Tag Archive for: Script to Screen

McKenzie Chosen for Canterbury Screen Story Incubator 2023

DEGANZ member Fiona McKenzie (Incubator 2022) has been selected for this year’s Waitaha Canterbury Screen Story Incubator with her new feature film Caroline.

The Waitaha Canterbury Screen Story Incubator is a programme organised by Script to Screen and Te Puna Matarau. It aims to support filmmakers from the Canterbury region, helping them develop projects and advance their careers. 

Five teams were selected, consisting of three series, a feature film, and a narrative-driven video game. Fiona’s project is the only feature-length film selected. Participants will attend three workshops from July to September and receive advice from filmmaking practitioners regarding their project’s specific needs.

Jackie Dennis, Executive Director of Script to Screen, warmly welcomed projects for this year. She commented:

The selected projects are exciting. They include a love letter to rock music culture and the trans community, an animated family adventure, a recluse living in the Southern Alps, and two comedies – a feature set in 1975 and a series that unfolds on a road trip.

Based in Christchurch now, Fiona started as a writer and field director for TVNZ in Dunedin. Later, she moved to Auckland and trained as a Drama Director with South Pacific Pictures before going freelance. She’s directed a variety of genres and forms, including documentary, sketch comedy, drama, and multicam. Her latest short film Peninsula premiered at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival in 2021 and won the “Let’s Include” section at the Academy Award-qualifying Bengaluru International Short Film Festival, India.

We are wishing all the best for Fiona’s project!

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‘Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead’ and She’s Off to Bootcamp

Jaya Beach-Robertson, DEGANZ member and current Incubator participant, has made the cut for Script to Screen’s Series Bootcamp 2023. She is credited as a co-writer with Roo Reihana-Wilson on the drama/comedy entitled Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead.

Series Bootcamp aims to nurture emerging and mid-career writers and producers, selecting six teams to undergo a three-stage development process. The teams will forge pitch decks and scripts, starting with an intensive two-day workshop with guest speakers and advisor sessions. They will receive feedback from a script developer on the quality, originality, and viability of their concept and pilot episode before the final pitching day to industry professionals. They also have the opportunity to pitch in front of commissioners who could help bring their ideas to life.

While not much is available about the projects, Jaya’s protagonists are often outsiders, othered, flawed, and land somewhere from unusual to outright strange. Her previous series work includes her self-funded web series, PSUSY, and RNZ’s TAHI Point of View. We are excited to see how her voice and perspective are reflected in this project.

Best of luck to Jaya and the team for Bootcamp!

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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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DEGANZ Members Selected for Script to Screen’s FilmUp

Four DEGANZ members were selected for the 10th annual FilmUp Mentorship Programme!

Rajneel Singh (writer/director)

Rajneel has been working in the film industry since 2006 as a writer, director, and editor. His short films The Fanimatrix: Run Program, Big Bad Wolves, and Blank Space have all reached success through going viral, screening internationally, or winning awards. Blank Space won Best Short Film at the MBF Indian Film Festival in Melbourne in 2010. He currently has multiple feature projects in development.

Kim Webby(writer/director/producer)

Kim is a documentary maker with over 30 years of experience and a dozen documentaries and long-form television series. The Price of Peace, her first feature doco, won four international awards in 2015. Her recent work includes directing three modern art documentaries for television and two features in development.

Marina Alofagia McCartney (writer/director)

Marina is an award-winning filmmaker and scholar. Her last film Vai, an anthology feature that explored 9 Moana Pasifika wahine, opened the NATIVE programme at the 2019 Berlinale and screened in NZIFF, SXSW, Edinburgh Film Festival, MIFF, and more. Additionally, she is a PhD candidate studying Moana Pasifika film.

Tom Augustine (writer/director)

Tom is a well-known Tāmaki Makaurau writer and filmmaker. He won the NZ Writers Guild Seed Advanced Grant (2020) and participated in Script to Screen’s Story Camp (2020) to develop Arsonist, his debut feature screenplay. Other credits include directing and producing The Story of Te Awe for Auckland Museum, his short film Long Time Coming, and many music videos.

This six-month professional development programme, run by Script to Screen, for writers, directors, and producers selects eight filmmakers each year. The participants are supported to take the next steps in their careers through mentorship with an experienced industry professional, group work, and round tables. See the full list of participants.

Congratulations to all our members selected!

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Strength in Numbers Participants Announced

Script to Screen have announced the 12 participants selected for their initiative Strength in Numbers, including two of our members. Congratulations to Becky Kuek and her company Mooncake Ltd and Matasila Freshwater (DEGANZ 2021 Incubator alumna) of Tomorrow, Rain!

Strength in Numbers is a series of workshops running from February to June 2022. Its aim is to arm participants with the tools they need to build a sustainable screen business.

The course is led by David Court who founded the Compton School, Australia’s first creative business school. He is the former Head of Screen Business at AFTRS, and worked on the Jackson/Court review of the New Zealand Film Commission.

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