Script to Screen and Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga New Zealand Film Commission would like to thank all the filmmakers who applied for Whiringa Tuatahi – Stage One. There was a wealth of great ideas and some extremely strong talent to select from.
From a total of 112 applications, a panel of external film industry assessors shortlisted 18 projects. These shortlisted teams have been invited to apply for Whiringa Tuarua – Stage Two. At this stage, each team will be supported throughout so they can submit a full application.
The 18 shortlisted teams have a one in three chance of workshopping their project with industry experts and receiving a grant of $15,000 to make their film.
We now have great pleasure in announcing the projects and teams who have been shortlisted for Whiringa Tuarua – Stage Two of Kōpere Hou – Fresh Shorts 2021/22.
Congratulations to:
Script to Screen and Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga New Zealand Film Commission work in partnership to deliver the Kōpere Hou – Fresh Shorts programme.
Image: Stuntman (directed by Pavel Kvatch)
Kōpere Hou – Fresh Shorts is on the search for the next generation of up-and-coming NZ filmmakers.
Kōpere Hou – Fresh Shorts is an NZFC initiative run in partnership with Script to Screen. The programme’s aim is to nurture, challenge, and inspire short filmmaking talent through a development and industry mentoring process. The focus is on the development of both people and stories.
Six teams will be selected to receive up to $15,000 to facilitate the cost of making a short narrative film. The films can be live-action, animation or documentary, with a duration of between four and 25 minutes. The teams behind each of these projects will attend a two-day development workshop in March 2022 and be matched with an experienced industry practitioner to receive six weeks of mentoring to get their project ‘shoot ready’.
Kōpere Hou – Fresh Shorts 2021 applications open Monday 30 August and close at 1pm on 11 October. There are two stages to the application process.
At Whiringa Tuatahi – Stage One you will need to have a writer, director and producer, and to submit the following:
A shortlist of 18 teams will be invited to submit a Whiringa Tuatahi – Stage Two application in mid-November. From the shortlist, six projects will receive $15,000 grants. The teams behind each of these projects will attend a two-day development workshop from 19-20 March 2022 and be matched with an experienced industry practitioner to receive six weeks of mentoring to get their project ‘shoot ready’.
Criteria and requirements for the assessment of both Whiringa Tuatahi – Stage One and Whiringa Tuatahi – Stage Two can be viewed on our website.
Script to Screen and the NZFC will hold an online Q&A about this new application process for Kōpere Hou – Fresh Shorts on 16 September 2021, at 5.30 pm.
If you have any questions please contact Script to Screen: FreshShorts@script-to-screen.co.nz
Kōpere Hou – Fresh Shorts is a New Zealand Film Commission Short Film Fund and Script to Screen manages the reading, assessment, workshop and mentoring aspects of the Fresh Shorts Development Programme.
– Nayheon Lee (2020 participant)
Story Camp Aotearoa is a residential feature film workshop that cultivates exceptional filmmaking by fostering voice, honing craft, and clarifying vision and kaupapa. Talented storytellers workshop their film project with esteemed advisors from here and abroad.
Story Camp 2021 seeks feature film projects from a well-developed treatment through to an advanced development stage. Up to eight selected writers or teams will participate in a rigorous five-day experience designed specifically to meet the development needs of their project.
Story sessions between advisors and participants form the backbone of the week. As the programme is tailored to each project, the process can also include project-based group workshops; workshopping with actors; strengthening and clarifying the director’s vision, and making good decisions together under pressure.
“Overall I think the entire Story Camp was a huge success, for me personally and for us as a team. I think the varied sessions provide a great mix of the creative and professional development for the advancement of any script.”
