HELENA BROOKS FOLLOWS DEGNZ DIRECTOR’S ATTACHMENT WITH DIRECTING ROLE ON 800 WORDS

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 22 March 2017

Directors & Editors Guild of NZ (DEGNZ) member and director Helena Brooks has taken up a two-episode directing role on the third series of South Pacific Pictures’ (SPP) Channel 7 TV drama production 800 Words, following the successful conclusion of her DEGNZ TV Drama Director Attachment on SPP’s The Brokenwood Mysteries.

“The recent DEGNZ director’s attachment was an excellent way to learn how drama operates at SPP,” Helena Brooks said. “During the attachment I directed a couple of days on Brokenwood Mysteries, which led to 2nd unit directing on Westside. I was then asked to direct a block of 800 Words, which I’m really looking forward to. SPP is like a finely tuned instrument with a big family vibe and I really love being amongst it.”

Brooks will direct one block (two episodes) of 800 Words starting in April, and will see those episodes through post production.

“We are ecstatic that our TV Drama Director initiative has resulted in Helena moving onto fulltime directing of drama,” said Executive Director of DEGNZ Tui Ruwhiu.

“We are extremely pleased to add Helena to our roster of directors, and we applaud both the DEGNZ and NZ On Air for their support of the directors attachment initiative,” CEO of South Pacific Pictures Kelly Martin said.

“Helena’s success is heartening. I’d like to congratulate Helena on her achievements to date and hope we will see many more drama productions directed by her in the future,” said NZ On Air Chief Executive Jane Wrightson.

800 Words is a 24 x 1-hour comedy drama series produced by South Pacific Pictures and Seven Productions. The series premiered in Australia in September 2015 and quickly became the #1 drama on Australian television as well as topping the Tuesday night primetime ratings. 800 Words also premiered in New Zealand on TV One in late 2015. Erik Thomson plays George, a man who used to skate through life but who is now stumbling. When his wife dies suddenly, George makes a rash decision to move his two teenaged kids away from the big smoke of Sydney to the picturesque town of Weld in New Zealand. All he wants to do is make a fresh start but it seems that everyone – his kids, the townspeople, the universe – have other ideas. This is a Seven and South Pacific Pictures production created by James Griffin (Outrageous Fortune, The Almighty Johnsons) and Maxine Fleming (Being Eve, Outrageous Fortune). Season Two of 800 Words is currently screening on Channel 7 in Australia and in New Zealand on TVNZ One.

The TV Drama Attachment initiative is an industry professional development activity funded by NZ On Air and the production company involved and managed by DEGNZ. It is intended to give emerging drama directors the opportunity to shadow an experienced director through the pre-production, production and post-production process as a means to improve their craft skills.

ENDS

For further information contact:

Tui Ruwhiu
Executive Director
Directors & Editors Guild of NZ
tui@deganz.co.nz
+64 21 659 950

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Meet the director & producer of One Thousand Ropes!

DEGNZ and Rialto will be hosting a special Film Talk for One Thousand Ropes on the day of its release. Join us for the film, followed by a Q&A with director Tusi Tamasese and producer Catherine Fitzgerald as they chat to Chris Dudman. Book your tickets here, only $12 for industry members. 

One Thousand Ropes is a powerful character drama of a father reconnecting with his youngest daughter and together putting to rest the ghosts that haunt them.

She arrives vulnerable: badly beaten and heavily pregnant. He struggles on one hand, with the inner temptation and the encouragement from the men in his life to take revenge in the way he knows best,  and on the other, to build the new family and companionship so desperately missing from his life.

One Thousand Ropes is a deeply moving film about connections, redemption and new beginnings. 

When: Thursday 23 March, 6pm

Where: Rialto Cinemas Newmarket, Auckland

Tickets: Rialto

Cost: $12 for industry members 

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Register Now – Wellington Rehearsal Room with Tandi Wright

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Rehearsal Room with Tandi Wright

The Rehearsal Room with Tandi Wright – Wellington

The Rehearsal Room brings together professionals – actors and directors – in a safe, supportive environment to practise working with each other on scenes under the guidance of an experienced moderator.

“There was extremely practical and pertinent tuition from Tandi Wright…[The workshop] was incredibly useful and productive for me as a director, and for the project I am developing.”
– Past participant

Register on our event page to have your name in the draw to participate. For each event 4 directors and 8 actors will be selected. ONLY Actors Equity actors and DEGNZ directors are permitted entry to The Rehearsal Room. 

You need only register once. Your name will remain in the draw for future Rehearsal Rooms unless you ask us to remove it. If you are selected, we’ll email or phone you to confirm your participation.

