We’ve been busy zooming, emailing and texting as a team every day, creating a future for Script to Screen that can respond to and embrace change; and exploring new ways to connect our community and support our alumni’s wellbeing during these extraordinary times and we’re pleased to be launching our initiative, Awhi: Peer to Peer Conversations.
Script to Screen is establishing Awhi for alumni to draw on each other when a situation calls for an impartial phone conversation. It can give them a sounding board for an issue to be talked through, an idea tested, a problem solved or to simply have someone to call on that might have been in the same position as you.
Awhi is a safe space available to our whānau of filmmakers where they can be open and honest, get guidance in their careers, suggestions to progress their work and encouragement from someone who understands what it’s like in our film industry. Everyone who signs up to Awhi can be the maker and/or receiver of a call. This is the beginning of a community that supports each other through conversation – even if they have never met.
If you are an Alumni of one of our programmes we invite you to register here.
If you feel like your mental health is in crisis or are worried about the mental health of someone you know, please visit the Mental Health Foundation website for a list of some of the services available in New Zealand that offer support, information and help. All services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week unless otherwise specified.
Need to talk? Free call or text 1737 any time for support from a trained counsellor
Lifeline – 0800 543 354 (0800 LIFELINE) or free text 4357 (HELP)
Suicide Crisis Helpline – 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO)
Healthline – 0800 611 116
Samaritans – 0800 726 666
Fraser Brown combines a rare blend of creative, business and leadership expertise in his work as a creative producer, co-founder and Creative Director of FluroBlack.
Fraser started his career, more than 20 years ago, as a professional actor working extensively in film, television and theatre. His evolution into creative producer started with award-winning short, Dead Letters(Telluride Film Festival, 2006), followed by a stint producing branded and commercial content. Since then he has produced or executive produced nine international feature documentaries, two scripted features, a major international television series and an edgy, award-winning web series.
Fraser’s first feature, Orphans & Kingdoms, won numerous international awards and was released theatrically in NZ with 4-star reviews. In 2016 he developed and produced, in a strategic partnership with Matthew Metcalfe of GFC Films, the feature documentary McLaren. Directed by Roger Donaldson, McLaren was the highest grossing New Zealand film at the NZ box office in 2017 and was released globally by Universal Pictures, Transmission Films and Gunpowder & Sky. He and Matthew then produced Wayne, an official NZ/AUS co-production directed by Jeremy Sims, which premiered at the opening weekend of MIFF 2018 and was released in Australia and New Zealand by Transmission Films and in the US by Gunpowder & Sky.
Fraser is an Executive Producer on numerous feature documentaries with Universal Pictures and GFC Films: Born Racer, directed by Bryn Evans; We Need to Talk About A.I, directed by Leanne Pooley; Dawn Raid, directed by Oscar Kightley; Mothers of the Revolution, directed by Briar March; Billion Dollar Heist, directed by Daniel Gordon and The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*CK, directed by Nathan Price. He is also an EP on feature film, Whina, currently in post-production and on The Dead Lands –an 8x1hr action-adventure series collaboration between GFC Films, AMC-Shudder and TVNZ, nominated for “Best Drama” at the New Zealand TV Awards, 2020. In the factual TV space, Fraser is currently a producer on Reunited (TVNZ), The Circus (BRAVO) and Great Southern Truckers (TV3/DISCOVERY).
In April 2020, Script to Screen established Awhi for alumni to draw on each other when a situation calls for an impartial phone conversation. It can give them a sounding board for an issue to be talked through, an idea tested, a problem solved or to simply have someone to call on that might have been in the same position as you.
Awhi is a safe space available to our whānau of filmmakers where they can be open and honest, get guidance in their careers, suggestions to progress their work and encouragement from someone who understands what it’s like in our film industry. Everyone who signs up to Awhi can be the maker and/or receiver of a call. This is the beginning of a community that supports each other through conversation – even if they have never met.
If you are an Alumni of one of our programmes we invite you to register.
How Awhi works:
Script to Screen will connect alumni for one-on-one video or phone conversations. Each person can use Awhi to be connected to a peer up to twice a year, and we suggest keeping the conversation to no longer than 60 mins.
When you want to make an Awhi call, fill out our Awhi Conversation Request Form so we can match you with the best person from the Awhi community.
Once we receive your submitted form, we will work to find a match and then connect you both via email. If you requested the call, then it is up to you to email the filmmaker we have connected you with to schedule a time for your conversation.
We will process all requests as they come in, however we will need to wait on a response from the peer we want to connect you with before we can come back to you, so allow for that in your planning.
If you feel like your mental health is in crisis or are worried about the mental health of someone you know, please visit the Mental Health Foundation website for a list of some of the services available in New Zealand that offer support, information and help. All services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week unless otherwise specified.