Past advisors have included Mexican screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga (Amores Perros, 21 Grams, Babel), producer Philippa Campbell (Top of the Lake, Rubbings from a Live Man), director and writer Jane Campion (Top of The Lake, The Piano), producer and director Ainsley Gardiner (Cousins, Boy, The Breaker Upperers),filmmaker & Artistic Director of the Sundance Directors’ Lab Gyula Gazdag, poet and academic Anahera Gildea, Hollywood writer & longstanding Sundance mentor Michael Goldenberg (Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix), renowned painter Star Gossage, playwright, screenwriter and director Briar Grace-Smith (Cousins, The Strength Of Water), NZ-based Korean installation artist Yona Lee, EP and producer Andrew Mason (The Matrix Trilogy, Tomorrow When The War Began), writer/actor Bret McKenzie (Flight of the Conchords), dramaturg and story consultant Brita McVeigh, choreographer Moss Te Ururangi Patterson (Atamira, Black Grace, Footnote), New Zealand International Film Festival Director Marten Rabarts, Australian producer Kath Shelper (Samson & Delilah, Tender), actor/writer/director Loren Taylor (Eagle vs Shark), legendary US screenwriter Joan Tewkesbury (McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Thieves Like Us, Nashville), emerging technologies artist and filmmaker Lynette Wallworth (Awavena, Collisions) and veteran NZ film producer and EP Tim White (The Luminaires, I Am Mother, The Dark Horse).
Don’t miss this opportunity to propel your film closer to production with expert support.
APPLICATIONS OPEN NOW
APPLICATIONS CLOSE: 11:59 PM, 09 August 2021
STORY CAMP AOTEAROA DATES: 22 – 27 November 2021
We’re proud to launch Paerangi Project – a programme designed to reach fresh, distinctive and authentic voices across Aotearoa.
Paerangi offers accessible learning about how to develop your own short film or web series idea. It is for new and emerging talent living across Aotearoa, and enables you to make screen stories in your own backyard.
The programme is for those interested in developing a short film or web series who have not had the opportunity to learn about filmmaking. This lack of opportunity could be for a variety of reasons, for example, you may be living in a remote region, an isolated situation or face social, economic or accessibility barriers.
Stage One, delivered online, gives you access to a series of video tutorials delivered by experienced filmmakers. The tutorials lead you through the process of developing your own concept including writing, directing, producing and pitching, and gives homework exercises to complete in your own time alongside the video tutorials.
Contributors to the video are: Alex Lovell (My Friend Michael Jones, Mister Sunshine), Dianne Taylor (Apron Strings, Beyond the Known World, Hauraki), Emmett Skilton (Millennial Jenny, Auckward Love), Hamish Bennett (Bellbird, Ross & Beth, The Dump), Jaimee Poipoi (Electric Shoelace Productions), Karin Williams (SIS), Marina Alofagia McCartney (Vai, Milk & Honey), Morgan Leigh Stewart (K’ Rd Stories, Bird’s Eye! Deathgasm), Robyn Grace (Power Rangers: Dino Charge, Sweet Tooth, Oranges and Lemons), Shoshana McCallum (Head High, Creamerie, West Side,) and Sophie Henderson (The Justice of Bunny King, Baby Done, Fantail).
Registration for Stage One is open now!
At Stage Two, participants who registered for Stage One are eligible to apply for a six-week mentorship with an experienced filmmaker who will guide them as they refine their short film or web series project. The homework exercises you complete in Stage One form the basis of the Stage Two application.
And at Stage Three, up to four teams are invited to a three-day residential development lab in Auckland where they will develop their project even further, receiving tailored script feedback, directing mentoring, and producing advice from industry mentors.
Paerangi Project is made possible thanks to generous support from Screenrights Cultural Fund and New Zealand Film Commission.
Script to Screen, in partnership with Northland Youth Theatre, presents a free four-day film workshop in the July school holidays for 15 – 23 year olds.
The workshop helps young participants to develop skills in crafting a story idea, writing a script, and acting. The aim of the workshop is to foster writing talent and encourage aspiring filmmakers. No experience or prior knowledge of filmmaking is necessary.
On Day 1, participants will hear from writer/director Hamish Bennett (The Dump, Ross & Beth, Bellbird) about finding a story they want to tell and crafting a narrative that is compelling on screen. On Day 2, participants will develop their own film concept and write a scene for their film, guided by actor Laurel Devenie (Shortland Street).
On Day 3 Laurel will lead a workshop on acting for the screen, including working with the scenes written the day before. Each participant will get the chance to act in a scene. On the last day, we will tape the scenes, watch them as a group and discuss what was learned.
Tuesday 13 July – Fri 16 July
9am – 2:30pm each day
Northland Youth Theatre, 86 Bank St, Whangarei 0110
Morning Tea, Lunch and Afternoon Tea provided. However, if you have special dietary requirements (gluten free, dairy free, keto, paleo, etc) please bring food with you.
