Archive March 2024

It was truly a memorable night at the 2024 WIFT Awards. See below for the winners in each category.

SAE Award for Outstanding Newcomer
Presented to Marianne Infante for excellence in performance and advocating for minority voices to be recognised on stage and screen.

Hinterland…

I had the absolute pleasure of sitting down with one of Aotearoa's great film and tv producers, Robin Scholes, to talk about the phenomenal finale to her career, The Convert, to be released March 14. In this discussion we touched on the challenges, and inspirations…

Paula Whetu Jones was featured on RNZ's Nine to Noon this past week, as well as taking the stage at the WIFT Awards as a finalist for the Outstanding Achievement in Film Award. 

She is best known for co-writing and directing the feature film about…

Bronwynn Bakker has been dubbed the 'Comedy Queen'! She shares her story in a feature article in Your Weekend. She and her company Kevin & Co are the producers behind some of NZ’s best comedies: Double Parked, Funny Girls, Creamerie, and Jono and Ben.

"Local…

Congratulations to WIFT member Linda Niccol who has been selected for Missouri Stories Scriptwriting Fellowship, an international competition for screenplays and television pilot scripts with storylines set in Missouri!

Her project, The Vodnik, a collaboration with Canadian writer, Vincent Thibault, has been selected, and in…

We have 5 double passes available to see Goodbye Julia, to be released in NZ cinemas on 14th March. 

Across the divides of rich and poor, Muslim and Christian, north and south, light-skinned, and dark, Mona and Julia become friends. A film by Mohamed Kordofani.

The Mountain, a new feature film to be released in cinemas on 28^th March, was produced by our very own Desray Armstrong and Morgan Waru, and edited by Cushla Dillon and Carly Turner! The film is the directorial debut of Rachel House, commenting “I reckon…

In partnership with Script to Screen we are hosting a panel discussion in Wellington on Monday 18^th March 2024: WORKING WITH CANADA: MEET THE EXPERTS

Fraser Ash has worked with renowned creatives on complex film and TV productions, Alain Strati has industry knowledge from his…

Last week, The Spinoff released a new two-part documentary special, Alice Snedden's Bad News Saves the World.

You thought it was over, but Alice Snedden is back with more Bad News, as she grapples with the world ending – and tries to fix it. The…

Vista Foundation 48Hours is NZ's largest guerrilla filmmaking competition and is back!

Over 500 teams of filmmakers enter each year with just 48 hours to write, shoot and cut a film with a given genre and some random elements. Filmmakers compete for awards and the…

Exclusive IMDb Pro Discount for members only!

This is the perfect opportunity to access IMDB PRO – with this offer through WIFT International, receiving a 30% discount to access their amazing tools for finding industry contacts, in-development information, industry lists, and powerful search filters.

Email…

SPADA has developed this amazing resource, the Spada Producers Starter Pack, to support new and emerging producers to bring screen stories to life.

This resource includes valuable information and links for every aspect of producing screen stories:

• Development
• Production
• Post-Production
• Distribution and Exhibition
• Additional Resources
…

Have you got your tickets to this year’s Big Screen Symposium? April 5-6^th at the VICTORY CONVENTION CENTRE, AUCKLAND.

James Napier Robertson will be doing a Directing Masterclass, Jonathon Dutton with be providing a Case Study on Job Sharing, and Alexander Swords will be presenting…

NZCS is hosting a workshop with Los Angeles based, Venezuelan cinematographer and director, Carlos González, who is currently in New Zealand to film Zombies 4: Day and Night.

Some of the topics covered will include how the cinematographer can best assist a director in an…

Reminder that applications close on 11 March 2024 at 5:00pm.

The Pan-Asian Screen Collective (PASC) welcomes aspiring writers, directors, and producers to apply to their fourth iteration of Short Cuts, a development lab for scripted short films under 10 minutes in length! Designed specifically to…

Closing date for Southern Pilots approaching on 18 March at 1 pm.

Script to Screen and Film Otago Southland are looking for new and emerging filmmakers with compelling, bold series story ideas suitable for development and viable for future production. Southern Pilots offers both talent…

WAFF // Wellington - Animation Film Festival is a brand-new festival, coming to Wellington for the first time the 15th and 16th of March. This event is brought to you by C.A.F.E. (Creative Aotearoa French Exchange Incorporated ) who has partnered up with Annecy International…

Check out article from Deadline:

‘According to the authors, only 30 of the 100 top films of 2023 featured a female-identified actor as a lead/co lead at the center of the plot. That percentage (30%) was substantially lower than the 44% tallied in 2022.’

