DEGNZ Announces Successful Applications for Women Filmmakers Incubator

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The Directors & Editors Guild of New Zealand (DEGNZ) is delighted to announce the ten emerging women directors who will participate in its inaugural Women Filmmakers Incubator. They are:

  • Catherine Bisley
  • Nathalie Boltt
  • Abigail Greenwood
  • Kirsty Hamilton
  • Cathy MacDonald
  • Renae Maihi
  • Zoe McIntosh
  • Niki Si’ulepa
  • Yamin Tun
  • Aidee Walker

“After much debate, the experienced industry selection panel chose ten applicants who it felt were at the right stage of their careers to get the maximum benefit from the content the Incubator offers,” said Executive Director of DEGNZ Tui Ruwhiu.

“We look forward to assisting these talented women towards their first feature films, and helping to address the gender inequality that is reflected in the poor statistics of New Zealand women at the directing helm of feature film in this country.”

The Incubator is a targeted initiative designed to give emerging female directors the opportunity to build their knowledge, skills and networks as a means to advance their careers and projects in the screen industry.

Each workshop in the programme will bring in highly successful filmmakers and experts in a stepped approach that will develop participants’ confidence and capability to engage with the screen industry as they seek to get their own projects through development and into production.

The workshop series will start in Auckland in September 2016 and run through to the winter of 2017.

This initiative is supported with financial assistance from the New Zealand Film Commission.

ENDS

For further information, please contact:

Tui Ruwhiu

Executive Director

Directors & Editors Guild of NZ

tui@deganz.co.nz

021-659-950

The New Zealand Film Commission invests in original and culturally significant films, encourages talented New Zealand filmmakers through developing career pathways and facilitating connections offshore, and works to increase the number of people seeing New Zealand films here and overseas.  It supports the growth of economic activity and helps ensure New Zealand has sustainable screen sector businesses operating within an internationally competitive screen sector.  The NZFC also helps negotiate co-production treaties and certifies co-productions and New Zealand films for tax purposes. www.nzfilm.co.nz

The Directors & Editors Guild of NZ is a not-for-profit membership organisation that represents Directors and Editors in the New Zealand screen industry. This includes Directors and Editors of feature drama and documentary; television drama, documentary and factual programmes; short films; video art; animation; commercials and web content.

DEGNZ’s two primary roles are advocacy and professional development. We:

  • are dedicated to promoting excellence in the arts of directing and editing.
  • foster collegiality and unity within the screen industry.
  • promote members’ creative and economic rights.
  • work to improve industry working conditions and remuneration.
  • offer professional advice and information on contracts and industry standards and practice.
  • offer professional development events, networking opportunities, career advice, dispute resolution, mentoring, workshops, training, discounts and regular news bulletins for members across all levels of expertise, from novices to seasoned professionals.
  • is a voice for Directors and Editors in influencing policy in the interest of our members. We do this through our membership of the pan‐industry group SINZ (Screen Industry New Zealand), and by making submissions to government and public officials.
  • Internationally work co-operatively with other guilds and we belong to the International Affiliation of English‐Speaking Directors’ Organisations (IEASDO).

DEGNZ is Auckland-based with an office in Grey Lynn.

Contact Details:

Directors & Editors Guild of NZ

Level 2, 66 Surrey Crescent

Grey Lynn

P.O. Box 47-294, Ponsonby

Auckland

+64-9-360-2102

admin@deganz.co.nz

www.deganz.co.nz

www.facebook.com/degnz

www.linkedin.com/in/degnz

@degnz_online

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Collaborators Series – Director and 1st AD Dynamics

Collaborators Series with The Techos’ Guild & Peter Burger

Come along for a discussion about ‘Director and 1st AD Dynamics’. A panel of ADs–Terri Kilmartin, Amand Weaver, Jennifer Butcher, and Marc Ashton from NZFC–will speak to Peter Burger about the processes, challenges and triumphs of the Director/1st AD relationship.