The workshop is free but please register via EventBrite as spaces are limited.
This workshop is presented in partnership with Northland Youth Theatre and is made possible thanks to generous support from New Zealand Film Commission and Foundation North.
Frenzied screaming aside, fans can bring an unexpected energy to your project, promoting it to their peers in ways that you never imagined. They can power up your project by funding it, sharing it, showing up for it and keeping it in the conversation.
Fans have created ‘Always blow on the pie’ t-shirts, Kiri & Lou birthday cakes, and wooden kitset figures of Jacinda and Ashley’s 1pm daily briefings. Embrace them and mobilise them, just as Wellington Paranormal did with Covid Safety messages, Hunt for the Wilderpeople did with Instagram stickers, and Tākaro Tribe did with talking dolls, and you will reap the benefits.
These local productions engage fans to grow and cultivate a loyal audience and we want you to join their ranks. Find out what you can do, not just after release but during development and at all stages of production to feed the fans.
In this TALK, globally recognised speaker on fans and online communities Sacha Judd and Gemma Gracewood editor-in-chief at Letterboxd will go through some case studies to show the power of fans. They will discuss fans, merchandise, cosplay, conventions, and the delightful power of letting your audience help chart your project’s course—all the way to a sequel, a franchise, a spin-off and beyond.
Thurs 17 June 2021
6:30pm – 7:30pm – TALK
7:30 – 8:30pm – Cash bar, socialising, networking and pizza
TAPAC, 100 Motions Rd, Western Springs, Auckland
After the TALK, stay and have pizza on Script to Screen, there will be a cash bar and socialising with fellow filmmakers.
$5.75 (incl. GST) for sales via EventBrite to secure your seat.
$5 cash at the door.
Book your ticket in advance to secure your seat. When you book your ticket via Eventbrite, there’ll be an opportunity for you to guide the discussion by submitting a question ahead of time.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
SACHA JUDD
Sacha runs the Hoku Group, a family office combining private investments, early-stage tech ventures and a non-profit foundation. She was a founder of Refactor (a series of events around diversity in technology), and Flounders’ Club (a network for early-stage company founders). She speaks at conferences and in-house events on diversity & inclusion in the tech sector, fandom and online communities, and how fans will transform the world.
This TALK is presented in association with the Aotearoa Screen Publicists Collective.
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This workshop has now reached capacity. You may join the waitlist if you are still interested in attending and we will contact you if a space becomes available.
Due to popular demand, we’re excited to be bringing you another Auckland workshop! Join us for a one-day workshop in Waitākere this June to learn how to jumpstart your feature film idea or revitalise an old one. This interactive and practical one-day workshop will give you the means to propel your feature film project forward.
Over the course of one day, Hamish Bennett (Bellbird) will explore character and story and how the two are intertwined. He will use clips and examples to support the learning.
Hamish will talk about how to tap into your own knowledge and experiences to build a story that is authentic and memorable. He will also talk about his process preparing as a director and give you methods for making time for writing when you’re not a full-time writer.
No matter what your experience is, come along. The passion that drives you to create will be invigorated and you’ll come away with new knowledge and ideas to further develop your stories.
Saturday 12 June 2021
9:00am – 5:00pm
The Seminar Room, Level 1, Lopdell Precinct, 418 Titirangi Road, Titirangi, Auckland
Parking: Free parking behind the Lopdell building, entrance is off South Titirangi Road. Alternative parking is available outside the building on Titirangi Road or at the parking building opposite – off South Titirangi Road.
Who it is for: Emerging to established filmmakers. If you are at the beginning stages of writing a feature film or are interested in writing a film this workshop will be very beneficial.
Cost: General Admission $23 (incl. GST) via EventBrite
What to Bring: Pen and paper. Please bring your own lunch or there are plenty of cafes in the area if you wish to buy lunch. Snacks, tea and coffee will be provided.
This Script to Screen workshop is made possible thanks to generous support from Auckland Council Creative Communities and the New Zealand Film Commission.