'The…

There is an office available to rent in the freshly renovated Women’s Centre. This space would be perfect for a small NGO looking for a friendly working environment in a central location. The room would be suitable for one or two workers and comes pre-furnished.…

The War is Over! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko a short, animated film in which WIFT member, Sophie Cherry was a producer on, has won an Academy Award at the 96th Oscars® this year! Congratulations to Sophie and everyone in this team.…

DEGANZ has announced the recipients for their Emerging Women Filmmakers Incubator, year-long programme, 5 of whom are WIFT members: Blandine Massiet du Biest, Miryam Jacobi, Jo Luping, Nicole Whippy, Siobhan Marshall, and Maza White! Congratulations to you all. We wish you the very best with…

Support the boosted campaign for this feature documentary about the people and events that pushed through Homosexual Law Reform back in the 1980s! They’ve released their boosted campaign, INTERFERENCE: The Day Kiwi Queers Beat America, directed by Welby Ings. 

Produced by WIFT members Marilyn McFadyen…

We have 5x double passes available to see The Mountain which opens in cinemas March 28th. This film is the directorial debut from Rachel House.

The story is a heartfelt drama about three children on a mission to find healing under the watchful eye of…

Submissions are open for the The Writers Lab, co-produced by New York Women in Film & Television. The program is supported by Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman, and the only program in the world devoted exclusively to script and career development for women and nonbinary…

Congratulations to Amelia Addis and Ebed Pohl as the 2024 Wellington Write Room Residents with their project In Alex with Kate Goodwin who will be joining the mentor team as this year’s Producer Intern.

Vicky Pope said “We are always so impressed by the calibre…

Check out this this one-off documentary, which presents intimate portraits of three Pacific youth who are pulled into a Korean pop culture phenomenon, directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, and produced by Sophie Dowson and Aleisha Thorne.

K-pop has become a cultural phenomenon not only about music…

Last week, Robyn Malcolm from the series, After the Party, won Best Actress at the prestigious Séries Mania Film Festival in Lille, France!

The project was produced by Helen Bowden, Liz DiFiore, and Peter Salmon and line produced by Pamela Harvey-White.

Check out the trailer,…

We Were Dangerous directed by Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu, written by Maddie Dai, and produced by Morgan Waru, and Polly Fryer has been awarded the Special Jury Award for Filmmaking in the Narrative Feature Competition. 

Line Producer: Amanda Jenkins
Costume Designer: Daisy Chiara Marcuzzi
Make Up Designer:…

We are excited to congratulate the writer-creators and their collaborators for their selection into the inaugural season of Rupture!

Asuka Sylvie with Emma Mortimer, Briar Grace-Smith with Victor Rodger, Coco Solid with Litia Tuiburelevu, Manuha’apai Vaeatangitau & Fuimaono-Tuimafuiva Falesataua Joshua Iosefo ‘Mush’, Dianne Taylor with…

Congratulations to all the members and their teams who’ve been selected for Story Camp Aotearoa 2024! Script to Screen received 66 applications, and eight teams were chosen!

Celestina Sumby & Francesca Carney ‘Blessed are the Sinners’

Rachel Jean ‘Childish’

Erica Cassidy (Kent) ‘I am Dali’

Inspired by the life of the writer and director, Paula Whetu Jones, Spinal Destination, produced by Kathleen Anderson, Suze Hannagan, Olivia Shanks, and Philip Smith, will be released on Sky Open and Sky Originals on 27 March, and Neon on 28 March. Check out this…

Karanga, directed by Mary-Lyn Chambers, produced by Merenia Gray and Emma Mortimer, was the opening short film at the Melbourne Women in Film Festival last week before the feature Winhanganha. A big congratulations to the team of this project! 

Karanga is a dance and spoken…

Below are some key findings from a comprehensive report from Reframe, the gender equity coalition founded by WIF and Sundance Institute.

• 19 films in the Top 100 most popular films of 2023. The were directed by women, and 1 by a non-binary director, an increase…

The short film, Sister Josephine, from writer/director Stef Harris, and produced by WIFT member Amanda Jenkins needs your support to complete the film with music composition, sound design, and film finishing costs, for an international festival cinema release.

Sister Josephine is a true childhood story…

30 years in business is no small feat! I had the pleasure of chatting with Tash Christie, Head of Factual, and Harriet Crampton, Head of Drama, two of the six women who uphold the leadership at Greenstone TV. In this interview we discuss what has…

Here is a comprehensive resource from Te Māngai Pāho that will keep you on track for the funding for the 2024/25 year. Keep this one on file!

See here

The Screenrights Cultural Fund awards up to $50,000 per initiative with a total funding pool of $300,000 available this year, increased from $250K in previous years. This fund is not a development or production fund, but rather supports projects that foster the creation and appreciation…