When: Saturday 8 April 2017 9:30am – 1:30pm

Where: Te Aro, Wellington

Register at: Eventbrite

Registrations close: Wednesday 22 March

Cost: Free to DEGNZ members

 

Moderator – Tandi Wright

Tandi Wright is an actor of more than 20 years experience and has worked consistently across all the genres – film, television, stage and radio. She has worked in the US, Australia and NZ, and has been nominated for numerous theatre and screen awards in NZ.

Tandi has studied at Toi Whakaari, and at Shakespeare’s Globe in London. Theatre highlights include The Events, When The Rain Stops Falling, Three Days of Rain, Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Nights Dream. Screen highlights include The Returned, The Rehearsal, Jack the Giant Slayer, Out of the Blue, Black Sheep, Nothing Trivial, This Is Not My Life, Bliss, Serial Killers, Willy Nilly and Shortland Street. Tandi is one of the Vice-Presidents of Equity New Zealand. She considers her finest production to be the birth of her daughter Olive, who is now 8 years old.

 

Who is The Rehearsal Room for?

Professional actors and directors. It is open to Actors Equity and DEGNZ members of all levels of experience, from novices to virtuosos.

Material

Directors will be asked to provide a two-character scene (2 pages) or, if you prefer, a scene will be provided for you. Directors and actors will receive scripts in advance.

Structure of the event

Directors and actors will spend time rehearsing their scenes, with emphasis on connection and content.

After morning tea, participants will block their scenes, before presenting them for shooting, followed by viewing and discussion. The shooting is a wide shot only, intended as a means to review performance, not for directors to direct camera. 

The Rehearsal Room is hosted by Directors & Editors Guild of New Zealand and the Equity Foundation, with financial support from New Zealand Film Commission.

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Call for Applications: Directing Toolkit with Danny Mulheron – Wellington

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The Directors & Editors Guild of NZ invites you to apply for a 2-day Directing Toolkit Workshop with director Danny Mulheron.

The workshop will be held on Saturday and Sunday, 1 and 2 April in Wellington.

Danny will draw on his extensive experience to deliver an interactive and informative Directing Toolkit, which requires participants to get physically involved.

Day One topics will include:

  • The Director and the Script, Or: God I’m bored, why?
  • Text, Subtext and Context, Or: “Help, I’m struggling for depth?”
  • Observing Human Behaviour and Emotions, Or: On preferring what you don’t want…and recognising it.
  • The #1 Secret of the Actor/Director Relationship, Or: Don’t fall in love with them…too much?
  • Tools of the Director, Or: How to keep out of the way. It’s what you don’t do that counts.

Day Two will guide participants on working with actors, script reads, rehearsing, shooting and blocking through the use of demonstration and class exercises.

About Danny Mulheron 

Danny MulheronSince his graduation from the New Zealand Drama School in 1983, Danny has become an experienced director, writer and actor in all mediums – stage, screen and television. He is known as an ‘actor’s director’ due to his particular strength in directing actors and getting extraordinary performances.

Danny has directed award-winning television dramas, feature-length documentaries and smash hit theatre productions. His latest work has been Why does love?, a rock and roll movie about The Dance Exponents. Prior to that he directed all six episodes of the Hillary TV series for TVNZ. Other TV movies include The Kick, Rage and Eruption. Fresh Meat was a lesbian cannibal grind house movie for the Gibson Group which made it to the NYC Tribeca Film Festival.​ He is currently completing the writing of a screenplay based on the play The Motor Camp, as well as a couple of other screenplays in production.

 

What: Directing Toolkit Workshop with Danny Mulheron

When: Saturday 1 April,  9.30am – 4.30pm & Sunday 2 April, 9.30am – 4.30pm

Where: TBC, Wellington

Cost: Free for DEGNZ members, $100 for non-members

Lunch and refreshments provided.

A travel allowance is available for those coming from outside the Wellington region.

 

TO APPLY please send your application in ONE PDF to tema@deganz.co.nz with ‘Wellington Directing Toolkit’ in the subject line.

In your application, please provide:

  • CV
  • links to samples of your work
  • a maximum one-page letter stating why you want to attend this workshop. 
  • please also include your mobile number and any dietary requirements.

Extended Application Deadline: 9am, Monday 27 March.

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

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Rehearsal Room brings Directors and Actors Together

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Directors and actors came together at our first workshop of the year to meet and explore the rehearsal process. The Auckland edition of The Rehearsal Room was led by actor/director Ian Hughes who started the workshop with some fun exercises and then helped each group go deeper into their scenes.

The Rehearsal Room is heading to Christchurch next month on March 25 with actor/acting coach Peter Feeney moderating. Register for this event now on Eventbrite.

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