Wednesday 12 August: COVID-19 Update

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Unite against COVID-19

Dear Members,

We are all in this together. As your Guild, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us if you need support. Please find information below on the changes to Alert Levels, what this means for productions, and useful links. Our thanks to SPADA for collating the following information.

In case you missed last night’s breaking news – four positive cases of COVID-19 have been detected outside of managed isolation facilities, resulting in community detection for the first time in 102 days.

In response New Zealand’s COVID-19 Alert Levels are changing at 12 noon on Wednesday 12 August.

  • Auckland will move to Alert Level 3
  • The rest of New Zealand will move to Alert Level 2.

WATCH:  the full announcement from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Director General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield(announcement begins at approx. 26:40).
From RNZ: Under level 3 in Auckland, people are to work from home unless they are essential workers, and stay in their bubbles. Bars and restaurants will have to close, and restrictions come in place for funerals and weddings.

“Travelling into Auckland is prohibited unless you normally reside there and are travelling home.”

People in Auckland but not from the city can return home, but must be aware of symptoms. Anyone with symptoms is advised to get a test

All key services, including pharmacies and supermarkets remain open. Food delivery is available under level 3. Childcare and schooling is only available for essential workers.

The government would provide the public with an update on Friday.

Screen Sector

All productions need to ensure they are operating to the ScreenSafe COVID-19 Health & Safety Standard & Protocols as they relate to your region and Alert Level. Visit the ScreenSafe COVID-19 page for the full toolkit and information on how to apply the Alert Levels to your production.

Contact your industry Guild for support as required. For more information on the Alert Levels and how this relates to your work and home life, please see below.

Changes to Alert Levels

Auckland

Under Alert Level 3, you are encouraged work from home if you can.

Travel and self-isolation
If you are currently in Auckland and do not live in Auckland, we suggest that you go home. Practice good hygiene and be conscious of your health. We recommend that you keep your bubble small.

Businesses
Businesses are able to open, but should not physically interact with customers.

Essential services including healthcare, justice services and businesses providing necessities are able to open.

Bars and restaurants should close, but takeaways are allowed.

Education
Schools in Auckland can safely open but will have limited capacity. Where possible we encourage students to learn from home.

When you’re out and about
Maintain physical distancing of 2 metres outside your home, including on public transport.

It is highly recommended that you wear a mask if you are out and about.

Public transport can continue to operate with strict health and safety requirements. You should maintain physical distancing and wearing a mask.

Public venues should close. This includes libraries, museums, cinemas, food courts, gyms, pools, playgrounds and markets.

Gatherings
Gatherings of up to 10 people can continue, but only for wedding services, funerals and tangihanga. Physical distancing and public health measures should be maintained.

At-risk people

People at high risk of severe illness such as older people and those with existing medical conditions are encouraged to stay at home where possible, and take additional precautions when leaving home.

Detailed information about life at Alert Level 3 is available.

Rest of New Zealand

The rest of New Zealand will move to Alert Level 2 at 12 noon on Wednesday 12 August.

You can still continue to go to work and school, with physical distancing.

Wear masks if you can in public.

No more than 100 people at gatherings, including weddings, birthdays, funerals and tangihanga.

Businesses can open to the public if they are following public health guidance, which include physical distancing and record keeping.

People at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19, for example those with underlying medical conditions and old people are encouraged to take additional precautions when leaving home.

Practice good hygiene – stay home if sick.

Detailed information about life at Alert Level 2 is available.

Useful Links

NZ COVID-19 Page
ScreenSafe COVID-19 Page
RNZ COVID-19 Coverage
Health & Wellbeing during COVID-19
NZ COVID Tracer App – on App Store / on GOOGLE PLAY

Look after yourself, look after each other, be active with your hand washing and your contact tracing, and ask for help when you need it. 
He waka eke noa. We’re all in this together.

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Call for Applications – DEGNZ TV Drama Director Attachments on Vegas

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NZ On Air, DEGNZ and Greenstone TV logos

DEGNZ invites applications from directors for two TV Drama Director Attachments with Greenstone TV on the TVNZ 2 drama series Vegas.

