Vale Tony Hiles

It is with regret that we record the passing of one of our colleagues, Tony Hiles.

Tony arrived in Wellington from England in the mid-sixties and started making commercials for Stan Wemyss’ production house. In 1969 he moved to TVNZ to direct and produce a variety of shows – factual, magazine, and comedy. High energy with a cutting sense of humour, Tony enlivened the Avalon TV centre (and club) for a decade.

1980 saw Tony and partner Judith Fife (at the time a TV presenter and now a lawyer) start their own production company – City Associates – making social documentaries.

Flight of Fancy marked the start of a life-long creative relationship with painter Michael Smither. In Flight of Fancy, Michael built wings and tried to fly. The film won a special jury prize at the NZ Adventure Film Festival.

A credit for consultant producer on Peter Jackson’s Bad Taste was followed by his own feature film Jack Brown Genius which he wrote and directed. Described as “a romantic comedy fantasy”, it was another film about flying. This time a modern inventor channels a tenth century monk to create a flying machine. The film won him a Best Director award at the NZ Film and Television Awards.

In 2009 Tony started a series of documentaries about Michael Smither, each one screening in the NZIFF. He was working on the last one when he was diagnosed with a rare form of dementia – Lewy Body Dementia. Tony was determined to find a positive in it and commenced recording his experience for other sufferers.

As he says on his website https://www.lewybodyandme.com/ “I’m determined to die laughing.”

He is survived by partner Judith, daughter Jo (production manager), sons Chris (sound recordist) and Trent, and stepson Jock.

 

Howard Taylor
President

Last updated on 9 February 2021

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Rehearsal Dynamics with Miranda Harcourt

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Rehearsal Dynamics with Miranda Harcourt

Want to supercharge your work with actors? Rehearsal Dynamics is a full-day DEGNZ director’s workshop on March 7 with acting coach, actor and director Miranda Harcourt.

We will work practically with actors, referring to case studies and focusing on the directors’ skills of diagnosis, solution, preparation and communication using Miranda’s 5 tools:

Connection
White Space
Internal landscape
Vista + Objects
Journey

All directors will work on a task in break outs during the morning session. Then in the afternoon, six of the directors will rehearse and direct pairs of actors on 2-minute scenes, while the rest observe. The Guild will select the Director Participants and Observers (limited spaces) from applications.

About Miranda Harcourt

Miranda is an acting coach, actor and director. Miranda’s specialty is screen naturalism. Her approach is based on years of writing and performing Verbatim theatre in prisons in New Zealand, Australia and the UK, as well as her work as an on-set acting coach with renowned actors and directors on films all over the world.

She has taught at TIFF in Toronto, at NFTS and NYU Tisch, The London Film School and Directors UK in Britain, at AFTRS and The Hub in Sydney, at Toi Whakaari, The Actors’ Program, Otago University and Victoria University in Aotearoa. For seven years Miranda was the Head of the Acting Department at Toi Whakaari – New Zealand Drama School.

In her work with actors and directors, Miranda aims to shift paradigms, empowering creatives to realise their own talent. She introduces simple but innovative ways of thinking about and achieving connection and character. She has developed a series of tools and exercises for use in rehearsal and on-set that get actors to where they need to be, fast.

Workshop Details

Price: 
DEGNZ member – Free
Non-member – Participant $95; Observer $45

Lunch, tea and coffee included.

When: Sunday 7 March 2021, 10am – 5pm

Where: Auckland venue TBC

Preparation if selected: All participants shall receive a provocation to prepare. We will also ask Director Participants to email us a 2-page script for two performers, not written by the director. These will be distributed to the actors a week before the workshop.

Eligibility

  • Rehearsal Dynamics is for directors who are considered to be mid-career, emerging or established talent.
  • Priority will be given to those who are actively engaged in directing or preparing to direct narrative drama.
  • To be eligible to apply, you must have narrative directing experience. This can be in feature film, scripted drama, telefeatures, short films and/or web series. Please contact us if you’re unsure.

To Apply

Applications Close: Monday 22 February, 10AM

STEP 1: Complete the registration form below.

STEP 2: Send in one PDF to tema@deganz.co.nz:

  • your bio with filmography, and
  • a brief, maximum 1-page letter that summarises why you would like to participate and how you think this workshop could benefit your current or upcoming work or projects.

Late or incomplete applications will not be accepted.

