Tony Ayres is an award-winning Australian showrunner, writer and director, and is one of the founding members of internationally renowned Australian production company Matchbox Pictures, now owned by NBC Universal Studios. In 2018 Tony established his own production company Tony Ayres Productions (TAP), developing and producing feature films and television for global audiences and international marketplaces.
Tony was the showrunner on International Emmy and BAFTA nominated series, The Slap and an EP on its US remake. He co-created and was Executive Producer on multi-award winning series Glitch (3 seasons). He was also an executive producer on International Emmy nominated Wanted (3 seasons), and multi-award winning series The Devil’s Playground, Old School, Underground: The Julian Assange Story, and The Straits. He executive produced comedy series The Family Law (3 seasons), Bogan Pride and Maximum Choppage. He produced miniseries Barracuda and the multi- award winning Seven Types of Ambiguity. He directed the multi-award winning TV movie, Saved.
In children’s TV, Tony created and executive produced the International Emmy and BAFTA award winning Nowhere Boys and the telemovie based on the series, Nowhere Boys: The Book of Shadows. The series is internationally acclaimed, winning the AACTA Award for Best Children’s Television Series, two Logies, three Kidscreen Awards, a Rockie, and a Prix Jeunesse Award.
In feature films, Tony directed Cut Snake (2015), The Home Song Stories (2007) winner of 24 international and Australian awards, and Walking on Water (2002), which premiered at the Berlinale. He also EP’d feature films Ali’s Wedding and Lou.
Currently Tony is the showrunner for upcoming US Netflix series Clickbait, and co-created and EP’d the Matchbox/ABC refugee detention centre drama Stateless alongside Cate Blanchett and Elise McCredie. Stateless stars Yvonne Strahovski, Jai Courtney, Dominic West and Cate Blanchett.
Head to our Script to Screen podcast channel where you will find newly released Script to Screen Podcasts. Find out what local distributors consider before they take on a project for distribution and learn about the hard task of navigating the balance between staying true to your story while satisfying the audience’s expectations for your character. Especially if those characters are the first of their kind on screen.
Plus, delve into 14 newly released 2018 Big Screen Symposium Sessions. Revisit Wanuri Kahui’s uplifting keynote address on the Zeitgeist of Joy; get practical tips on engaging your audience with Anna Dean; or take a deep dive into David Lowery’s filmmaking process with The Old Man & the Gun.
Available on Podbean, Apple and Spotify.
MORNING SESSION:
LUNCH BREAK
AFTERNOON SESSION
MORNING SESSION
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AFTERNOON SESSION
Can I submit a Series Concept in any genre?
Yes, you can submit a comedy/thriller/crime/horror/sci-fi etc series concept as long as it is scripted.
Do I have to have a producer attached to my project to apply?
Yes.
Can I be both the writer and the producer?
One of the aims of this Development Lab is to increase the number of producers with the skills to make series in New Zealand. Because of this, there needs to be a minimum of two people in each team – producer and writer. Yes, you can be a producer and writer of your TV series concept, but you need to have a co-producer or a co-writer separate from yourself.
Do all team members have to attend in person?
All key team members must be able to attend the two-day development lab in person in Auckland in December. We aim to run the event in person unless we are prohibited to do this due to Covid-related government restrictions. Due to this, all team members must know they will be in New Zealand at the time of the December workshop.
If a highly experienced producer guides a new producer, only the new producer must attend the development lab.
If one or more of our key team members’ experience level/s differs from the guidelines set out (e.g. we are too experienced), am I still eligible to apply?
For this programme, if you think you meet emerging or mid-career for a reason not listed, explain why in your biography. You may choose to address how this programme would develop your career in another field e.g. you are an experienced writer/director who is stepping into producing, or you are an experienced producer in film/doco/reality TV but not Sscripted TV; or you are an experienced TV producer who has brought a less experienced producer onto the project to upskill them.
STS’s reference point for experience levels aligns with the NZFC’s, which you can read here.
After 10 years of support from Foundation North we are proud to open applications for the 2025 South Shorts Script Mentorship programme. This programme will continue to support new and emerging screenwriters from the South Auckland community* to enhance their screenwriting capabilities. Take the leap and submit your story ideas to be a part of this unique development opportunity. South Shorts will help you develop your story idea/s (short film or web series), write a script, share your unique perspective, and advance your screenwriting career within a supportive framework.
During this mentorship programme (May-September 2025), you will attend a series of one-day Saturday hubs alongside like-minded creatives, be led through focused script development and receive one-on-one feedback under the guidance of writer, and director Briar Grace-Smith (Cousins, Waru). Briar has mentored the past 7 years of South Shorts, and she brings considerable experience and knowledge from her own projects.
The hub days are shaped based on your needs and involve script read-throughs, writing exercises, and hearing from guest speakers about their experiences making films. We also look forward to adding sessions around pitching ideas, funding, working with actors and further development tasks to the programme as required.
On completion, you will leave South Shorts with new skills and tools to develop your work, a great new network of like-minded practitioners, a completed script, and greater confidence in yourself as a screenwriter.
We also welcome applications from past participants of the South Shorts programme, who wish to develop a new script idea.
Submission Requirements:
Opens: Monday 16th December 2024
DEADLINE EXTENDED!
Applications Close: 1 pm, Monday 10th March 2025
Closes: 1 pm, Monday 3rd March 2025
Notification of outcome: Mid-April
WATCH THE WEBINAR RECORDING BELOW:
Information Webinar: 5 pm – 6 pm, Monday 1oth February 2025
Webinar: 5 pm – 6 pm, Tuesday 11th February 2025
2025 Programme Dates:
Dates to be confirmed; likely May-September 2025
Who is eligible?