Need to talk? Free call or text 1737 any time for support from a trained counsellor
Lifeline – 0800 543 354 (0800 LIFELINE) or free text 4357 (HELP)
Suicide Crisis Helpline – 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO)
Healthline – 0800 611 116
Samaritans – 0800 726 666
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.
The South Shorts Mentorship programme returns for 2020 with nine emerging filmmakers selected to take part. Under the leadership and guidance of renowned screenwriter Briar Grace-Smith, participants will develop their short film projects through a script-focused mentorship. Over a sixth-month period, the participants will get individual script notes from their mentor, do group script reads for peer feedback, and hear from experienced filmmakers about their process making short films.
Now in its sixth year, the programme is aimed at guiding emerging South Auckland affiliated talent to develop their short film scripts. The search for South Shorts participants begins with our annual two-day South Auckland Short Film Workshop, after which participants can apply for the mentorship programme.
“This group includes an exciting mix of experiences with participants coming from acting, playwriting, tertiary film courses and filmmaking, as well as those with a passion to tell stories.” says Programme Manager, Eloise Veber “We’re thrilled to find such talented storytellers for our South Shorts Mentorship Programme.”
The nine filmmakers (L – R) selected for South Shorts 2020 are:
Filmmakers who have been through this programme include Vea Mafileo (For My Father’s Kingdom), Jeremiah Tauamiti (Liliu), Hanelle Harris (Sis, Baby Mama’s Club) and Vela Manusaute (The Messiah).
South Shorts is made possible thanks to generous support from Foundation North and New Zealand Film Commission.
Script to Screen is delighted to announce the 14 participants selected for Strength in Numbers 2020.
Strength in Numbers is a programme that gives participants the time and tools they need to create business models that will sustain their future in film. These models are the building blocks of new ways of financing, distributing and collaborating that will ultimately shape the industry itself.
Three experienced industry practitioners including course leader David Court (Executive Director of Compton School) read all of the applications taking into consideration the participants, their business, and projects in development when making their selection. However, with 55 applications and many of them very strong, it was a difficult task.
David Court said “this was a very strong field. Clearly, there are many producers wanting to grow their business. We would have taken more participants if we could have”.
“Initially we set out to select 12 participants”, said Jackie Dennis Executive Director of Script to Screen, “but we had two business co-owners wanting to attend together and we could see the benefit of this, so Script to Screen increased participation to 14”. Of the 12 screen businesses participating three are from Wellington, one is from Christchurch and the remainder are Auckland based.
The programme is made possible thanks to Screen Wellington and Screen Canterbury covering travel and accommodation costs for the participants from their region, Screen Auckland providing a workshop venue, and financial support from Auckland Council’s Regional Arts and Culture Grants Programme and the New Zealand Film Commission Strategic Training Fund.
The 14 participants and their businesses selected for Strength in Numbers 2020 are:
READ MORE ABOUT THE PARTICIPANTS
“This workshop honestly transformed my thinking about storytelling structures and opened up new possibilities in exciting and practical ways. It incorporated both big ideas thinking and also specific craft tools, which I will begin to use immediately in my writing. The workshop was rich in content and spoke well to many levels, including experienced, working screenwriters. ” – 2019 Melbourne Workshop Participant
We are excited to be bringing script guru Stephen Cleary to New Zealand to present this brilliant 2-day workshop in Auckland and Wellington.
Split into single-gender groups, people tell stories differently. Men often tell stories with all-male characters. Women rarely tell stories with all-female characters. Women together tend to maintain a theme across their stories. Men don’t. Women talk less. Men reveal less about themselves.
Gender variations within storytelling matter. Our understanding of screenwriting mostly comes from work done by men trying to figure out how the stories they told worked. The vast majority of those stories centred on male characters who were powerful or had access to power.
This workshop is about characters who aren’t male and powerful. How do you dramatise their stories, those characters, to make them compulsive? How do you tell stories about people who struggle for power, or who will never have power? Does power work differently for male and female characters (answer: yes)? How? Come to this workshop and find out, and with any luck change how you think about story structure, forever.
READ THE FULL WORKSHOP SCHEDULE
WELLINGTON
7 – 8 NOV 2019
Venue: Hunter Building Lecture Theatre 119 (HULT119),
Victoria University, Kelburn Parade, Wellington
Cost: $250 (+ GST). Tickets available via Eventbrite.
What to Bring: Pen and paper. Morning and afternoon tea will be provided. BYO Lunch.
Prepare for the Workshop: Links to Films and series that will be referenced during the lab are available here.
Presented in partnership with Victoria University of Wellington.
Stephen Cleary is available to do a limited number of assessments while he is in Auckland. To be eligible for one of these assessments you must have booked your ticket to the Power, Gender and New Story Structures workshop and register for an assessment by Friday 22 Nov, 9am.
