Film Talk: We Need to Talk About A.I.

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An exciting Q&A screening is coming up on the DEGNZ calendar this October in Auckland.

On Thursday 15 October, Director Leanne Pooley’s We Need to Talk About A.I. will screen at 6pm at Rialto Cinemas Newmarket.

We Need to Talk About A.I. takes a closer look at the future of artificial intelligence and the impact it will have on our world. As computers continue to evolve at an even greater speed, soon they will have the capacity to design and program themselves.

Leanne joins us afterwards to discuss the film with audience members.

Book tickets

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Show Me Shorts 2020: Best Director & Best Editor Nominees

DEGNZ is again a proud sponsor of the Best Director and Best Editor awards at Show Me Shorts Film Festival this year (October 2 – 28). Our warmest congratulations to the 2020 nominees! We look forward to celebrating the award winners at the Awards Night on Sunday 4 October at Rialto Cinemas Newmarket, in Auckland.

DEGNZ Best Director

  • Isaac Knights-Washbourn for Money Honey 
  • Hannah Marshall for Frankie Jean and the Morning Star 
  • Cian Elyse White for Daddy’s Girl (Kōtiro) 

DEGNZ Best Editor

  • Dylan Pharazyn for Career by Wax Chattels 
  • Damian Golfinopoulos and Arielle Sullivan for We Rock!
  • Annie Collins for Daddy’s Girl (Kōtiro) 

Since 2009, the Guild has supported talented up-and-coming directors and editors with Show Me Shorts.

The 2020 hybrid programme will entail both cinema and online screenings at 30 venues nationwide. Be sure to grab your tickets to what is Show Me Shorts’ largest festival yet, with 75 short films and 3 music videos in the programme.

Congratulations also goes out to our members who have directed or edited New Zealand Official Selections:

Cian Elyse White (Dir. Daddy’s Girl – Kōtiro), Annie Collins (Ed. Daddy’s Girl – Kōtiro), Kerri Roggio (Ed. Oranges and Lemons), Claire van Beek (Dir. Daniel), John Gilbert & Conan Mornard-Stott (Ed. Daniel), Alexander Gander (Dir. Hit Me Where It Hurts by Alae), Anna Rose Duckworth (Dir. Pain), Brendon Chan (Ed. Pain), Damian Golfinopoulos (Ed. Money Honey), Kyan Krumdieck (Dir. Working Class).

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Directors Tim Worrall and Cian Elyse White Attach to Vegas

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Director attachments on Vegas: Tim Worrall and Cian Elyse White

DEGNZ members Tim Worrall and Cian Elyse White have attached to new drama series Vegas with Greenstone TV under the Guild’s TV Drama Director Attachment Scheme.

Both attachments will get to follow their director from prep onwards, until the grade and sound mix.

Tim Worrall (Ngai Tūhoe, Te Arawa) is the successful Second Step attachment and will attach to director Mike Smith for his block, beginning in mid-October.

Cian Elyse White (Ngāti Pikiao, Tūhoe, Tainui, Te Whānau a Ruataupare) has been selected for the First Step attachment to Vegas lead director Kiel McNaughton. Cian is finishing the first week of her attachment, which goes until November 2.

We had an impressive response to our call for applications. DEGNZ warmly congratulates our newest attachments and thanks NZ On Air and Greenstone TV for supporting this initiative.


Tim Worrall

Tim has worked as a writer, director or consultant on a number of productions including: Pukana; Shortland Street; Jackson’s Wharf; Whalerider; Radiradirah; Kairakau; Only in Aotearoa; This is Piki; and Fresh. He is also a member of the Māori collective Steambox Films and has directed the award winning short films: The Road to Whakarae; Tits on a Bull; Meke; Koutuku Rerenga Rua; and Māori Time. Recently he has been a co-lead writer and director for the TV3 drama series Head High; writer of the feature film Whawhai Tonu – Struggle Without End (advanced development funding from NZFC); co-writer/director for anthology feature film Ngā Pouwhenua (scheduled for production February 2021); writer of the TVNZ documentary series Origins (currently screening on TV1); storyliner for TVNZ drama series Vegas; writer and director for Tappy, an episode of the new TVNZ supernatural drama series.

Tim Worrall

Cian Elyse White

Cian has had an extensive career in professional theatre, TV and film as an actress. In 2017, Cian wrote her Te Reo Māori short film Daddy’s Girl (Kōtiro) which received the Fresh 30K grant in 2018 and won the 2020 NZIFF Best Shorts audience award. Daddy’s Girl (Kōtiro) has also been selected for Show Me Shorts, ImagiNATIVE, Asinabka, Hawaiian International Film Festival and was the first NZ film to be selected for Geena Davis Bentonville Film Festival in August this year. In March 2020, Cian was one of eight selected to partake in FilmUP run by Script to Screen. Cian is currently in pre-production for her next short film PUHI.


Cian Elyse White

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COVID-19 Membership Holiday Extension

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At the Directors & Editors Guild of NZ, we have decided to extend our COVID-19 Membership Holiday scheme until 31 January 2021 to support NZ directors, editors and assistant editors who have lost work and are facing financial hardship due to the coronavirus pandemic. The original scheme was supposed to end on 1 October. Information about the extended offer for new, current and lapsed members can be found on our Join page.

For members currently on a Membership Holiday and continuing to suffer financial duress due to COVID, you will automatically continue to receive free Associate membership until the 31 January 2021. From 1 February 2021 onwards we will revert to our financial membership structure and you will be required to pay membership fees from that point on to receive the benefits of DEGNZ membership.

If your financial situation has improved, we ask that you support DEGNZ by restarting payment of your membership fees, as the Guild’s financial situation has worsened due to the drop in membership revenue. If you would like to become a financial member, sign-in to your account to choose your membership level and billing.

Thanks for your support and we look forward to continuing our work to help ensure your creative, cultural and financial wellbeing.

Tui Ruwhiu
Executive Director

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Vista Foundation and Home & Family Counselling Offer Extended

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Vista Foundation & Home and Family Counselling logos

Counselling support for members of the New Zealand film industry is set to continue until the end of November 2020, thanks to The Vista Foundation and Home & Family Counselling. DEGNZ members can access up to 5 one-hour subsidised counselling sessions for themselves or a family member to assist with the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

If you are a DEGNZ member going through a tough time, the Guild encourages you to seek support and take advantage of this service.

To learn more about the counselling offer and how to access it as a DEGNZ member, see here.

To read Vista Foundation’s update, read it here: VF H&F Counselling Project Update 26Aug2020 (PDF 160KB)

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