The 2020 Kōpere Hou Fresh Shorts round is now open.
This year the application process for Kōpere Hou – Fresh Shorts has been changed making it simpler for teams to apply. It is now a two-stage application process.
Whiringa Tuatahi – Stage One you will continue to need a writer, director and producer, and a written script. Read the Whiringa Tuatahi – Stage One Application Pointers to find out what else is required. Applications are made via the Kōpere Hou – Fresh Shorts Funding Portal, you will need to register a User Account.
A shortlist of 18 teams will be invited to submit a Whiringa Tuarua – Stage Two application. This detailed application is the same as previous years to ensure all bases are covered and the team have all the support they require to make the film.
The full criteria and requirements for the assessment of both Stage One and Stage Two are in the Guidelines.
From the shortlist, six projects will receive $15,000 grants. The teams behind each of these projects will attend a two-day development workshop in March 2021 and then be matched with an experienced industry practitioner and receive six weeks’ mentoring to get their project ‘shoot ready’.
KEY DATES
WHIRINGA TUATAHI – STAGE ONE
APPLICATIONS OPEN NOW (Apply via Kōpere Hou – Fresh Shorts Portal)
APPLICATIONS CLOSE: 1pm, Monday 19 October 2020
ANNOUNCEMENT OF SHORTLISTED TEAMS: Week commencing 16 November 2020
WHIRINGA TUARUA – STAGE TWO
APPLICATIONS CLOSE: 1pm, Monday 11 January 2021
ANNOUNCEMENT OF FUNDED TEAMS: Week commencing 8 February 2021
DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP DATES: 6-7 March 2021
KŌPERE HOU – FRESH SHORTS WEBINAR
Wondering about the new application process for Kōpere Hou – Fresh Shorts?
Watch these webinars with Miriam Smith (Fresh Shorts Facilitator), Jude McLaren (Talent Pathways Manager, NZFC) and Jackie Dennis (ED, Script to Screen) to hear about what’s needed for Whiringa Tauatahi – Stage One and how to put your best foot forward in your 2020 Kōpere Hou – Fresh Shorts application.
WEBINAR #1
An overview on the new application process to guide you through the selection criteria.
WEBINAR #2
An in-depth look into the application portal, the director’s visual inspiration and how to think from a reader’s perspective when writing your application.
Script to Screen is proud to present Series Bootcamp, a development lab created to nurture emerging and mid-career writers and producers.
Six writer/producer teams with an outstanding series concept and evidence of talent and ability will be selected to go through a two-stage development process.
At stage one each team has an online session with a US screenwriter who will give feedback on the quality, originality and viability of the concept. The teams bring that feedback to stage two, a two-day intensive story and producing workshop.
Teams attending Series Bootcamp will come away with a refined concept for a distinctive series that is ready to pitch. Participants will have a deepened understanding of how to write, pitch, and produce a series.
Participants who live outside of Auckland will have their travel and accommodation paid for.
APPLICATIONS OPEN NOW
APPLICATIONS CLOSE: MIDNIGHT, 30 August 2020
ONLINE FEEDBACK SESSION WITH US WRITER: date to be scheduled early November
DEVELOPMENT LAB DATES: 3 – 4 December 2020
Series Bootcamp is made possible thanks to financial support from New Zealand Film Commission and the US Embassy Arts Envoy.
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“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 returns for 2020 to support and empower up to eight tenacious and talented filmmakers to reach the next stage in their creative careers. If you are developing a feature film this programme could be just what you need to progress your work to the next stage – and push you to your full potential.
A mentor for each filmmaker forms the cornerstone of the programme, along with six FilmUp Hub days when the participants come together for group work.
Applicants must have a feature project in development, and be able to demonstrate that their project and career are at the right stage for mentorship and wrap-around support.
Successful applicants will take part in 20 hours of mentorship with an experienced film practitioner over an eight-month period and six full-day hub sessions spread between April and December. These hubs are tailored to meet the needs of the selected filmmakers and include workshops, peer discussions and round tables with industry leaders.
