote speaker Joey Soloway discussing ‘The Other…

880 Productions NZ LP is the Wellington based company responsible for making the Avatar Sequels in Wellington. Their focus has been on the Live Action portion of the films but over time it has become clear that James Cameron wants to spend more and more…

 KIA TAU TE RONGOMAU ~ LET THERE BE PEACE 

The theme for #MFF2024 is a call for Peace. Māoriland join a global solidarity movement calling for an immediate ceasefire in Palestine and an end to the 16-year siege on Gaza. They are committed to…

Day One Hāpai te Haeata (formerly Someday Stories) are having a party and and a fundraiser!

• Live music, free food, spot prizes & merch!
• Astounding alumni will share their creative journey.
• The Day One team will fill you in on the changes and exciting new…

NZCS has some exciting opportunities for those of you who are in camera!

Closing date for applications: 5.00pm, Thurs 4th April 2024.

Camera Trainee Opportunity on "Spartacus: House of Ashur"

The Attachment provides the opportunity for an intern from an under-represented community to work under…

Minecraft VR Scouting and Simulcam Pipeline Seminar

Keynote speakers will be Grant Major (Production Designer), Dan Lemmon (VFX Supervisor) and Heide Nichols (VAD Supervisor).

The workshop will cover the specific ways the Minecraft VAD team utilized Epic Games Unreal Engine across linear phases of the…

The annual competition is NZ's largest guerrilla filmmaking event. Teams from all corners of New Zealand are tasked with writing, shooting, and editing a short film within a 48-hour window on 17th to 19th May, 2024. 

Early bird registration closes on 17^th April. 

Seize the…

The Big Screen Symposium is only one week away and jam-packed with amazing speakers, such as: Sasha Rainbow, Lucy Lawless, Robyn Malcolm, Pax Assadi, Philippa Rennie, and many many more, see the full list here.

Buy your tickets here.