“Nōku te whiwhi ki te mahi i runga i tēnei kaupapa whakamīharo. FilmUp was a game-changer for me and my career – the intensives allowed me to work with incredible mentors, peers and form relationships which lead to me directing on a prime-time drama and developing my feature film. I highly recommend this amazing opportunity!”
– Cian Elyse White,
FilmUp 2020 participant (mentor Louise Gough)
“FilmUp is brilliant! It’s the knowledge that someone has your back, and you aren’t doing this filmmaking thing alone. That support is invaluable especially at the beginning of a project when filmmaking often feels very solo.”
– Vanessa Wells,
FilmUp 2020 participant (Mentor Justin Pemberton)
Want to build momentum in your career and push yourself to your full potential?
The FilmUp Mentorship programme returns for its ninth year 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 or documentary this programme could be just what you need to progress your work to the next stage.
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 FilmUp hubs spread between August 2021 and February 2022. 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.
Since its inception in 2013, FilmUp has gone from strength to strength, with a growing alumni of talented local filmmakers who have benefitted 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 (James & Isey, 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. Here’s what’s required for the application:
APPLICATIONS CLOSE: Tues 18 May, 11:59pm
Make sure you read our Top Tips to make your FilmUp application shine while crafting your application.
FilmUp is made possible thanks to financial support from the New Zealand Film Commission
We’ve made some changes to the roll-out of our high-end intensive development programmes for 2021. So if you are a filmmaker planning to apply to FilmUp, Story Camp or Strength in Numbers in 2021 make sure these dates are on your radar!
All of our high-end, contestable programmes are open nationally and take place in Auckland. Travel will be covered for selected participants from outside of Auckland. Due to COVID-19 and current New Zealand government border restrictions, all applicants must be residing in New Zealand at the time of applying.
All programmes are contingent on funding.
FilmUp
FilmUp is a nine-month professional development programme for practising writers, directors and producers. It supports and empowers up to eight emerging to senior practising filmmakers selected each year to further develop a project and participate in group workshops. Throughout the programme, each participant receives 20 hours of mentorship with an esteemed industry mentor, participates in group work & round tables, and receives wrap-around support.
Applications Open: Early May 2021
Applications Close: Mid June 2021
Group Workshops Held: from August 2021 – April 2022
Story Camp Aotearoa
Story Camp Aotearoa is a residential feature film lab that fosters craft, voice and vision. Eight selected screenwriters or creative teams workshop their projects with exceptional international and local advisors in a rigorous five-day experience designed specifically to meet the development needs of a feature film.
Applications Open: Early July 2021
Applications Close: Mid August 2021
Residential Lab: Five Days in Late November
Strength in Numbers
Strength in Numbers is focused on building sustainable businesses in our screen industry. Selected filmmakers participate in a series of workshops over a 5 to 6 month period. The programme offers a unique opportunity for practitioners in the screen industry to work together on the building blocks of business models that will sustain their future.
Applications Open: Late September 2021
Applications Close: Early November 2021
Group Workshops held: from February 2022 – June 2022
Image: Story Camp 2020. Credit: Evie Mackay Photography
Six filmmaking teams have been selected for funding through the 2020 round of Fresh Shorts and will each receive a grant of $15,000 to make their short film.
The final six were selected from a pool of 97 applications. 18 teams were shortlisted and given feedback from independent assessors. Supported by Fresh Shorts facilitator Miriam Smith they submitted a more detailed application to Whiringa Tuarua – Stage Two in January. From the 18 submissions, six were selected.
Script to Screen and the New Zealand Film Commission will partner to support the development of these films with a two-day lab in March and a six-week mentorship process following the lab to get the teams shoot ready.
Chris Payne, Head of International Relations and Fresh Shorts panel member at the New Zealand Film Commission said, “The panel was impressed with the originality, diversity, and strength of the directors’ voices, they all have something important to say, and we’re excited to support their progression.”
Jackie Dennis, Executive Director of Script to Screen who was also part of the selection process said, “This is a fantastic group of filmmakers who have really engaging stories to tell – and it’s a ground shift to see five of the six directors are female! We are now tailoring the two-day workshop and mentorship support to match the needs of each team and their project.”
The 6 selected teams and their projects are:
Fresh Shorts is a New Zealand Film Commission initiative run in partnership with Script to Screen.
