6:15 Thursday 29 November
Te Auaha – 65 Dixon St, Te Aro, Wellington

…direct from BSS

STRAY is the debut feature film from award-winning writer/director/producer Dustin Feneley and producer Desray Armstrong.

The film was made outside the traditional funding system, and was financed through private investors, crowdfunding donors, sponsorships and the goodwill of cast and crew.

STRAY has subsequently been received positively by international film festivals, critics and audiences. Hailed by The Dominion Post as “one of the very best films ever made in New Zealand”, Flicks writes that STRAY “fortifies hope in the breadth and ambition of New Zealand film”.

STRAY had its World Premiere in Main Competition at the Moscow International Film Festival in April where it won the award for Best Actor. After receiving rave five-star reviews and numerous sell-out sessions at NZIFF, STRAY secured theatrical distribution in New Zealand and Australia, released nationally in October and is screening in over 40 cinemas.

STRAY holds the record for the highest amount ever raised through donation-based crowdfunding for a New Zealand film. In 2016, STRAY raised over $125,000 in a 30-day campaign on NZ arts crowdfunding site Boosted.

In this StS Talk, Dustin Feneley and Desray Armstrong discuss how STRAY was financed as an independent film. With a particular focus on securing private investment and the record-breaking crowdfunding campaign, they explore the entrepreneurial skills, drive and tenacity needed to succeed as independent filmmakers.

VENUE: Te Auaha, 65 Dixon St, Te Aro, Wellington
DATE: Thursday 29 November
TIME: 6:15-7:15. After the TALK, stay and have pizza on Script to Screen, there will be a cash bar and sociallising with fellow filmmakers.
$5.00 KOHA: Please bring cash as we do not have eftpos. Your contribution helps us to continue StS TALKS

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This StS TALK is possible thanks to the support of the New Zealand Film Commission. Thanks to the New Zealand Film and Television School for the venue.

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.

STRAY is the debut feature film from writer/director/producer Dustin Feneley. It is a bold arthouse film that was made outside the traditional funding system and has been received positively by international film festivals, critics and audiences. This independent film was financed through private investors, sponsorships, the goodwill of cast and crew, and crowdfunding donors – where it raised the highest amount ever for a New Zealand film.

In this comprehensive case study, Dustin will discuss both the creative and the practical, including:

  • his unique approach to screenwriting and directing
  • trusting your gut and following your creative instincts as a filmmaker
  • staying passionate during the years of script development and financing
  • growing your entrepreneurial skills and tenacity to succeed as an independent filmmaker
  • how the STRAY team financed the project as an independent film, with a particular focus on the extensive process behind the record-breaking crowdfunding campaign.

This case study will not only be useful and inspiring to writers, directors and producers with a feature film project currently in active development, but to anyone with aspirations of making a feature film in the future.

We recommend you see the film prior to the case study you attend
Dunedin: 8 October, 6pm, Rialto
Christchurch: 9 October, 6pm, Alice
Screenings also in Alexandra, Wanaka and Roxburgh – check your local cinema.
Dustin Feneley is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts Film School. His short films as writer and director (NIGHT, SNOW, HAWKER, ESKIMO KISS) have won numerous awards and screened at over one hundred film festivals, including official selections at Cannes, London, Sydney and Melbourne.

STRAY holds the record for the highest amount ever raised through donation-based crowdfunding for a New Zealand film. In 2016 Dustin Feneley raised over $125,000 in a 30-day campaign on NZ arts crowdfunding site Boosted.

Hailed by The Dominion Post as “one of the very best films ever made in New Zealand”, Flicks writes that STRAY “fortifies hope in the breadth and ambition of New Zealand film”.

After receiving rave five-star reviews and numerous sell-out sessions at NZIFF, STRAY secured theatrical distribution in Australasia and will be released nationally on October 4 in over 30 cinemas.

STRAY had its World Premiere in competition at the Moscow International Film Festival where it won the award for Best Actor. STRAY’s successful festival run continues with over 20 international film festivals screening the film this year.

Watch the STRAY TRAILER


DUNEDIN: 9am-12:30pm Tuesday 9 October
Venue: 
Petridish – Green Room, 8 Stafford Street, Dunedin
Co-presented with Film Dunedin

Book tickets for Dunedin – $ 15 (limited spaces)

CHRISTCHURCH: 9am-12:30pm Wednesday 10 October
Venue: Belmont Studios, 31 Southwark St, Christchurch.
Allow time to find a park and walk to the venue.