Vegas will be produced by Greenstone TV Ltd in collaboration with 10,000 Company and Steambox Film Collective with support from NZ On Air. An action thriller, Vegas follows a young, untested leader who wants to free his people from the curse of methamphetamine, but finds he can’t do it on his own. The story is based on the novel Inside The Black Horse, and will be filmed in Rotorua.

The aim of the attachment programme is to:

  • develop and upskill new television drama directors,
  • contribute to the ongoing production of quality future television drama and
  • provide another training pathway to the limited opportunities currently available.

These attachments are for New Zealand directors who want to move into directing drama for television and already have significant directing experience.

Greenstone TV will train a first step director and a second step director. Each attachment will be present for the duration of the director’s block. Both attachments will attend HOD meetings, will be present for the whole of the director’s prep, receive training on preparation for the shoot, script mark-ups and rehearsals. Each attachment will have time in the edit suite with the director, and will be present for some of the on-line, including the grade and sound mix.

The prep and shoot for both directors will take place in Rotorua. Both attachments will be paid and their accommodation and per diems covered.

First Step Attachment

The successful candidate will attach to lead director Kiel McNaughton and needs to be available for prep and shoot from 21 September to 2 November 2020.

At the full discretion of the director and producer(s), the First Step attachment may be offered the opportunity to direct some scenes within the block.

Second Step Attachment

This Second Step attachment is intended for those directors with significant narrative experience who are ready to make the move into fast-turnaround TV drama, including those who have already done a First Step attachment under the DEGNZ TV Drama Attachment Scheme. The successful candidate will attach to director Mike Smith and needs to be available for prep and shoot from 12 October to 22 November 2020.

At the full discretion of the director and producer(s), the Second Step attachment may be offered the opportunity to direct a full episode within the block.

Eligibility

Applicants must have past dramatic narrative directing experience and a keen interest in television drama.

To be eligible, you MUST:

  1. Be a FULL member of DEGNZ, and
  2. Be a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident, and
  3. Have either:
    • Two short film credits publicly screened to a paying audience at an NZFC recommended short film festival*, OR
    • Held a position as the first assistant director of a publicly distributed and released feature film or TV drama series, OR
    • Significant experience directing scripted short-form narrative content (short film, webseries or commercials), OR
    • Won an award for a short film at an NZFC recommended film festival*.

*NZFC recommended film festivals

To apply

Please download the application cover sheet and checklist (PDF 126KB), and submit the following in a single PDF by 5PM, Wednesday 26 August 2020 to admin@deganz.co.nz with ‘Vegas Attachment’ in the subject line:

  1. Completed Application Cover Sheet with links to examples of your directing work. You may provide excerpts from longer-form work. NO showreels.
  2. A CV with a bio and filmography
  3. A reference (from a senior screen industry practitioner)
  4. A maximum 1-page letter that tells us why you think you are suitable for the attachment and what you hope to gain from it.

We will ask you to indicate on the cover sheet which attachment you are most interested in applying for. Shortlists will be developed from applicants. An interview may or may not be required.

DEGNZ will notify you as to whether or not your application has been successful at the latest by 7 September, but no further correspondence will be entered into regarding your application and the decision will be final.

Questions?

Please contact us if you have any questions about the attachments or application requirements.


This initiative is made possible with the support of NZ On Air and Greenstone TV Ltd.

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Assistant & Solo Editors Course

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The Assistant Editor is the heart and engine of Editorial. They coordinate with all other production departments and post houses, and set workflow systems in place that will keep the production running smoothly from the very beginning to the final delivery. Experienced assistants are worth their weight in gold. An Editor working alone without adequate knowledge of technical workflow requirements may become an expensive liability by the end of post.


Call for Applications

Directors & Editors Guild of NZ is pleased to present the Assistant & Solo Editors Course in 2020, a comprehensive course of 4 workshops covering the technical knowledge and skills needed to run all aspects of Editorial through the complete workflow, from pre-production to delivery. The Guild welcomes applications for this course to be held on consecutive Sundays from September 13 to October 4.

