Day One Shorts (formerly Someday Stories) Selects Townsend’s ‘Wilbert Wire’

Day One Shorts (formerly Someday Stories) selected DEGANZ member Ricky Townsend‘s Wilbert Wire as one of the eight commissioned projects for 2024.

Ricky is the project’s writer/director and is joined by Ella Waswo (producer) and Joseph Chamsay (co-producer) to bring his sci-fi/family short film to life. It follows a robot art student, othered by his human teacher and classmates, who is tasked with creating a painting about love.

Day One Shorts will provide the scripted teams with $20k to produce their films. They will also receive wrap-around talent development support, including workshops, professional script consultancy, and mentorships for the directors and producers.

This support has already kicked off for the year as Day One welcomed the teams to come together for the programme’s annual two-day hui. During the two days, they worked with development consultants, spoke with former series alumni, and took part in workshops from industry professionals.

We look forward to seeing Wilbert Wire when it comes out later this year!

Last updated on 29 February 2024

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Missing in Action

View from the Top banner

There’s a coalition government in power now whose focus is on the economy and righting what they see as the wrongs of the government before.

I decided to go trawling to see if there was any hope for the arts, culture and heritage or the media and communications sectors in the government’s communications.

A visit to the National Party website—some of which is still worded as if they haven’t won the election yet—didn’t turn up anything. I reviewed the Eight Point Commitment Card, the Fiscal Plan, the 100-Day Action Plan and the 100-Point Action Plan. Nothing.

Next, I took a look at the NZ First Website and the NZ First National Party Coalition Agreement. Nada.

So I went to the Act Party website and their coalition agreement with National. No rays of sunshine there.

I took a look at what our Ministers, Melissa Lee for Media and Comms and Paul Goldsmith for Culture and Heritage, have been saying via speeches and press releases. A couple of warm fuzzies but not for the screen sector from Minister Lee. And from Minister Goldsmith, some press releases from his other portfolios.

Getting desperate I went to the Ministry of Culture and Heritage’s (MCH) website and read the Overarching Briefing For The Incoming Ministers for Arts, Culture and Heritage 2023, and the Briefing For The Incoming Minister For Media and Communications 2023. At last something positive. Sort of.

The briefings are documents to inform the incoming Ministers about their portfolios. And some hopes from the Ministry on what they would like the Ministers to consider and do, in light of the government’s priorities as outlined in all the plans and coalition agreements mentioned earlier. Which of course had nothing to say about arts, culture and heritage, and media and communications. But as the government has made it very clear what its priorities are, MCH has, where possible, linked those priorities directly or indirectly to the portfolios.

A few things stood out to me.

  1. MCH did bring up copyright around content, a revenue generator.
  2. They also spoke to the possibility of a streamer levy to assist with the production of local content—a way to add to government investment.
  3. There was mention of the New Zealand Screen Production Rebate as a possible source of funding for a ‘skills levy’ or to develop and implement a ‘skills plan’. Another way for the government to utilise non-government funds for a positive outcome.

DEGANZ spent a considerable amount of time and some money seeking to get our views heard when the Copyright Act Review was live and active. We want directors to share in the copyright with producers for cinematographic film and audiovisual content. The Review was halted but it will definitely come back, particularly with AI being such a big issue now.

We have long advocated for a streamer levy, and when SPADA announced towards the end of last year that they too wanted to pursue it, we were pleased. Good to see MCH talking about it.

In the New Zealand Screen Production Investment Review, we welcomed the possibility of a levy built into what was then called the Screen Production Grant and is now the Screen Production Rebate. But we want it to apply only to international productions, not domestic productions—the last thing we need is for another new line item to chip away at what are already miserly budgets.

Although the government is certainly missing in action at this point when it comes to the portfolios that impact us directly, it’s good to see that MCH is pushing some things we have focused on in which this current government could see value. Now we have to get the Ministers to see it and get behind it.

 

Tui Ruwhiu
Executive Director

Last updated on 15 February 2024

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Raman and Lawrence Plant the Seeds for Features

Congratulations to DEGANZ members Kishan Raman and Jamie Lawrence for being selected for the New Zealand Writer Guild’s Seed Grant!

They are two of six writers (out of 122 applications) to receive funds from the highly competitive grant, designed for first-time feature filmmakers to develop their screenplay drafts. Both Kishan and Jamie will receive $2,500 to go towards script consultation.