Book tickets for Christchurch – $15 (limited spaces)

This Script to Screen workshop is made possible thanks to generous support from
The New Zealand Film Commission.

6:00pm Thursday 6 September
Meeting Room 5, Studio One Toi Tū, 1 Ponsonby Road, Ponsonby, Auckland

German filmmakers understand that a film from the master creative producer Peter Rommel will present a unique approach to the development and production of drama. With a spirit of improvisation the films are made with a small crew, hand held cameras, and complete immersion in character over a period of time for the actors. Peter Rommel produced Andreas Dresen’s multiple award-winning films GRILL POINT, CLOUD 9 and STOPPED ON TRACK – the latter two also winners of Un Certain Regard at Cannes Film Festival. He will draw on these films, showing clips, to demonstrate outcomes from this approach during the session. All three films covered specific themes but were created in the same spirit of improvisation in development and production – a collective operation. Peter will be in conversation with Philippa Campbell.

Peter Rommel began in the distribution business in 1989 with Berlin-based company Ex Picturis. Subsequent to his collaboration with Icelandic director Fridrik Thór Fridriksson Peter Rommel changed sides and became a producer and in 1993 he founded Peter Rommel Productions (now Rommel Film) in Berlin. He went on to co-produce international cinema features, like MOVIE DAYS, SWEETY BARRETT and DEVIL’S ISLAND.

Rommel Film is a Berlin based production company producing national and international feature films and documentaries which have won numerous awards and have screened at such renowned festivals as Cannes, Sundance and Berlinale. Peter is a regular jury member at international film festivals and in 2017 received the Max Ophuels Festival-Lifetime Achievement Award; he has been a group leader at EAVE, and a visiting lecturer at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg.

Peter is in development with Alex Behse and Philippa Campbell on an untitled Max Currie project to be shot next year in Nelson.

6:00-7:15pm Talk
$5 Koha appreciated. Please bring cash with you as we don’t have eftpos. Your contribution helps us to continue doing these TALKS.
VENUE: Meeting Room 5, Studio One Toi Tū, 1 Ponsonby Road, Ponsonby, Auckland

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Presented in association with WIFT NZ.

This TALK is made possible thanks to generous support from New Zealand Film CommissionFoundation NorthImages & SoundGoethe Institut and White Studios.

Thank you to Auckland Council for their on going support.

The biggest challenge in directing scenes of sex and intimacy is building an environment of safety and trust for all involved. Actors need to feel safe to allow themselves to meld with their characters. Characters need to feel safe to express their desires, cravings, compulsions, contradictions and fears. The director is instrumental for creating this environment of safety and trust, so that the characters can flourish and the scene comes alive on its own.

In this master class Mark Travis will demonstrate how to work with actors to create the atmosphere and environment conducive for the organic unfolding of intimacy by…

This is a stand alone one-hour specialised masterclass, but to get the most from it consider attending the One-Day Travis Technique Master Class on Sunday, August 12 at ASB Waterfront Theatre.

6:00 – 7:00pm: Talk. After the Talk, stay and have pizza on Script to Screen, there will be a cash bar & socialising with fellow filmmakers.

$5 Koha appreciated. Please bring cash with you as we don’t have eftpos. Your contribution helps us to continue doing these TALKS.

Presented in association with

Script to Screen TALKS are made possible thanks to generous support from NZ Film Commission, Foundation North, Images & Sound – Complete Post Production and White Studios.

Thank you to Auckland Council for their on going support.

Saturday 11th August 2018
MIT Pasifika Centre North Campus, Gate 13, Alexander Crescent, Otara

Come along to hear from the groundbreaking feature film writer/director behind HIBISCUS & RUTHLESS and THREE WISE COUSINSStallone Vaiaoga-Ioasa (S.Q.S) talks about his journey from making short films to feature films.

He’ll share snippets of rarely seen short films and discuss the connections to his feature film work. Stallone will talk about lessons he’s learned and how he approaches the current film landscape in New Zealand and the Pacific.

After the TALK, Stay and have pizza on Script to Screen and socialise with fellow filmmakers.

Venue: MIT (Manukau Institute of Technology) Pasifika Community Centre, Gate 13, Alexander Cresent, Otara.

Cost: $5 Koha appreciated. Please bring cash with you as we don’t have eftpos. Your contribution helps us to continue doing these TALKS.

