“Storm the gates, grab hands with each other, run like red rovers at the lifeguard chairs, snarl at the bases like wild starving beast dogs, boost each other up those watchtowers and pull those motherf***ers down.” – Jill Soloway
“…painting is not made to decorate apartments. It’s an offensive and defensive weapon against the enemy.” – Pablo Picasso
Amidst the struggle to get work made and seen, is our filmmaking becoming too polite? Is it enough to take the role of pleaser rather than disruptor?
Dramaturg and coach Brita McVeigh leads a conversation with a panel of NZ storytellers about the role of art and artist in the tumultuous times we find ourselves in.
Writer/director Tearepa Kahi (POI E, MT ZION), writer/director Daniel Borgman (LOVING PIA, THE WEIGHT OF ELEPHANTS) novelist Emily Perkins (THE REHEARSAL, NOT HER REAL NAME) and theatre/performance artist Julia Croft talk to Brita McVeigh about how the changing political world around us is impacting the way they approach their work.
Join us and our friends at The Basement, Thursday March 23, 5pm drink, 5:30-6:30 talk, $5 koha appreciated.
Stay afterwards to keep talking and for a slice of pizza on us!
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“The advantage for us and other streamers is that we don’t have to make money on theatrical. Online is the growth engine. I can lose significantly on theatrical but the buzz surrounding the release will increase our subscriber base” – Efe Cakarel, CEO and founder of MUBI
Script to Screen and WIFT NZ present an international panel with German broadcaster Susanne Müller (Executive Director, Feature Films and International Co-productions, ZDF German Television), Head of Sales at the Match Factory Thania Dimitrakopoulou, and producer, EP and entertainment lawyer Bryce Menzies (Marshalls & Dent) as they discuss the transition from the traditional market structure to an SVoD-led environment. The panel will be moderated by Managing Director of Match Factory, Viola Fügen.
As the emphasis on foreign sales as a way to reach your audience wanes, and online global reach gains relevance for niche projects, Netflix and Amazon are aggressively reshaping the traditional sales models. (As outlined by the Hollywood Reporter from Berlin “Netflix and Amazon Evolve From Industry Disrupters to Market Darlings.”) The rising importance of SVoD platforms is a simultaneously exciting and frightening prospect for television and indie filmmakers alike.
The panel join us in New Zealand as speakers at WIFT NZ’s third annual Co-production Summit – Up with the Play, a market-focussed programme for experienced producers working in film, television and digital media. This year the summit focuses on German/New Zealand co-productions.
Tuesday 28 February, 6:30pm drinks. 7-8pm talk. Studio One – Toi Tū, 1 Ponsonby Road. $10 koha suggested. Includes a glass of wine before the talk and a slice of pizza afterwards.
Proudly brought to you in collaboration with WIFT NZ, with support from Screen Auckland and the Goethe Institute.
While a global television renaissance provides an ever-evolving range of content for audiences, there is discontent within our own screen community around a lack of fresh and diverse local stories making it to air.
NZ on Air are responding to the rapidly changing environment by proposing changes the funding model for scripted projects, to take effect in July 2017. They are currently seeking feedback.
So what is the future of NZ television storytelling, or what could it be?
This month we bring together a panel who have made waves on and off the air in 2016, to talk about what they’ve learnt developing stories for television, their journeys getting content on air, and their visions for the future of NZ TV.
Come and join writer/director Gerard Johnstone (TERRY TEO), director Kiel McNaughton and producer Kerry Warkia (THIS IS PIKI), and writer Shoshana McCallum (ANIMALS) in a discussion chaired by Spinoff journalist and critic Duncan Grieve.
Tues 8 November 2016, The Classic, 321 Queen Street, 7pm drinks, 7:30-8:30pm talk. $5 koha appreciated.
Join us for a drink beforehand and stay afterwards for a slice of pizza on us!
TERRY TEO – Written and directed by Gerard Johnstone, Terry Teo follows the young crook turned detective on a mission to avenge his father’s murder. The 80s comic book hero is back! Watch it on TVNZ On Demand.
THIS IS PIKI – Brown Sugar Apple Grunt’s latest production This is Piki is a drama series about a talented young woman’s journey to find her identity within her whānau, the Māori world and Aotearoa. Directed by Kiel McNaughton and produced by Kerry Warkia. Watch it on Māori Television.
ANIMALS – Created by Shoshana McCallum and developed with Peter Salmon and Aidee Walker, ANIMALS is a TV pilot about three women who are holding on too tightly to their personal idea of happiness rather than following their hearts. Just when the decisions they make start to really matter. Watch the pilot here.
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NZ’s biggest film industry event of the year, the Big Screen Symposium, takes place on 24/25 September. Join us as an impressive group of international and local speakers address this year’s theme – Playing with Risk.
For the full list of exciting speakers and events, check out the program on our website here.
You don’t want to miss out on this amazing networking and learning opportunity. Be there to be informed, inspired, and be part of the community.
Follow us on facebook and twitter and be part of the Big Screen Symposium community.
Whether it’s odd-ball characters, slapstick or dark humour, in sketch or narrative content, are we making the most of our potential to write great comedic work for the screen? This September we bring together a panel of screenwriters and comedians for serious discussion about comedy.
Join us to hear from writer/actor Loren Taylor (EXISTENCE, EAGLE VS SHARK, KOMBI NATION), actor/writer Charlie Bleakley (CHILD PROOF, COCONUT), and writer/actor/director/producer Paul Yates (GIRL VS BOY, WHAT NOW?) as they talk to actor/writer/playwright Tom Sainsbury (SUPER CITY, DYNAMOTION) about the challenge of creating comedic stories and characters that come alive on screen.