You will get a one-on-one 90-minute meeting and 2 pages of notes. The script assessment fee is $500 +gst.
If you would like a TV series assessed, Stephen will need either the first episode script plus outline of the rest of the season and an overview of the project, or a synopsis of the story overall and a breakdown of episodes. Each spot is not actually reserved until payment is received.
Payment details:
Account Name: Script to Screen – Te Tari Kupu A Whakaahua
Account Number: 03 0255 0178775-00
Reference: Cleary90min – Your Name
REGISTER FOR A SCRIPT ASSESSMENT
“This workshop honestly transformed my thinking about storytelling structures and opened up new possibilities in exciting and practical ways. It incorporated both big ideas thinking and also specific craft tools, which I will begin to use immediately in my writing. The workshop was rich in content and spoke well to many levels, including experienced, working screenwriters. ” – 2019 Melbourne Workshop Participant
We are excited to be bringing script guru Stephen Cleary to New Zealand to present this brilliant 2-day workshop in Auckland and Wellington.
Split into single-gender groups, people tell stories differently. Men often tell stories with all-male characters. Women rarely tell stories with all-female characters. Women together tend to maintain a theme across their stories. Men don’t. Women talk less. Men reveal less about themselves.
Gender variations within storytelling matter. Our understanding of screenwriting mostly comes from work done by men trying to figure out how the stories they told worked. The vast majority of those stories centred on male characters who were powerful or had access to power.
This workshop is about characters who aren’t male and powerful. How do you dramatise their stories, those characters, to make them compulsive? How do you tell stories about people who struggle for power, or who will never have power? Does power work differently for male and female characters (answer: yes)? How? Come to this workshop and find out, and with any luck change how you think about story structure, forever.
READ THE FULL WORKSHOP SCHEDULE
AUCKLAND
30 Nov – 1 Dec 2019
Venue: Lecture Theatre WG404, Sir Paul Reeves Building
Auckland University of Technology – City Campus,
2 Gov Fitzroy Place, Auckland City
Cost:$250 (+ GST). Tickets available via Eventbrite.
What to Bring: Pen and paper. Morning and afternoon tea will be provided. BYO Lunch.
There are cafes in the area if you want to buy lunch.
Prepare for the Workshop: Links to Films and series that will be referenced during the lab are available here.
This workshop is presented in partnership with AUT
Stephen Cleary is available to do a limited number of assessments while he is in Auckland. To be eligible for one of these assessments you must have booked your ticket to the Power, Gender and New Story Structures workshop and register for an assessment by Wed 20 Nov, 5pm.
You will get a one-on-one 90-minute meeting and 2 pages of notes. The script assessment fee is $500 +gst.
If you would like a TV series assessed, Stephen will need either the first episode script plus outline of the rest of the season and an overview of the project, or a synopsis of the story overall and a breakdown of episodes. Each spot is not actually reserved until payment is received.
Payment details:
Account Name: Script to Screen – Te Tari Kupu A Whakaahua
Account Number: 03 0255 0178775-00
Reference: Cleary90min – Your Name
REGISTER FOR A SCRIPT ASSESSMENT
Script to Screen and the New Zealand Film Commission have partnered on the development of 16 short films. The teams behind the films were selected from a very competitive round of 106 applications; and will attend a three-day residential development lab this November as part of the Fresh Shorts initiative.
The Fresh Shorts programme offers grants of up to $15,000 to six new or emerging filmmaker teams to make a short film. The selection also includes experienced filmmakers in new roles. As part of the selection process, each team will attend a three-day development lab in the Auckland region where they will receive tailored script feedback from industry mentors and participate in group workshops to further develop their scripts and strengthen their skills for future projects.
Following the lab and submission of the re-worked projects, six teams will be selected to receive a grant of up to $15,000 to make their short film. An announcement will be made early February 2020.
The 16 selected teams and their projects are (L-R):
Fresh Shorts is a New Zealand Film Commission initiative run in partnership with Script to Screen.
The Big Screen Symposium brings the filmmakers of Aotearoa NZ together once a year to hear from an unbeatable line-up of local and international speakers. Join us to be energised, challenged, and part of the conversation.
This year’s Big Screen Symposium will take place over two days on Oct 26 & 27, at the ASB Waterfront Theatre.
The theme of #BigScreen18 Tuning into the Zeitgeist explores the forces that influence us both collectively and alone. How do the characteristics of our age and the politics of now manifest in our imaginations, and how does that impact the stories we tell and how they connect with audiences?
Early bird tickets are available on iTicket NOW. Check in at www.bigscreensymposium.com for announcements of our exciting speaker line up for this year.
The Big Screen Symposium is brought to you by Script to Screen and J&A Productions.