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 brings a one and a half day workshop on screenwriting to Rotorua. This is your opportunity to learn from IIML’s Master of Scriptwriting programme director, Ken Duncum.
We are excited to be bringing this interactive and practical workshop to the Bay of Plenty aimed at helping you navigate through the complexities of writing a feature film. Over the course of one weekend, Ken Duncum will coach and cajole you through a process of developing your own film idea, giving you tips for finding and building a story that resonates.
Don’t miss this interactive and practical workshop that will help you navigate through the complexities of writing a feature film.
“Ken Duncum is an exceptional teacher. The structure and underlying philosophy of his approach to script writing provides me with the perspective and courage to write more and write better . ”
– 2018 Auckland Workshop participant
When:
Sat 24 Aug, 9am – 4pm
Sun 25 Aug, 10am – 3pm
Where:
Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology
Rotorua Mokoia Campus, Gate 1, G Block – Lecture Theatre G210. The lecture theatre is an accessible space.
Directions: Enter the Campus at Gate 1, drive straight down the driveway until you reach block G. Parking is to the left of the building. After entering the building, come to level 2 via stairs or elevator.
Cost: General Admission $20 (incl. 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, and the campus is 5mins drive from central Rotorua. There will be space available to eat your lunch if you would like to bring it with you.
Who it is for: This workshop is aimed at emerging to established filmmakers who are writing a feature film. However 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. Suitable for ages 17+.
This workshop is presented in partnership with the Bay of Plenty Film Office, and is made possible with financial support from Rotorua District Creative Communities and the New Zealand Film Commission.
The New Zealand International Film Festival (NZIFF) and Script to Screen are thrilled to present these very special TALKS with the filmmakers behind three highly anticipated films BELLBIRD, JUDY & PUNCH, and ANIMALS.
Join us after each screening to hear first hand from Hamish Bennett (BELLBIRD), Mirrah Foulkes (JUDY & PUNCH) and Sophie Hyde (ANIMALS) about their connection with the story and their experience getting the story to the screen.
The TALKS are free, but to see the film beforehand you need to book your ticket through the NZIFF website. TALKS held at the ASB Waterfront Theatre are held in the cinema immediately after the film. TALKS held at the Civic are in the Wintergarden, downstairs from the main foyer, immediately after the film.
BELLBIRD
Ross (Marshall Napier) is the third generation on the small family dairy farm and he’s determined that son Bruce (Cohen Holloway) will follow suit. Bruce, however, makes for a squeamish farmer and would be perfectly content to stick with his job reinventing abandoned treasures at the town dump. Civic Wintergarden | Sat 20 July | after the 5:45pm screening. Hamish Bennett, Catherine Fitzgerald and Orlando Stewart with moderator Dame Gaylene Preston (1hr).
JUDY & PUNCH
Mia Wasikowska and Damon Herriman represent the titular duo, reimagined as a puppeteering couple whose artistic quarrels – and Punch’s mishandling of their baby – lead to an epic revenge fable awash with bloody satire and pitch-black comedy. Civic Wintergarden | Thu 25 July | after the 3:30pm screening. Mirrah Foulkes with moderator Chelsie Preston-Crayford (1hr). Civic Wintergarden | Fri 26 July | after the 6:30pm screening. Mirrah Foulkes with moderator Robyn Malcolm (1hr).
Mirrah Foulkes’ visit is supported by 
ANIMALS
Holliday Grainger and Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development) are thirty-something best friends in Dublin, where partying hard is still their way to have fun, but the reality of getting older is getting harder to ignore. ASB Waterfront Theatre | Thurs 25 July | after the 8:30pm screening. Sophie Hyde with moderator Robyn Malcolm (30mins) ASB Waterfront Theatre | Fri 26 July | after the 3:00pm screening. Sophie Hyde with moderator Armagan Ballantyne (30mins)
Senior executives, producers, showrunners and writers of internationally acclaimed shows, including American Horror Story, Better Call Saul, Bloodline, Glee, Glitch, Marcella, Please Like Me, Succession and Supergirl, will arrive in New Zealand next week to be advisors in an intensive week-long Series Drama Lab designed to develop strong New Zealand projects for the international and domestic market.