The workshops are specifically designed for emerging assistant editors (with at least two productions they’ve assisted or cut), and solo editors working without an assistant (any number of productions) who wish to move into more complex productions. Both drama and documentary (containing archival) will be covered.

The workshops will deal both with key skills considered minimum requirements for setting up a well functioning Editorial – setting up projects, ingesting and full preparation for the editor – and with more advanced skills – setting up systems, workflow meetings, departmental interfacing, VFX, trouble-free handovers and troubleshooting issues when they arise.

These are hands-on workshops moving right through a project workflow, each day of the workshop builds on the skills of the previous day(s) in a cumulative layering of knowledge and skills. Prospective participants will need to commit to the full course.

Up to 14 participants will be selected.

Course Requirements

Both Avid and Premiere practitioners are invited, however, please be aware that the bulk of the workshops will be carried out on Avid Ultimate with some sessions dedicated to Premiere. You will need:

  • a working knowledge of Avid – this is not an Avid tutorial nor a beginners entry course into the industry.
  • Premiere practitioners will also need an Adobe ID to access Premiere on the South Seas system.

Workshop Details

Price: Course offered at discounted rates due to the COVID-19 pandemic (normal non-member price – $360)

DEGNZ Full member – Free
DEGNZ Associate/Student member – $100
Non-member – $200

Lunch and tea/coffee provided

When: Sundays from 9:30am – 4:30pm

13 September
20 September
27 September
4 October

Where: South Seas Film and Television School, 75 Ellice Rd, Glenfield, Auckland

Travel allowances are available – see below.

Our Tutors

Dan Best

DAN BEST has 25 years experience in Film and Television. He spent 14 years working as an Editor, Director and Producer for Television. The last 13 years have been spent working in film as a Post Production Supervisor, Editor, Assistant and VFX Editor, including 1st Assistant Editor on Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin, Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy, and more recently as 1st Assistant / VFX Editor on Mortal Engines and Post Production Supervisor on They Shall Not Grow Old. He is currently engaged as VFX Editor on The Lord of the Rings television series. Dan is highly valued as a very experienced Editorial Manager and with these huge and varied productions behind him there is little he has not handled in his career to date.

Dione Chard

DIONE CHARD has worked as an assistant editor and editor in both New Zealand and Canada over the past 12 years. She cut her first feature film Stray in 2017 and more recently she’s cut All or Nothing: A Season with the All Blacks for Amazon and Vai with Brown Sugar Apple Grunt Productions. As an assistant she’s worked on many varied productions from ABC’s Legend of the Seeker to Disney sitcom Mr Young, telefeature Jean and the STARZ series Ash vs Evil Dead.

Supporting Tutors

ANNIE COLLINS – Editor since 1975
ANU WEBSTER – VFX Editor & First Assistant Editor since 2008
BEN SINCLAIR – Sound Designer & Composer since 2000
DAN KIRCHER – Editor since 2008 (Adobe Premiere)
TRISTAN SIMPSON – Conform DMC Supervisor & DCP Specialist since 2008

Questions?

If selected to attend, DEGNZ Full members may apply for financial assistance of up to $1000 incl. GST towards their travel costs, equivalent to up to $250 per workshop.

  • DEGNZ has up to 3 travel allowances available for this course.
  • Applicants must live in New Zealand outside the Auckland region.

For further information and criteria, see here.

Yes, you can still apply if you participated in either/both of the Assistant Editors – Mandatory Skills Workshop or the Assistant Editors – Advanced Skills Workshop.

However, you will need to include in your letter why you think you would benefit from doing this course. The Assistant & Solo Editors Workshops is a revised format, covering most of what was taught in these two earlier workshops.

If you have further questions, please contact us.

To Apply

Application Deadline: 9AM, Wednesday 26 August

STEP 1: Complete the application form below.

STEP 2: Send in one PDF to tema@deganz.co.nz:

  • your CV (with filmography)
  • a brief, maximum 1-page letter that tells us why you would like to participate and what you hope to gain from the workshop.

Late or incomplete applications will not be accepted.