Read more about their qualifying projects below:

Kishan Raman

Rise Up

When a risk-averse dreamer unexpectedly beats his wealthy high school rival in a council election, he now must deliver on his campaign promise: the grandest charity concert Hamilton has ever seen.

Jamie Lawrence

Daz

Confronted by the doll he secretly played with as a boy, an introverted bloke must redefine what it means to “be a man” in order to save her life and change his own.

Last updated on 15 February 2024

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DEGANZ Members at Māoriland

Many DEGANZ members’ mahi have been selected to show during the 2024 Māoriland Film Festival!

This year marks the biggest one yet for the festival with 168 films and video works from over 130 Indigenous nations. The festival will take place in Ōtaki on the Kapiti Coast across five days in late March.

Congratulations to the members selected!

Kokako

Directed by Douglas Brooks

An aspiring ornithologist is forced to process the loss of her grandmother while isolated in the South Island bush as she looks for the thought-to-be-extinct kokako bird.

Maggie

Directed by Cian Elyse White

In 1923, Te Arawa was the first Māori woman to complete her doctorate at Oxford University in England. 100 years later, her granddaughter honours her by painting a 24ft mural in the heart of Rotorua CBD.

Lea Tupu’anga / Mother Tongue

Directed by Vea Mafile’o

Katherine, a young speech therapist of Tongan and European heritage lies about her Tongan language skills to get a job with an elderly Tongan patient who has lost his ability to speak English. When communication breaks down, Katherine must find a way to communicate with her patient or risk jeopardising his health and her career.

Inky Pinky Ponky

Co-directed by Ramon Te Wake

A young fakaleiti (Tongan trans woman) must navigate her way through the world of rugby players, Island mums, gender fluidity, and teenage micro-aggressions to find happiness in an unexpected place.

What’s the Disabili-Tea: Misty Frequency

Directed by Justin Scott (Board Member)

Co-produced by Robyn Paterson (Board President)

Misty Frequency is a non-binary, takatāpui, pansexual drag performer, fashion designer, and make-up artist living in Tāmaki Makaurau. As they prepare for a performance for Drag Wars, a drag competition with $500 on the line, they also process a new diagnosis for Autism.

Hey Brainy Man

Co-directed by Loren Taylor

Co-produced by Jaimee Poipoi (Incubator 2023)

A group of evolutionary losers give humankind a performance appraisal. They love Homo Sapiens’ achievements but want to make sure we don’t mess the world up too much in the process.

Maunga Cassino

Directed by Paolo Rotondo

A battle-hardened Māori soldier and an Italian deserter both find shelter in an abandoned stable in WWII Italy. Despite the circumstances they meet, the connection between the two is not lost.

Māori Time

Directed by Tim Worrall

While caught in a full-blown, alpha-male, mid-life crisis, Quinn has to confront his fear of death and abandonment when an ancient skull is unearthed by builders on the building site of his new grandiose house.

Daisy Does Lunch

Co-produced by Jaimee Poipoi (Incubator 2023)

An unsuspecting Danni is lured to a seemingly chill lunch with her social hockey teammates, only to find a messy intervention where each guest has their own agenda. Tensions rise, noses break, and friendships are tested when Danni has to ask herself if she’s really okay.

 

Check out the festival’s full schedule or watch the trailer for a sneak peek!

Last updated on 15 February 2024

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Te Wake Celebrates Community in ‘The Boy, The Queen and Everything in Between’

DEGANZ member Ramon Te Wake‘s new series The Boy, The Queen and Everything in Between is out now.

The series, co-directed, co-produced, and written by Ramon, follows Jacob, a young father fresh out of prison and in desperate need of a job. Dire circumstances push him to seek out his estranged father Max, Aotearoa’s most famous drag queen. While the titular boy and queen’s relationship is the show’s focal point, the show also delves into the Karangahape Road club Max runs and the community within and around it.

Ramon shares in an interview with Stuff that the series is a love letter to her community,

K’ Road will always be a source of inspiration for me for anything I do.

With Ramon at the helm, the production also prioritised authentic casting, wanting the queer roles to be “of lived experience.” Ramon has always been and continues to be a massive advocate for authentic representation of queer people on screen.

Celebrate K’ Road and the queer community with Ramon by watching The Boy, The Queen and Everything in Between on TVNZ+.

Last updated on 12 February 2024

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