The Series Drama Lab is part of Raupapa Whakaari: Drama to the World, a new initiative from the New Zealand Film Commission and NZ On Air delivered in conjunction with Script to Screen. The initiative supports ten talented New Zealand writer/producer teams to develop distinctive, high-end scripted series with international and domestic appeal.
The advisor line-up includes Caitlin Parrish creator, writer and producer (The Red Line, Supergirl); Chris Loveall Vice President, International Programming for AMC, SundanceTV and BBC America (EP Fortitude, Please Like Me); Chris Oliver-Taylor CEO of Fremantle Media Australia; Christine Bartlett a writer, creator and producer (Five Bedrooms , The Wrong Girl); multiple Emmy award winning producer Dante Di Loreto (Temple Grandin, American Horror Story, Glee); Jonathan Glatzer writer, producer, director (Succession, Better Call Saul, Bloodline); Louise Fox co-creator, writer, producer (Glitch, Broadchurch); Nicola Larder co-creator, executive producer (Marcella).
Annabelle Sheehan, CEO of the New Zealand Film Commission, said, “The excellence and high profile credits of the international advisors will provide significant inspiration for our New Zealand creative teams regarding their work with the global marketplace. The week focuses on the commercial and creative drivers for producers and showrunners and will help shape the next wave of New Zealand series drama for New Zealand and the rest of the world.”
NZ On Air CEO, Jane Wrightson said, “The combined brainpower of a stellar lineup of international advisors with outstanding local talent and their ideas has great promise – we are very much looking forward to seeing the next stage of these Raupapa Whakaari projects. ”
Script to Screen Executive Director Jackie Dennis said, “This hasn’t happened in New Zealand before. The writers and producers coming to the Series Drama Lab will develop their projects with advisors who have worked on exceptional shows that have found dedicated audiences all around the world. I can’t wait to see the results.”
The international advisors will take part in panels, conversations and case studies and provide feedback on participating teams’ series drama concepts in story and market meetings.
The ten teams have received initial development of $10,000. Following the Series Drama Lab and submission of the re-worked projects, four teams will be selected to receive additional development funding of up to $80,000 each.
The Fresh Shorts programme offers grants of up to $15,000 to six new or emerging filmmaker teams to make a short film.
As part of the Fresh Shorts development process, shortlisted teams of filmmakers will be supported to attend a three-day residential lab 8-10 November, and to receive mentoring while they refine their scripts and proposals. Filmmakers who have attended previous development labs have been overwhelmingly positive about the experience.
Script to Screen is delighted to have Karin Williams join the Script to Screen team as Fresh Shorts Facilitator. Karin was Development Executive for the New Zealand Film Commission 2015 to 2018 and is an independent producer. She brings extensive experience as a producer and script assessor, and is passionate about supporting the next generation of filmmakers.
The 2019 round of Fresh Shorts is now open. Guidelines, pointers and other supporting documentation can be found at the Script to Screen website
Applications are made via the Application Portal
Enquiries can be directed to Fresh Shorts Facilitator Karin Williams
Applications close 1pm Monday 19 August
Image used is from Fresh Short film Shadow Cut
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FRESH SHORTS is a New Zealand Film Commission initiative run in partnership with Script to Screen.
Script to Screen, in partnership with Northland Youth Theatre, presents a free four-day film workshop in the July school holidays for 16-25 year olds.
The workshop will help participants 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 Days 1 and 2, participants will hear from writer/director Michael Bennett (In Dark Places, Matariki) about finding a story, crafting the story so that it is compelling on screen, and writing a scene.
On Days 3 and 4, actor Laurel Devenie (Shortland Street), will lead an acting workshop, using the scenes that were written earlier in the week. Each participant will get a chance to act in a scene. On the last day we will tape the scenes and watch them back.
