It can be useful for freelance filmmakers to have a professional online space for their work. DEGANZ’s Events and Membership Coordinator, Izzi Hoskyn, sat down with Tema Pua of Tempixel Design to chat about how having a website can help freelance filmmakers’ careers.

Tempixel Design is offering to make web design more accessible for DEGANZ members with exclusive discount codes. DEGANZ members can now get 20% off Tempixel’s website templates and 10% off the Superpixel design days.

For more information on how to access these discounts, log in to your DEGANZ account and navigate to the Member Discounts page.

Izzi: Thank you, Tema, for taking the time to chat with me today.

Tema: My pleasure.

Izzi: Can you tell our DEGANZ membership a bit about yourself and your web design business, Tempixel?

Tema: I run a small business called Tempixel Design. I’m a Squarespace web designer specifically for filmmakers, theatre artists and performers because I am also a filmmaker myself. I direct short films, I script supervise, and some of the members may recognise me as someone who used to work at DEGANZ for 6 years before I left to dedicate more time to film. I also ended up starting this business in that time.

Tema Pua and Tempixel Design logo / Photos supplied

Izzi: Nice. Why would a TV and film practitioner benefit from a website if they can promote themselves and their work on social media?

Tema: I think when we’re talking about film and TV, the industry has run for a long time—and still does—based on relationships, networking and the people you know. I think that’s a great but challenging part of our industry. But I do feel that the internet is so integral to our lives and that it’s becoming more and more important for filmmakers to have a website to promote themselves.

Having a website is a space where you can be in control of what narrative you’re putting out, that’s free from a big company’s social media brand. You’re not having to change what you do based on an algorithm or a platform deciding that they prefer a 4:5 aspect ratio, for example.

I also think ‘How often do we like to Google people?’ I was looking for a cinematographer for my short film last, last year, and I started with a long list of DPs that had been recommended to me, or ones that I had heard of through the grapevine. So what did I do? I started to go through that list one by one, Googling them.

And that’s where I think having a website to promote yourself is key to raising awareness amongst people who might want to hire you or work with you on a project, versus someone who just has an Instagram.

Izzi: Yeah, it acts more as a professional landing page for anyone who’s looking you up online.

Tema: Yeah, essentially, you can use your website to communicate your professional identity. And that can be very close to who you are in real life—hopefully! Because I’m hoping we’re all trying to be authentic. But it can also be different—to show like ‘This is me as a professional, and this is the kind of work that I do and how I approach my work professionally.’

Websites by Tempixel Design

Another big benefit of a website is that it can help you define what you do. A website can be quite useful for—particularly in New Zealand, where we often wear many hats—clearing up any confusion around what you do. Whether you want to promote all of your jobs or just your directing portfolio, for example.

I think it is important to remember that a website is essentially a marketing tool. It’s just a different marketing tool to social media. And if you’re going to have a website, it’s going to be more beneficial if you think of it as a way to help you market yourself. Rather than: ‘Okay, I just stick my work up there.’

Izzi: And hope for the best.

Tema: Which often tends to be the case in screen. But you never know, having a website could give you the edge over someone else to get a job.

Izzi: We’ve talked a lot about the pros of a website. But how easy is it to build your own?

Tema: Today, now more than ever, it’s very easy to build a website because we’ve got website platforms that are easy to use, created for non-designers. I’ve chosen to work in Squarespace because I think it’s really easy to use and the learning curve isn’t steep. It’s quite easy to equip my clients to be able to use it. And I think that can be very empowering, because you may not want to keep paying a web designer or developer to update your website whenever you want to make a change, which used to be the case.

I did want to mention, though, that while it’s easy for people who don’t work in web design to create their own website, it’s good to be aware of basic web design conventions. For example, creating a website that’s easy to use and navigate is important.

Izzi: What then are some tips and tricks for designing your own website?

Tema: One area where filmmakers can improve their websites is to include one or more photos of yourself on your website.

Remember that we are a relationship-based industry. So, personal connection is important. Allowing someone to see another human being’s face is a really quick way for our brains to be like, ‘Oh, okay, I could possibly connect with this person.’

I also think what’s really helpful is explicitly telling people what kinds of projects you’re interested in working on. Because it can already be a guessing game. When you haven’t met that person, it can be hard to know what they want to be working on just from images and videos from their portfolio.

Examples of non-faceless websites by Tempixel Design

Izzi: Shall we finish with how Tempixel Design can help DEGANZ members with starting their website journey?

Tema: If you’re building your own website, I write a blog where I share tutorials, tips and guides specifically around Squarespace for screen and theatre practitioners. So feel free to check that out.

I’ll be providing a discount for DEGANZ members on all of my website templates for Squarespace. A premium template can help you get a leg up if you’re not sure where to start or you don’t feel you have sufficient design skills.

Members can also get a special discount on my Superpixel design days if you would rather leave your website with an expert and have your to-do list done for you. And tasks can be anything that you just can’t fix yourself or don’t have the time for, or maybe you want to refresh your website.

Izzi: Amazing! Thanks again for your time, Tema.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Last updated on 1 May 2025