Participants are the driving force of a successful mentorship as they take hold of their own learning and development. This autonomy is fostered from the start of the programme when participants are actively involved in the selection of their mentor. Throughout the programme, there is wrap-around support from Script to Screen.
Now in it’s eighth year, FilmUp has gone from strength to strength, with a growing alumni of talented local filmmakers who have benefited from the programme including Briar March (The Coffin Club, There Once Was An Island: Te Henua A Nnoho), Chelsea Winstanley (Jojo Rabbit, MERATA: How Mum Decolonised the Screen, What We Do in the Shadows), Florian Habicht (Spookers, Love Story), Gaysorn Thavat (The Justice of Bunny King), Jake Mahaffy (Free in Deed), Nic Gorman (Human Traces), Sophie Henderson (Baby Done, Fantail) and Stallone Vaiaoga-Ioasa (Take Home Pay, Three Wise Cousins). You can read about other participants and an impressive list of mentors who have helped these filmmakers take a step up in their careers here.
To apply you need to be working on a feature film or documentary. You will need to submit:
APPLICATIONS CLOSE: Sun 09 Feb 2020, 10pm
Script to Screen is proud to be partnering with Compton School once again to deliver Strength in Numbers – a program designed to teach screen practitioners about growing a sustainable and profitable business while doing the work you want to do.
Run by Script to Screen, and led by Australian screen business expert David Court, Strength in Numbers Growth comprises a series of workshops that arm participants with the tools they need to build a sustainable business in the screen industry. The programme is for screen practitioners with a slate of projects and a screen industry business already underway and will be delivered over several workshop days held in Auckland January to September 2020.
Strength in Numbers offers a unique opportunity for early to mid-career practitioners in the screen industry to work together on the building blocks of business models that will sustain their future and ultimately shape the industry itself. The Programme aims to cultivate a super-smart community of business people in the screen industry that support each other over time, which is especially important for filmmakers who often work in isolation.
Selected participants will have a proven track record that demonstrates considerable talent and tenacity in their field. They will become part of Script to Screen’s alumni network. This network supports further collaboration and strengthens connections. To encourage screen practitioners from the regions to apply we have support from some of New Zealand’s regional offices: Film Otago Southland, Film Dunedin, Screen Canterbury, Screen Wellington, Tairawhiti TV, Film Bay of Plenty.
Strength in Numbers’ inaugural year saw ten creators of many of our most loved and successful films (including Hunt For The Wilderpeople, Boy, The Dark Horse, Love Story, Three Wise Cousins, Waru, Vai, and Loading Docs) brought together to focus on building sustainable businesses.
Preview the Strength In Numbers Application Form
What you’ll need to submit:
Applications Open: Mon 21 Oct
Applications Close: Sun 1 Dec, midnight
First Workshop: Early Feb 2020
Strength in Numbers is made possible thanks to generous support from the Auckland Council– Regional Arts and Culture Grant, New Zealand Film Commission.
And New Zealand Regional Film Offices; Film Otago Southland, Film Dunedin, Screen Canterbury, Screen Wellington, Tairawhiti TV, Film Bay of Plenty and Waikato Film Hub. Thank you to Screen Auckland for providing our workshop venue.
The South Shorts Mentoring Programme will start in early 2020 and span across a six-month period. The programme includes five full-day ‘hubs’ where participants get together to workshop and discuss their short film scripts. At the hubs, writers will take part in script read-throughs, get individual script notes from a mentor, do writing exercises, and hear from filmmakers about their experiences making short films. Each participant will also have individual script sessions with a mentor outside of the hub days.
Dates for the South Shorts Mentorship Programme will be set in December 2019. The hub days usually take place on Saturdays, 9 am-5 pm.
“I probably wouldn’t have a project without Script to Screen, because it was at the South Auckland Workshop where I had to pitch, and I hadn’t done that before. Script to Screen is really accessible to anyone and it takes away the “you’ve got to be this and that to make a film”. It makes you realise that anyone can make a film, as long as you have a good story – as cheesy as that sounds. Without it, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
-Vea Mafile’o (Director – For My Father’s Kingdom)
This initiative is intended for people who either live in South Auckland or have a connection with the area and is made possible with assistance from Foundation North.