What you will need to submit:
About you: (A written application or video submission outlining the below.)
About your project: (Written)
Optional material:
Video Submission Requirements:
Video submissions should be no longer than 5min.
**Applicants need to submit at least one short film concept and it can be at any stage – it may simply be a new idea (synopsis) that the writer is pursuing for the first time, or the writer may have already written multiple drafts. Applicants can submit more than one short film idea in their application.
The South Shorts Mentorship Programme is made possible thanks to generous support from Foundation North.
Information Published on Monday 16th December 2024
Stephen Cleary has been a film and television professional for over twenty years, working in Europe, North America, and Australasia, with occasional forays into Asia. He has worked as a feature producer, television producer/director, educator, and screenwriter.
He has developed many feature films from inception to production, and many have won international festival prizes. In recent years he developed the Venice Golden Lion-winning feature Sweet Country from conception to production, and was the lead consultant on the Emmy Award-winning feature documentary What Happened Miss Simone? He conceived and produced Filmlab in South Australia, a program designed to develop a base of local production companies. The initiative resulted in five low budget locally generated features, all of which secured domestic theatrical distribution. Two premiered at the Sundance film festival, one at the Berlin film festival, one at SXSW. Three of the features secured a US theatrical release. Filmlab filmmakers won best international director at Sundance 2014, the Crystal Bear at the Berlin Film Festival and other international awards.
From 2016 to 2017 he ran a TV drama series development initiative for Canal Plus Europe, developing series from conception to the final bible and pilot episodes with selected writers and producers from across Europe. And from 2015 to 2017 he was senior consultant of the Danish Film Institute and Nordic Film Fund’s Polar Bear initiative, developing TV drama series with TV professionals from Scandinavia.
Previously he ran Arista, Europe’s largest private story development agency for 11 years, providing a range of short and long training courses in all aspects of film and TV writing and development. Arista was designated a “Centre of Excellence” by the European Commission. Currently, he is an adjunct professor at the film school of the Victoria College of the Arts, Melbourne, lecturing and running seminars for students four weeks a year. He is a regular lecturer at the Danish Film School, the National Film School of the UK and AFTRS. All on aspects of story development
If you believe you are experiencing or seeing sexual harassment or bullying at one of our events and would like to lay a formal complaint, you can do so by filling in this form.
This form will be passed onto the Programme Director – Jackie Dennis who will follow up with you as soon as practical. In serious cases, you can request to meet with Jackie directly.
If the person in charge is the subject of the complaint, fill out one of the above-mentioned forms and contact maegan@script-to-screen.co.nz who will then action your complaint with our governance board.
Our procedure for dealing with Bullying and Sexual Harassment is as follows:
Michael Bennett (Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Whakaue) is an award-winning screenwriter, filmmaker and author. Michael’s second feature-length drama, In Dark Places, tells the story of Teina Pora’s imprisonment for 21 years for crimes he did not commit. The television film is based on Michael’s book In Dark Places which won the Ngaio Marsh Award for best non-fiction book, and Michael made an award-winning documentary about Teina’s story. Michael’s short films Cow and Kerosene Creek screened at numerous film festivals including Cannes, Toronto, Berlin, London and New York, and his debut feature Matariki premiered at Toronto Film Festival and won awards in New Zealand and internationally.
Michael has written and directed for many television drama series. As well as his own film and TV and book work, Michael works in communities around New Zealand with Script to Screen, empowering locals to tell their stories on film, he works with developing filmmakers through the NZ Film Commission and Nga Aho Whakaari, and is head of the screenwriting programme at South Seas Film School. Michael’s second book, Helen and the Go-Go Ninjas (a post-apocalyptic time travel graphic novel co-authored with Ant Sang) was published by Penguin / Random House June 2018.
In 2015 Michael founded 10000 COMPANY with Jane Holland to create and develop original film and television projects. Their first production was In Dark Places.
APPLICATIONS OPEN NOW: 23 January
APPLICATIONS CLOSE: MIDNIGHT, 27 February
DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP: 4 – 5 May
RESUBMISSION DATE AHEAD OF ONLINE DEVELOPMENT SESSIONS: 26 May
ONLINE SESSIONS: Between 8 – 20 June
PITCH DAY: 26 June
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
We’re seeking writer or writer, producer teams with outstanding concepts for a drama series for broadcast or streaming.
Who is eligible?
Who attends?
Note: Team members also need to be available to participate in an online 90-min feedback session taking place between 8 – 20 June, date and time to be agreed between teams and developer.
To apply you’ll need to submit the following
Please include a header with the lead applicant’s name and project title in the uploaded document.
Your document should not exceed ten pages (including any visual material/images you use). Selectors will only read up to page 10. If you need to merge multiple documents, you can use smallpdf.com for free.
3. A writing sample of the pilot episode’s first 5-10 pages (if your episode is under 33 min submit 5 pages. If it’s over 33min, submit 10 pages).
“For an artist, this level of empowerment and support is rare and utterly invaluable. The programme carefully facilitates the most magical sense of community, inspiration and support. The hub days are a taonga. Do yourself a solid and apply.”
– Chelsie Preston Crayford
The FilmUp Mentorship Programme is a nine-month professional development programme for practising writers, directors and producers. It supports and empowers up to eight practising filmmakers selected each year to reach the next stage in their film careers.
FilmUp is made possible thanks to financial assistance from the New Zealand Film Commission.
Please note: FilmUp applications are open to permanent New Zealand residents or NZ citizens only. Due to COVID-19 and current New Zealand government border restrictions, all applicants must be residing in New Zealand.
Submission Requirements:
Who is eligible?
What you’ll need to submit:
Make sure you also read our Top Five Tips to Make Your FilmUp Application Shine, to put your best foot forward.