Come early for a drink and stay afterwards for a slice of pizza on us.
Monday 12 September, 5.30pm drinks, 6-7pm talk. Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision, 84 Taranaki Street. $5 koha appreciated.
With the sheer number of films in the global market, what does it take to get your projects recognised on the international stage?
Fresh from Sundance, SXSW, Cannes’ Marché du Film and Berlin’s EFM, producers Robin Scholes, Ant Timpson and Alexander Behse come to together for a special market debrief chaired by producer Christina Milligan.
Don’t miss this chance to hear from those with years of market experience as they shed light on what distributors, sales agents, and other potential partners are looking for, what is capturing their attention right now, and why.
Tuesday 23rd August, 7pm drinks, 7:30-8:30 talk, The Classic, 321 Queen Street, $5 koha appreciated.
Make sure to stick around afterwards for a slice of pizza on us!
“Arguably the most important British filmmaker of his generation, Terence Davies is a poet of the cinema, at once austere and passionate … His films’ combination of art-film style and reverence for working-class popular culture is unique in British cinema.” – Film Critic and writer Tom Charity
Script to Screen and the New Zealand International Film Festival present a discussion with one of cinema’s most beloved auteurs, British writer/director Terence Davies.
Davies is here to present two films at this year’s festival. A QUIET PASSION, Davies’ portrait of 19th century poet Emily Dickinson, stars Cynthia Nixon and was described as ‘an absolute drop-dead masterwork’ by the New Yorker; and SUNSET SONG, his ‘ beautiful and brutal’ adaptation of Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s novel of the same name, stars Peter Mullan and Agyness Deyn.
Join us to hear director Terence Davies in conversation with writer Fiona Samuel, as they discuss his approach to cinema and his life’s work. The discussion takes place in the Wintergarden, following the Sunday screening of A QUIET PASSION.
Sunday 24th July, 4-5pm, The Wintergarden (The Civic’s basement), free entry
SCREENINGS
A Quiet Passion
Wed 27 July 10:30am, The Civic
Sunset Song
Mon 25 July 10.30am, The Civic
Born in Liverpool, Terence Davies is one of the most distinctive talents to have emerged from British cinema in the last thirty years. He shows a passionate concern with film craft, and his approach to filmmaking has been called “the cinematic equivalent of literature’s magic realism.” His feature film titles include DISTANT VOICES, STILL LIVES (1988), THE LONG DAY CLOSES (1992), THE NEON BIBLE (1995), THE HOUSE OF MIRTH (2000) and THE DEEP BLUE SEA (2011). All of his films have been critically acclaimed and received numerous nominations and awards in Britain and internationally.
Presented in partnership with the New Zealand International Film Festival.
Script to Screen and the NZ International Film Festival present a special discussion with the creative team behind highly anticipated NZ film THE REHEARSAL, which enjoys its world premiere at the festival.
THE REHEARSAL marks the return of avant-garde director Alison Maclean to New Zealand. Alison reunited with producers Bridget Ikin and Trevor Haysom, and co-wrote with novelist Emily Perkins, to adapt Eleanor Catton’s first novel for the screen.
“I want it to be an intimate, authentic experience of what it’s like to be a young person in New Zealand now.”- Alison Maclean.
Join us for a discussion with Alison Maclean, Bridget Ikin and Emily Perkins, as they talk to Philippa Campbell about adapting and making THE REHEARSAL. Hear them delve into the decisions made at each stage of the process to create the brave, modern film starring Kerry Fox and James Rolleston.
Tuesday 26th July, 3:15 – 4:15pm, The Wintergarden (basement level of The Civic), free entry
FILM SCREENINGS
Sat 23rd July, 8:30pm, The Civic
Tues 26th July, 1:15pm, The Civic
Presented in partnership with the New Zealand International Film Festival.
“Writing is like archaeology. Sometimes you find large pieces of bone, but sometimes the bones come out in fragments. The important thing is knowing how to dig.” – Duncan Sarkies
After delivering one of the most highly-rated sessions at 2015’s Big Screen Symposium, screenwriter Duncan Sarkies presents a session unearthing his learnings about the writing process. Join us as he explores the two phases of the writing process – finding a story, and building a project.
Duncan Sarkies is a screenwriter, novelist, performer and short story writer. In screen he is known for his screenplays SCARFIES and TWO LITTLE BOYS (adapted from his novel of the same name). He has also written two episodes of FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS, and has written for Australian comedy series MAXIMUM CHOPPAGE. His recent project is the podcast THE MYSTERIOUS SECRETS OF UNCLE BERTIE’S BOTANARIUM.
Come early for a drink and stay afterwards for a slice of pizza on us.
Thurs 16 June, The Classic, 321 Queen Street, 7pm drinks, 7:30-8:30pm talk. $5 koha appreciated.
Join us to hear dynamic writers Duncan Sarkies and Jo Randerson in a conversation exploring each other’s work and process. Both coming from cross-disciplinary backgrounds including theatre, fiction and film, the two come together to share ideas on collaborative techniques, writing and devising comedy, and how working across mediums refreshes the form.
Join us from 5:30pm for a glass of wine and stay afterwards for a slice of pizza on us!
Wed 1 June, Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision, 84 Taranaki Street. $5 koha appreciated (includes a glass of wine). Drinks 5:30pm, talk 6-7pm.