Applications close Fri 15 November, 5pm, 2019.
The New Zealand Film Commission and NZ On Air in conjunction with Script to Screen present RAUPAPA WHAKAARI: DRAMA TO THE WORLD, a new initiative designed to develop and package distinctive high-end series drama for the international market.
The initiative supports writer/producer teams through a dual approach of project development funding and advice from international drama practitioners at the top of their game.
Applications for Raupapa Whakaari: Drama to the World will close April 1, after which up to 10 writer/producer teams with distinctive series concepts and a strong track record will be selected. Successful applicant teams will be notified on or before Monday, May 6. Each selected team will attend an immersive five-day Series Drama Lab and receive a grant of $10,000 to further develop their concept into a strong pitch.
The Series Drama Lab is five-days of intensive project development under the tutelage of high-level international advisors, including craft-based workshops, story feedback sessions and writers’ tables.
Following the lab each team will have the opportunity to submit a re-worked pitch and a plan for packaging their project for the international market, with four grants available of up to $80,000.
“This initiative will support ambitious New Zealand visions for global series drama. New Zealand screen writers and producers have a real capacity to engage in what is a pervasive global appetite for unique stories supported by the Raupapa Whakaari Funding,” said NZFC CEO, Annabelle Sheehan.
“We are thrilled to partner in Raupapa Whakaari. The potential to deliver larger-scale local stories for New Zealand audiences that have a good shot to compete internationally, is exciting. It represents an exceptionally good opportunity for local creative talent to shine on a world stage,” said NZ On Air Chief Executive Jane Wrightson.
“We are delighted to conceive and deliver the Series Drama Lab for the Raupapa Whakaari fund. Esther Cahill-Chiaroni brings her expertise and nurturing spirit to the Lab as Programme Director. She will match international advisors to the stand-out filmmakers selected so they can develop ground breaking shows for a global audience”, said Jackie Dennis, Executive Director of Script to Screen.
Applications open: 18 February 2019, 9am
Applications close: 1 April, 9am
Applicants notified: Monday May 6
5-day Series Drama Lab: June 10-15, 2019
RAUPAPA WHAKAARI: DRAMA TO THE WORLD is a New Zealand Film Commission and NZ On Air initiative run in conjunction with Script to Screen.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: 10pm, Sunday 17th February 2019.
Script to Screen’s FilmUp Mentorship programme returns for 2019. Each year the FilmUp Mentorship programme supports and empowers up to eight tenacious and talented filmmakers to reach the next stage in their creative careers.
Participants will receive 20 hours of one-on-one mentorship with an established filmmaker, attend Hub Days for group work, intensive story workshops and round tables with guest speakers, as well as tailored additional support from Script to Screen.
FilmUp has gone from strength to strength, with a growing alumni of talented local filmmakers (pictured above) who have benefited from the programme, and an impressive list of mentors who have helped these filmmakers take a step up in their careers.
There will be eight mentorships for emerging to experienced writers, directors and producers. Those who have a strong track record in other creative roles (e.g. actor, playwright, editor), who are now developing a feature film project as a writer, director or producer are eligible.
“Being a part of Film Up was incredibly inspiring, connecting with fellow filmmakers on a deep level and having the opportunity to work one on one with a mentor provided great filmmaking stimulation” – Armagan Ballantyne, director and 2018 FilmUp Participant
“When I first applied for FilmUp I had a sense that the approach I had to making films was ‘wrong’ – that I would need a mentor who would show me “the right way to do it”. Through FilmUp, Script to Screen helped me to realise contrary to what I assumed, my approach was in fact a strength and absolutely key to my voice as a maker. 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, actor/writer/director and 2018 FilmUp Participant
We are excited to offer this rewarding programme for the seventh consecutive year thanks to financial assistance from New Zealand Film Commission.