It was a great pleasure to have director Danny Mulheron lead our latest Directing Toolkit based in Wellington. The 2-day workshop was a fantastic yet intensive experience. On the Saturday, Danny gave an in depth directing seminar, while Sunday was devoted to giving participating directors the opportunity to learn through demonstration and hands-on group work. A big thanks to Danny and the directors and actors who were involved.
The Directors & Editors Guild of NZ invites you to apply for a 1-day workshop on Directing & Writing Screen Comedy with Jonathan Brough & Declan Fay in Auckland, taking place on Saturday 13 May.
Award-winning comedy director Jonathan Brough and acclaimed comedy writer/showrunner Declan Fay discuss the many ways to achieve comedy for the screen.
About Jonathan Brough
Jonathan is a New Zealand director of film and television, now based in Melbourne. With over 20 years of professional experience, his work has screened at the Cannes, Edinburgh, Hof, Slamdance and Sydney Film Festivals, and screened on international TV networks, including Netflix. Recently, he directed the comedy pilot Ronny Chieng: International Student and the hit ABC comedy Rosehaven, which has been nominated for ‘Most Outstanding Comedy Program’ in the 2017 Logie awards and earned him one of his two nominations for ‘Best Direction in a TV Comedy’ in the 2017 ADG awards, the other for The Family Law.
About Declan Fay
Declan is one of Australia’s leading comedy writers. He was head writer on Sam Simmon’s Problems, TV sketch comedy Fancy Boy, and co-writer on Ronny Chieng: International Student coming to ABC and Comedy Central in 2017 as a full series. He has directed a number of sold out and award-winning comedy stage shows, which have played at the Comedy Festivals and Fringe Festivals over the years. He is also a comedian, actor, radio host, podcaster and motivational speaker.
Try Not to Get in the Way
Starting with the writing process then continuing on to working on set and in the edit, Jonathan & Declan will explore:
Using examples from their recent shows, including their collaboration on Ronny Chieng: International Student, Jonathan & Declan will share their wealth of experience on making successful, memorable and distinctive comedies for the screen.
What: Directing & Writing Screen Comedy with Jonathan Brough & Declan Fay
When: Saturday 13 May, 9am – 5pm
Where: Auckland
Cost: Free for DEGNZ members, $100 for non-members
A travel allowance is available for DEGNZ members coming from out of town. Lunch and refreshments provided.
TO APPLY please send your application in ONE PDF to tema@deganz.co.nz with ‘Directing Comedy Workshop’ in the subject line.
In your application, please provide:
Application Deadline: 9am, Friday 28 April.
This initiative is brought to you with the support of the New Zealand Film Commission and ASDACS – the Australian Screen Directors Authorship Collecting Society.
The Directors & Editors Guild of NZ invites you to apply for a 2-day Directing Toolkit Workshop with director Rob Sarkies in Rotorua.
The workshop will be held on Saturday and Sunday, 29 and 30 April.
About Rob Sarkies
Rob works across feature films, series television and commercials. His work includes the acclaimed feature Out of the Blue about the Aramoana shootings, Consent a powerful tele-feature based on Louise Nicholas’s fight for justice, Jean about aviator Jean Batten, buddy comedy Two Little Boys starring Brett McKenzie and Hamish Blake, and NZ classic Scarfies.
Process! Process! Process!
This will be a practical workshop that will take participants through Rob’s film-making process from development to shoot and examine how process can be adapted from project to project.
The workshop will cover development process (how to avoid ‘development hell’ or at least ensure your project comes out the better at the end of it). Process leading to production (script prep, visual prep, storyboards, casting process). Pre-Production (rehearsal process, binding your collaborators to the same vision) and practical process on set (scene blocking, working with cast, working with your DP).
Rob will outline his process and encourage participants to develop processes specific to them. A workshop full of practical hints to help you control the beast of a feature film rather than having it control you.
What: Directing Toolkit Workshop with Rob Sarkies
When: Saturday 29 April, 9am – 5pm & Sunday 30 April, 9am – 4pm
Where: Rotorua
Cost: Free for DEGNZ members, $100 for non-members
A travel allowance is available for DEGNZ members coming from out of town.
Lunch and refreshments provided.
TO APPLY please send your application in ONE PDF to tema@deganz.co.nz with ‘Rotorua Directing Toolkit’ in the subject line.
In your application, please provide:
Application Deadline: 9am, Tuesday 18 April.
This initiative is brought to you with the support of the New Zealand Film Commission.
DEGNZ editors and their accompanying directors were treated to a Documentary Editing Masterclass with Doug Blush, one of America’s top documentary editors and supervising editor on Oscar winner 20 Feet From Stardom and The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and The Silk Road Ensemble, which is currently in cinemas.
Having worked on over 70 documentary features and TV programmes, Doug had plenty of material to dig into with the class on Day One, using several examples from his credits to elaborate on story, character and message.
On the second day, Doug led a project consultation seminar for selected editor-director teams. Each editor had a feature documentary currently in post-production.
Doug was a wonderful communicator and feedback from the two days was very positive. Thank you to Doug and everyone who was involved!
Our Screenlink networking event was a great evening spent with our friends at New Zealand Writers Guild and Ngā Aho Whakaari. The highlight was hearing from Kathryn Burnett and Fiona Samuel on the night’s topic: Writing as a Career in the Screen Industry. Thanks to everyone who attended!