Script to Screen TALKS are made possible thanks to generous support from NZ Film Commission, Foundation North, Images & Sound.

Fri 27 July  | after the 10:45am screening
Sat 28 July | after the 6:45pm screening
Civic Wintergarden, Auckland

The New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) and Script to Screen are thrilled to present two very special TALKS: the first with celebrated director Debra Granik (WINTER’S BONE), and the second with Debra Granik and New Zealand actor Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie. 

LEAVE NO TRACE, Granik’s 4th feature, premiered at Sundance 2018 and screened at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. It stars Ben Foster and Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie.

Granik’s earlier feature WINTER’S BONE was nominated for four Oscars including Best Picture. LEAVE NO TRACE, one of the best reviewed independent films of the year, is predicted by IndieWire to bring Granik her second Oscar nomination for best screenplay with co-writer and producer Anne Rosellini.

Join us after each NZIFF screening of this highly anticipated film, to hear firsthand from Debra Granik about the challenges and intrigues of bringing LEAVE NO TRACE to the screen. New Zealand actress Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, credited with a remarkable lead performance, will be part of the Saturday evening TALK.

Entry to the TALKS are free, to see the film beforehand you need to book your ticket through the NZIFF website.

Civic Wintergarden | Fri 27 July  | after the 10:45am screening. Moderator Philippa Campbell.
Civic Wintergarden | Sat 28 July | after the 6:45pm screening. Moderator Robyn Malcolm.

Debra Granik will also be doing Q&A sessions in Wellington on July 29 and July 30 at the Embassy Theatre.

Script to Screen talks are made possible thanks to generous support from New Zealand Film Commission, Foundation NorthWhite Studioand Images & Sound.

6.30pm Thursday 7 June
Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland

Script to Screen brings you Kath Shelper the award winning Australian producer behind ground breaking projects including feature SAMSON & DELILAH (Warwick Thornton), documentary feature TENDER (Lynette Wallworth) and television series BLACK COMEDY.

Not all projects fit neatly into a development or dramatic structure that can slip stream through traditional funding bodies. Many projects can’t be locked down straight away and need to be free to follow an organic process that is true to the filmmakers, and the story.

Kath Shelper talks to Philippa Campbell (TOP OF THE LAKE) about how she has shepherded projects for the screen through unconventional paths, enabling talented writers and directors to find their voice and their audience.

After the Talk, stay and have pizza on Script to Screen.
6:30 – 7:30pm: Talk
7:30 – 8:30pm: Cash bar & socialising with fellow filmmakers

$5 Koha (for those who can afford it)

Script to Screen talks are made possible thanks to generous support from The New Zealand Film Commission, Foundation NorthWhite Studioand Images & Sound.

6pm Thursday 12 April
Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland

LIMITED SEATS – MUST RSVP

Following a full house in Wellington, Script to Screen brings Stallone Vaiaoga-Ioasa’s Talk to his home town.

In 2016 Stallone Vaiaoga-Ioasa (aka S.Q.S.), released THREE WISE COUSINS which took just under $1million at the NZ Box Office and went on to a successful Australian, USA and Pacific release. Passionate about telling NZ Pasifika stories, in January this year he released his second feature film HIBISCUS & RUTHLESS.

Join Stallone as he talks about the process of making his two self-funded films and the uphill battle of self-distribution. Stallone examines his journey as a first time filmmaker, what he learned along the way, what he would do differently, and his decision to stick to the self-funded route a second time – for better or for worse.

After the Talk, stay and have pizza on Script to Screen.

6 – 7pm: Talk
7 – 8pm: Cash bar & socialising with fellow filmmakers

$5 Koha for those who can afford it

Reserve you seat here

Thank you to Auckland Council for their on going support.

Reading a script is easy. Assessing a script and giving useable feedback is a skill.
Most scripts are in development for years, evolving through many drafts. A great script assessment delves into the heart of the what the draft needs and useful notes will excite the writer about the next evolution of the story.

This Talk will discuss what to consider with character, structure, story, dialogue, tone and dramatic premise and how best to communicate that to the writer.
If you are part of a development team join us to hear about the fundamentals of assessing and writing notes that will improve the next draft of your project. Christina MilliganBrendan Donovan and Dianne Taylor are script assessors and script writers with a wealth of hands on experience and expertise to share.

5:45 for 6pm start, Thursday 15 February
The Basement, Lower Greys Ave, Auckland
Koha $5 for those who can afford it

Stay afterwards for pizza

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