 

When: 7pm for drinks, 7.30-8.30pm discussion, Wednesday 13 July

Where: Upstairs at the Grey Lynn RSC, 1 Francis Street

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Coming Up: Collaborators Series, ScreenLink & Rehearsal Room

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Save the dates! We have two events coming up:

ScreenLink with PIFT and NAW 
Come along for networking drinks and hear from guest speaker Miki Magasiva.
When: 6pm-8pm, Tuesday 5 July
Where: The function room at the back of the Longroom, 114 Ponsonby Road

Collaborators Series with The Techos’ Guild & Peter Burger
Come along for a discussion about ‘Director and 1st AD Dynamics’. A panel of ADs and Marc Ashton from NZFC will speak to Peter Burger about the processes, challenges and triumphs of the Director/1st AD relationship.
When: 7pm for drinks, 7.30-8.30pm discussion, Wednesday 13 July
Where: Upstairs at the Grey Lynn RSC, 1 Francis Street

Rehearsal Room with Rene Naufahu – Register your interest as a director NOW!
The Rehearsal Room is an amazing opportunity to work with actors on your script and practice your craft in a safe, supportive space.
When: 10am-2pm, Saturday 16 July
Where: The MTG RM, Kingsland
SIGN UP NOW and we will be in touch.

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Insights from Niki Caro

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Our Masterclass and DEGNZ Selects events with Niki Caro were a fantastic success. Niki spoke generously about her experiences and offered plenty of solid advice and practical tips, which we’re sure will stay with everyone in the audience. Thank you, Niki!

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Helena Brooks Attaches to SPP’s Brokenwood Mysteries

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10 June 2016

The Directors & Editors Guild of NZ (DEGNZ), NZ On Air and South Pacific Pictures Limited (SPP) are extremely pleased to announce DEGNZ member and director Helena Brooks as the TV Drama Director Attachment on an episode of series three of The Brokenwood Mysteries.

Brooks, who is already underway on the show, attaches to one of New Zealand’s most experienced drama directors, Mark Beesley.

“It’s really interesting being deep amongst a telefeature in production and shadowing one of the masters, Mark Beesley,” Brooks said. “He’s extremely generous with his knowledge and I’m learning a truck-load about every aspect of long-form directing. South Pacific Pictures has been very welcoming and I’m pumped about the opportunity.”

“The Directors’ attachment program is a fantastic initiative from DEGNZ and NZ On Air and South Pacific Pictures is pleased to continue its support of it,” said SPP CEO Kelly Martin. “Helena Brooks is a talented director with an impressive body of work to her name and we are pleased to have her on board.”

“As shown in our recent Diversity Report, we need more women in drama directing roles. Professional development opportunities such as this are a logical way to develop more women into these roles. We wish Helena well in this attachment,” said Jane Wrightson CEO of NZ On Air.

Brooks comes to The Brokenwood Mysteries with a strong background in TV commercials and a highly successful short film, Nothing Special, to her credit—it was selected for amongst others the Cannes and Berlin film festivals.

“We are delighted that another talented DEGNZ member gets the chance to increase their knowledge and experience with fast-turnaround TV drama,” said Executive Director of DEGNZ Tui Ruwhiu. “We greatly appreciate the commitment South Pacific Pictures is showing to this initiative.”

The Brokenwood Mysteries is a series of two-hour murder mystery stories set in a seemingly quiet country town where the town’s newest resident, Detective Mike Shepherd, finds that murder lurks in even the most homely location. Each telefeature in the series is a standalone story, which sees the show’s two lead police officers trying to solve a murder case.

Brooks is the fourth DEGNZ director member to benefit from the TV Drama Attachment Initiative. Started in 2015, the initiative has seen actor and director Matthew Saville attach to director Ric Pellizarri on Screentime’s telefeature Bombshell: The Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior, actor and director Aidee Walker shadow director Michael Hurst on SPP’s Westside series, and director Jamie Lawrence join director Peter Burger on Filthy Productioins’ series Dirty Laundry.

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, please contact:

Tui Ruwhiu
Executive Director
Directors & Editors Guild of NZ
tui@deganz.co.nz
021-659-950

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