Tag Archive for: screenwriter

Jackie van Beek Nominated for AACTA Awards

Congratulations to DEGANZ member Jackie van Beek who has been nominated in two categories at the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards (AACTA) for her work on Nude Tuesday.

Jackie is nominated for a Best Lead Actress in Film award as well as a Best Screenplay in Film award for Nude Tuesday.

Directed by fellow DEGANZ member Armağan Ballantyne, comedy film Nude Tuesday follows a conservative, middle-aged couple, played by Jackie van Beek and Damon Herriman, trying to save a failing marriage with a trip to a new-age relationship retreat rich in sexual liberation and extreme nudity.

Jemaine Clement has also been nominated for a Best Supporting Actor award for his work on the film.

The 2022 AACTA Awards will be presented across two ceremonies at The Hordern in Sydney, on December 5 and December 7.

Good luck Jackie!

 

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DEGANZ Members Selected for Story Camp Aotearoa 2022

Four DEGANZ members and their projects have been accepted into Story Camp Aotearoa 2022, run by Script to Screen. Nine projects all together were selected from 60 applications.

Story Camp is crafted to meet the development needs of each writer and project. Over a week in November, participating writers and their collaborators workshop their feature film projects with exceptional local and international advisors.

Kyan Krumdieck’s project, Comrade Andrei, has been selected alongside Katie Wolfe’s The Blue Whale, which is based on the novel The Virgin and the Whale by Carl Nixon.

Kim Webby will attend Story Camp with Manifesto For Murder, as well as Cian Elyse White (Incubator 2021) with Te Puhi (The Princess).

Congratulations to our members!

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Jake Tabata’s The Creature Boosted Campaign Opens Soon

Jake Tabata (DEGANZ) is making his directorial debut with horror, coming-of-age web series The Creature. To make this happen, he is holding a Boosted campaign to raise $9,000, kicking off on 18 July.

The Creature follows Aidan, a young gay man, on his journey to self-acceptance. Stuck in the online dating rut of endlessly swiping with no results, Aidan is ecstatic when matched with his ‘dream man’. However, to leave for his date, Aidan must face the perturbed Creature lurking in his home’s shadows. As he challenges the Creature’s authority over him, Aidan learns that being alone doesn’t mean he has to be lonely.

This project’s kaupapa centres around authentically telling queer stories, upskilling young creatives, and ensuring accessibility (meaning it’ll be free to watch!). Ultimately, Jake and the creative team want young queer people to feel seen, heard, and validated through this story.

If you are keen to support this group of emerging filmmakers to tell this important story of young queer representation navigating romance and anxiety in the online space, visit their Boosted page.

Good luck to Jake and the rest of the production team!

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Members’ Films Head to Sydney Film Festival

The 69th Sydney Film Festival (June 8-19) will be back in cinemas across 12 days and nights, promising to showcase the greatest, strangest and most exciting works cinema has to offer, with a number of DEGANZ members featuring.

Anthology film We Are Still Here will open SFF as well as have its World Premiere. The film is an unparalleled First Nations celebration, interweaving eight stories by 10 directors from Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific. That includes DEGANZ members Tim Worrall, Chantelle Burgoyne and board member Renae Maihi.

Conceived as a cinematic response to the 250th anniversary of James Cook’s arrival in this region, We Are Still Here is a poetic and powerful statement of resistance and survival. The other directors involved are Beck Cole, Danielle MacLean, Dena Curtis, Richard Curtis, Miki Magasiva, Mario Gaoa and Tracey Rigney. We Are Still Here is a joint indigenous initiative between Screen Australia’s First Nations Department and the NZ Film Commission.

Nude Tuesday is set to have its World Premiere at the festival as well, featured in the Special Presentations programme. Directed by our member Armagan Ballantyne and written by fellow DEGANZ member Jackie van Beek, the unique comedy, filled with eccentric characters and a made up language, follows a conservative middle-aged couple who try to rescue their failing marriage by attending  a new-age relationship retreat.

Directed and co-written by DEGANZ member Michelle Savill, Millie Lies Low, will have its Australian Premiere at SFF. Praised at the Berlin International Film festival and SXSW, Michelle’s dark comedy is a thoughtful exploration of anxiety and imposter syndrome.

Another Kiwi film having its Australian Premiere is biopic Whina. Directed by James Napier Robertson and Paula Whetu Jones, Whina follows the tumultuous personal journey and unshakeable inner strength that led Whinā to become one of Aotearoa’s most formidable leaders.

Congratulations to our members and safe travels to those heading across the ditch to attend!

Learn more at the Sydney Film Festival website.

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Tom Augustine Selected for 2022 Tāhuna Writers Residency

Our congrats goes to Tom Augustine (DEGANZ) who is one of five recipients selected to take part in the 2022 Tāhuna Writers Residency. The residency was created by Great Southern Television and the Queenstown Lakes District Council, with the support of the NZFC and NZOA.

The one month residency will include workshops with leading screen practitioners, accommodation and coverage of living costs. The writers will each develop a concept for a scripted drama series to be based and produced in the Queenstown Lakes.

Philip Smith, CEO of Great Southern Television, states how thrilled they are by the calibre and range of participants in their inaugural workshop. They are eager to take these writers on the journey and provide them with the resources and the insights to make their creative visions reality.

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