Registration Form

 

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This initiative is brought to you with the generous support of the New Zealand Film Commission.

NZFC

Last updated on 4 February 2021

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Direct South: Short Film Workshops Starting in February

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Direct South_ Short Film Workshops

DEGNZ presents three award-winning filmmakers in a workshop series for short film directors in Te Waipounamu South Island.

Thousands of short films get made every year by filmmakers around the world. One challenge for directors is how do you direct a short film that gets noticed by audiences and the industry, especially when you invest so much of yourself in your film?

Hear how three filmmakers made their acclaimed shorts and what they learnt doing them. You’ll have the opportunity to ask questions and discover ways to improve your craft and your projects. Direct South brings you three perspectives as each director shares practical insights into their personal directing process for short film.

Tutor Lineup

Jackie van Beek  //  Sat 27 February
Christchurch & Online

Zia Mandviwalla  //  Sat 10 April
Blenheim & Online

Michelle Savill  //  Sun 30 May
Dunedin & Online

A hybrid series, workshops will be in Christchurch, Blenheim and Dunedin, while participants can also join and interact with us on Zoom.

Get the full details > 

Last updated on 3 February 2021

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Film Talk: Rūrangi

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Rūrangi

We’re excited for new homegrown drama Rūrangi to release at Rialto Cinemas.

Burnt-out trans activist Caz Davis returns to Rurangi, the rural dairy community he fled ten years ago, hoping to reconnect with his father, who hasn’t heard from him since before Caz transitioned. As father and son slowly reconcile, Caz finds himself swept up in the environmental fight which is dividing the town.

Join us for the Film Talk event where writer/producer Cole Meyers and producer Craig Gainsborough will do a Q&A after the screening of the film.

We look forward to seeing you there!

When: Friday 5 February 2021 at 7:45pm
Where: Rialto Cinemas Newmarket, 167-169 Broadway, Newmarket, Auckland

Film Industry Member tickets $12

Book now

Last updated on 28 July 2021

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Welcome to 2021-A Year of Positive Uncertainty

Considering the significant impact of COVID on the entertainment industry, it’s hard not to be pleased with the incredible amount of activity going on in the New Zealand screen industry right now.

New Zealand is being seen as a good, safe destination to shoot in, with a number of international productions happening and others wanting to come in. This means crews are busy and getting paid well, more New Zealand actors are getting cast in roles that at another time would have gone to internationals, and the economic impact of the spend is going around the country.

As well, New Zealand productions, whether domestic or coproduction, are also happening. Vegas in Rotorua, One Lane Bridge in Queenstown, Mystic’s going again, Head High has gotten another series, The Panthers is shooting. These are just some of the bigger ones, in addition to the many small and medium-sized productions that typically get made in any given year.

Producers are lining up with projects for the Premium Drama Fund. A number of these will shoot this year. Shortly, the development component of the PDF will come out. All this on top of the typical funding from our three content funding bodies.

What’s the problem? Well crew rates and budgets for a start.

Crew are putting their prices up because demand exceeds supply, making it very difficult for NZ productions to get highly experienced crew. So if you’ve got an inexperienced teenager, relative or friend who’s been longing to get into film and TV, there’s never been a better time.

Budgets from the funding bodies for regular production haven’t increased, which means NZ can’t compete with their international dollars. The Premium Fund projects have hopefully taken increased rates into account, but for right now this is a one-off fund. Now is the time to lobby Government for more money for the funding bodies. This is particularly the case for NZFC as filmmakers are essentially paying—not getting paid—to make their low-budget films. While independently-funded films often operate in this way, it shouldn’t be the case for films funded by NZFC.

On the big picture front, we’ve heard that the Screen Industry Workers Bill is walking at tortoise pace while the government puts the afterburner on Fair Pay Agreements. Movement is happening on the proposed pan-sector body The Copyright Act Review is stuck in limbo. Considerable effort is going into the shaping and establishment of the Workforce Development Councils, driven out of the Reform of Vocational Education. This is a real positive for the screen sector as it will hopefully provide pathways into screen sector work that will address the shortages we face on the crew side particularly, but also in other areas.

Frankly, though, we are in a pretty good place considering. Now we just have to pray like hell that those COVID variants don’t wreak havoc on what could be a very good year for us all.

 

Tui Ruwhiu
Executive Director

 

Last updated on 27 January 2021

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