When: Tuesday 9th – Friday 12th July, 9am-2pm
Light morning tea and snacks are provided. Please bring lunch with you.
Where: Northland Youth Theatre, 86 Bank St, Whangarei 0110
How much: Free!
Registration: Places are limited – please register via EventBrite
Presented in partnership with:
Michael Bennett (Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Whakaue) is an award-winning screenwriter, filmmaker and author. Michael’s second feature-length drama, IN DARK PLACES, tells the story of Teina Pora’s imprisonment for 21 years for crimes he did not commit. The television film is based on Michael’s book In Dark Places which won the Ngaio Marsh Award for best non-fiction book, and Michael made an award-winning documentary about Teina’s story. Michael’s short films COW and KEROSENE CREEK screened at numerous film festivals including Cannes, Toronto, Berlin, London and New York, and his debut feature MATARIKI premiered at Toronto Film Festival and won awards in New Zealand and internationally.
Michael has written and directed for many television drama series. As well as his own film and TV and book work, Michael works in communities around New Zealand with Script to Screen working with locals to tell their stories on film, he works with developing filmmakers through the NZ Film Commission and Ngā Aho Whakaari, and is head of the screenwriting programme at South Seas Film School. Michael’s second book, Helen and the Go-Go Ninjas (a post-apocalyptic time travel graphic novel co-authored with Ant Sang) was published by Penguin / Random House June 2018.
In 2015 Michael founded 10000 COMPANY with Jane Holland to create and develop original film and television projects. Their first production was In Dark Places.
Laurel Devenie works as an actor, director, teacher and theatre-maker and is a graduate of Toi Whakaari and the John Bolton Theatre School. She has played the role of Kate Nathan on SHORTLAND STREET for the last three and a half years and has worked consistently throughout the country in many different theatrical arenas, involved in both professional and community theatre projects. She has worked with ATC, Silo Theatre, Capital E, Unitec, Prayas, Downstage Theatre, Red Leap and NYT. She teaches regularly and works with actors in one on one sessions. She is director and founder of Company of Giants and co-instigator of ONEONESIX and is deeply committed to developing an audience and contributing to the growth of a professional performing arts framework in Whangarei, as well as generating youth based opportunities within the arts. She has facilitated arts based community programmes to work with different sectors of the community, most recently a collaboration with the NDHB facilitating an Arts programme to support a diverse group of young people living with T1 Diabetes in Northland, co-ordinating performance, photography, song, sound artists and visual arts into a cohesive year long process.
Northland Film Workshop is made possible thanks to
New Zealand Film Commission and Foundation North.
There’s big difference between writing a screenplay and writing a screenplay that people will read till the last page.
Join us for a one-day screenwriting workshop with experienced NZ screenwriter Nick Ward (Stickmen, Second-Hand Wedding, Outrageous Fortune, The Almighty Johnsons), who has an extensive career in screenwriting, from feature films to television.
In an entertaining in-depth workshop, Nick shares his secrets to writing a screenplay that engages the reader and reads professionally. Come and hear how to inspire producers, avoid the common pitfalls and deal with the tough realities of getting your story to the big screen.
This workshop is suitable for screenwriters of all levels, from beginners to those with experience, and directors and producers are also welcome.
If you attended the Christchurch workshop with Nick Ward in 2015 please feel welcome to come again. The workshop is organic in form and responsive to questions from the audience, so will naturally take a different shape to last time.
When: Saturday 8 April 2017, 9am – 5pm.
Where: CPIT Broadcasting School, Television Studio – 171 Madras Street, accessible through the car park on the corner of Madras Street and Southwark Street, Christchurch. MAP.
Cost: The workshop is free.
Coffee, tea, biscuits and fruit provided. Please bring your own lunch or buy from one of the cafes nearby.
Registration: Please RSVP to Sjionel sjionel@script-to-screen.co.nz or 09 360 5400.
This workshop is made possible with support from the Creative Communities Scheme.