 

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

NZFC

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State of Play

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While the world continues to reel from COVID-19, we sit in our smug little bubble wondering what the fuss is all about. So far, we’ve escaped relatively unscathed the medical turmoil associated with Corona, but are now facing up to the emotional, psychological and economic impact that will be with us for many years to come. Looking across the ditch at Victoria, we see how quickly it could all go pearshaped for us.

Production-wise, all of the offshore projects that were interrupted by COVID are now back. Local production that was shut down is returning as well. Local TV drama will hopefully get a shot in the arm from NZ On Air shortly. TV productions with funding and small crews seem mostly to be on their feet.

The advertising sector, however, is still suffering from nervousness on the part of clients who don’t know if they have the marketing budget to spend or what to do with it and when, if they do.

NZ shorts and features that were interrupted are also getting up again but as mentioned in my last op-ed, without the insurance issue solved, we still have a problem with new productions, Houston.

The numbers of people continuing to take up our COVID-19 Membership Holiday offer tells us, though, that there is pain out there with directors and editors. The Guild would like to get a better fix on this. Within the next two weeks we will put out a short survey to ascertain more clearly what the employment situation is like for members and other directors and editors in the industry.

We ask that you please take the short time required to fill it out. Your responses will help us to better strategically and tactically respond in ways that are meaningful and useful.

It’s hard not to look around at the moment and think that we are in the eye of the storm. Everything is peaceful, calm and quiet, except on the political front. Hopefully we can move with the eye rather than stray out of it where we’ll get a lashing.

In the meantime, I would like to remind you all of the Vista Foundation/Home and Family Counselling offer, which is still available. Information on our website here. If you are having a particularly difficult time right now, please reach out and let us know and we’ll see if there’s anything we can do.

Stay safe, stay strong, be kind.

 

Tui Ruwhiu
Executive Director

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The Elephant In the Room

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On Wednesday evening, Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, Carmel Sepuloni, together with the Minister for Economic Development, Phil Twyford, and Minister for Broadcasting, Kris Faafoi, announced the Screen Sector Recovery package. Included was $140 million previously announced in the budget, being $115 million to the international NZ Screen Production Grant, with $25 million to the domestic Screen Production Grant for local productions.

The rest of the announcement was new funding, but how much and where it went was clear as mud. As far as I can figure out it breaks down like this:

  • $15.4 million to NZFC with $2 million allocated to cultural capability funding and the rest to recovery for production affected by COVID.
  • In a guess on my part, $8 million to NZ On Air for production affected by COVID.
  • $50 million in a new fund to be dedicated to high-end drama and film projects, targeting streamers it would seem, with criteria still to be developed.
  • An additional $25 million, which seems to have materialised out of nowhere, for NZ On Air to spend over four years for Pacific, student and disability broadcast media.

The elephant in the room, though, is insurance. Without it, no new high-end drama or feature film will be able to get up without a major studio willing to bankroll the whole thing and take the associated risk that COVID has brought.

How to get insurance and completion bonds for production is a global problem putting the brakes on production everywhere. The insurance industry has already been hit with massive COVID-associated claims. Consequently, insurers won’t issue insurance to cover COVID-19.

Screen industries around the world are hatching various plans to deal with the insurance issue, but they all, to a greater or lesser degree, come down to one thing: government underwriting of insurance.

The New Zealand Film Commission commissioned the Screen Production and Development Association (SPADA) to write a paper for Government to outline the issues and justify the call for Government to come up with a solution that would allow new drama and feature film projects to get up. While the new funding announced on Wednesday night was welcomed by everyone, a significant number of those in attendance at the Beehive waited with bated breath for a Government response to the insurance issue. It never came.

Small productions and those that had existing insurance coverage prior to COVID will get made, but independent production everywhere needs the insurance problem solved. That includes any NZ On Air funded drama soon to be announced from the last round. Without an insurance solution or a studio willing to take on the risk, we could all be watching a lot more low-budget short-form web series to satisfy our scripted desires.

Unfortunately, we are still waiting cap in hand for the Government to come to the rescue. If they do, we will then truly be able to take advantage of the very fortunate position we find ourselves in as a screen industry in comparison to the rest of the world.

Here’s hoping.

Tui Ruwhiu
Executive Director

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