Tag Archive for: production funding

A Local Film for Horror Genre Lovers: ‘God’s Favourites Fall Hardest’

Help DEGANZ member Brian Gill bring short film God’s Favourites Fall Hardest to life by supporting the project’s Boosted campaign. Brian is taking on multiple roles for the film as the editor and producer.

The short calls upon and pays homage to nunsploitation films, the Italian Giallo slasher murder-mystery genre, and other classic horror motifs. The 6-8 minute thriller follows an amnesiac nun working to uncover her church’s secrets against the efforts of a cult leader seeking psychological control.

While aiming to crowdfund $3,300 on Boosted, the team is also looking to various filmmaking grants, both locally and internationally. The support from the Boosted will go towards paying for the film’s shooting location (a classical Gothic church in Remuera Tāmaki Makaurau), hiring the camera department, and paying for unit and art department costs.

Boosted is all or nothing, so if the team doesn’t meet their goal, all funds return to donors. While high-risk, this strategy raises Boosted campaigns success rates by raising the stakes.

You can support Brian and the team by donating to the Boosted campaign or following them on Facebook and Instagram!

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DEGANZ Incubator Alum Selected for He Kauahi Catalyst Funding

Congratulations to DEGANZ members and Emerging Women Filmmakers Incubator alum Jolin Lee and Mīria George for receiving He Kauahi Catalyst funding. Their filmmaking teams make up two of the three selected. In addition to being their respective projects’ directors, both Jolin and Mīria are credited with writing positions. Both teams have received $90,000 for their short films and an additional $10,000 to develop their feature film concepts.

Jolin’s short, Chrysanthemum follows an anguished gardener who develops an unhealthy relationship with a chrysanthemum plant when her daughter mysteriously vanishes in a garden centre. Mīria’s film, Open Looks, tells the story of three sisters who share a love of basketball and must battle their way back from the underworld when their world is turned upside down.

This funding from NZFC allows filmmakers to develop high-end narrative short films to progress their careers. The projects pitched are required to be tonally or thematically linked to feature or long-form content, allowing the creatives to develop the short-form content with hopes of expanding it in the future.

Read more.

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Funded Full-Length Documentary to Follow MP Chlöe Swarbrick

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Our congratulations goes out to the team of Being Chlöe, which has received production funding through NZ On Air! The 90-minute documentary will be directed by member Charlotte Evans (DEGANZ Incubator 2020), produced by Letisha Tate-Dunning (DEGANZ) with executive producers Mark McNeill (DEGANZ) and Philippa Campbell. The film will be edited by Simon Coldrick.

Set to appear on Three after the next election, Being Chlöe will explore the political and personal life of Chlöe Swarbrick, currently New Zealand’s youngest MP. The project was earlier on granted NZ Film Commission script development funding.

In the meantime, audiences can watch OK Chlöe, a 9-minute film made by Charlotte and Letisha through Loading Docs, for a taster of the documentary to come.

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The Gone Gets Greenlight Under Te Puna Kairangi Interim Production Round

Peter Burger

Decisions are out for the Interim Production Round of Te Puna Kairangi Premium Fund. A panel made up of members from NZ On Air, NZFC and Te Māngai Pāho have made conditional offers to two drama series, one documentary series and a feature film.

We’re excited to see that DEGANZ member Peter Burger will direct the first block of new drama series The Gone (6 x 60 min), a co-production between New Zealand and Ireland.

Michael Bennett, Simone Nathan and Irish screenwriter Anna McPartlin will write the show. The Gone follows an Irish detective Theo Richter and Kiwi cop Diana Henare, who team up to find a young Irish couple after they vanish from an infamous rural North Island town. The project begins pre-production in January 2022.

The $50 million Fund supports the Aotearoa New Zealand production sector recovery from COVID-19 by supporting high-quality productions that tell New Zealand stories for global audiences. The four screen projects in the Interim Round will share over $11.5 million.

Read more

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Kuek Announced as Recipient of Every Voice Initiative

Well done to our member Becky Kuek, who has just been announced as a recipient of the very first Every Voice initiative, run by NZ On Air, Screen Australia, and Tik Tok. Becky has received funding for her 10-part scripted comedy series Long x Xia, which she will be co-writing and co-directing alongside Gwen Lin.

Long x Xia follows Ruby and CJ (a.k.a Long and Xia), two cousins who find themselves embracing the vigilante life after hijacking a live lobster from a Chinese restaurant.

Every Voice is aimed at supporting “diverse and distinct creators” to create innovative content exclusively for the platform TikTok. Four teams from New Zealand have been chosen and three from Australia. Each team receives up to AUD $50,000 to cover development and production costs for their projects. In addition to this funding, recipients like Becky will participate in virtual workshops to develop their storytelling skills, and learn how to create the best content for TikTok.

Amie Mills, Head of Funding for NZ On Air says they are “thrilled to support each of the talented emerging creative teams to tell their unique stories, in their own voices, in authentic and exciting new ways.”

Lee Naimo, Screen Australia’s Head of Online, sees exciting potential in supporting the development of these projects; “These distinct scripted and documentary series all reflect one of the greatest strengths of TikTok – that it is a platform for creators to connect with audiences and build their online communities.”

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