News
NZFC Premiere Shorts (PODs) (28 Jul 2010)
The NZFC have made some changes to the short film structure. FRESH SHORTS and PREMIERE SHORTS. Fresh is a way to make more shorts for less money.
8 x $10,000
8 x $30,000
Good track records may not be required to secure these funds. Its basically an answer to the question I posed a year ago regarding should all the eggs be put in one short film funding basket.
I guess here's our answer.
If $10k and $30k isn't enough for you, then there's always the Premiere Shorts with heftier budgets. Be warned though, these will go to talent with experience I'm suspecting.
PRESS RELEASE
"The NZ Film Commission has appointed the following three executive producer groups to manage the development and production of 6 short films for the 2010/2011 financial year. Applications may be made to all three executive producer groups based on the attached criteria"
The three executive producer groups are:
A Collective Intake of Breath – Michael Bennett, Maile Daugherty
Tauihu Shorts – Tui Ruwhiu, Poata Eruera, Bradford Haami
Tom Thumb Shorts – Steven O'Meagher, Chris Dudman, Polly Fryer
Their guidelines and call for entries are attached.
You can also download them from our website:
http://www.nzfilm.co.nz/Premiere-Shorts
HEADSTRONG DISBANDS THEN REFORMS! (22 Jun 2010)
One third of HEADSTRONG has left the company and is now working with the New Zealand Film Commission. Paul Swadel one of the original partners is now working in development at the NZFC.
Ant Timpson and Leanne Saunders have both kept busy with separate projects with a proviso in place to reteam on any interesting projects that would pair them back again.
Recently the NZFC started a low budget scheme based on HEADSTRONG called ESCALATOR. It shares many similar traits with our original scheme and has a few added attractions to it. The scheme is being overseen primarily by Paul Swadel.
Timpson met with Fullbright Scholar and Samoan born Playwright Victor Rodger to collaborate on a low budget feature. The project has gathered steam after Rodger attended the Rolf De Heer workshop and was accepted as one of twelve projects out of 750 ideas submitted to ESCALATOR.
Joining the team is Leanne Saunders as producer and white hot director Damon Fepuleai who is directing the Jono Project for C4 at the moment.
Damon Fepuleai is behind some of Peter Jackson's favourite 48HOURS shorts under the team name Goodfellas.
If all comes to plan, all four will work together on Rodger's NIGHT OF THE LIVING PALAGIS for the ESCALATOR scheme.
NZFC Review (10 Aug 2009)
Headstrong have recently submitted material for the upcoming NZFC review by the Ministry of Arts. This review will be overseen by Peter Jackson and David Courts.
Headstrong's proposal centered on the following :
– Creating excitement amongst the next generation of filmmakers
– Cutting back on red tape for low-fi films
– Ongoing Infrastructure Support for Low Budget Features.
– Funding set aside ultra low budget features.
– Assistance for filmmakers to get their work seen
Headstrong will also be calling out for scripts soon that fit into this ultra low-budget area.
LOW FI FEATURES vs SHORTS (03 Aug 2009)
The NZFC have just done a call out for applications for the Short Film Fund. What this means is that three devolved exec-producer teams will eventually be in control of the final funding to do call outs for scripts. Headstrong asks where is the support for low budget features when so many resources go towards shorts?
A debate was initiated on Facebook that got many responses. Well worth reading and contributing if you have thoughts on the subject.
SONG'S SWEET SUCCESS (25 Feb 2009)
25th Feb 2009
Source: HEADSTRONG PRESS RELEASE
Chaos ensued after Gregory King's award winning feature film A SONG OF GOOD streamed free on the internet to the New Zealand public a week ago. The online experiment, a first of its kind for New Zealand, was highly successful.
Initial estimates of 500 viewers, were exceeded after reports on Close-Up, TV One News and Sunrise drove 2500 people to their computers to watch the acclaimed feature. Local content delivery company, E-Cast 's Gresham Bradley said the result was "fantastic and an exciting preview of things to come".
Unfortunately for producers, a miscommunication between the New Zealand distributor (Rialto) and the sub-distributor (Vendetta) resulted in the film being pulled from release the morning after the streaming.
Vendetta's Jill McNab released a statement to all retailers intending to stock the film, "We were not made aware of the free streaming and understand fully the threat this poses to you, our customers. Therefore we have made the decision to cancel the release of the dvd as we do not think it is fair to supply you with a product which is legally available for free in the marketplace already. We will be cancelling all orders of this movie."
Luckily many others in the industry saw the enormous value of the online promotion and the resultant media coverage. First up to the support the film were movie champions Video Ezy who boosted their initial order by 500%. Then other believers (JB Hifi, Warehouse and Fatso) joined suit, much to the relief of filmmakers and producers. Rialto's Distribution Manager Karen Cartwright is shocked by the reversal of fortune, happily exclaiming "the stock intended to cope with demand has run out already!"
The film is finally being released to dvd today, Wednesday Feb 25th.
Exec Producer Ant Timpson is reflective after the roller-coaster week, "In the end, the film will be enjoying a much larger dvd release, which at the end of the day is all that counts. It should enjoy a long life as its topical subject matter makes it compelling viewing in these turbulent times. I completely understand Vendetta's initial reaction and I hope they understand that all parties had the best of intentions with this successful experiment."
A SONG OF GOOD is the story of 28-year-old Gary Cradle's struggle for redemption after committing an horrific crime.
The film stars Gareth Reeves, Danielle Cormack, Ian Mune and Matthew Sunderland. The film was invited to Rotterdam Film Festival for its World Premiere and also won Best Film* at the New Zealand Film and Television Awards.
This online screening was made possible by the good folks at Headstrong, Robbers Dog, New Zealand Film Commission, Rialto Distribution, Cactus Lab, e-Cast and of course the film gurus at Flicks.co.nz
A 100% Free Web Screening of the Acclaimed New Zealand Feature Film 'A SONG OF GOOD'.
Book Your Free Online Seat on Facebook Now!
Facebook Event
Gregory King's award winning feature film A SONG OF GOOD will be available for a free online viewing on Feb 16th. Yes thats right 100% Free!
Any kiwi over 18 can visit the official site at Official site and watch the film at the Official Website during a 24hr period.
The film stars Gareth Reeves, Danielle Cormack, Ian Mune, Matthew Sunderland. The film was invited to Rotterdam Film Festival for its world premiere and since then has gone onto acclaim at many others.
This cool experiment has been made available by the good folks at Headstrong, NZFC, Robbers Dog, Rialto Distribution, Vendetta Films and Cactuslab.
And of course the film gurus at Flicks.co.nz
The film will be released on DVD late Feb by Vendetta.
