EVENT: 16 MAY 2012, WELLINGTON
Join us to hear playwright and screenwriter Ken Duncum talk to writer/director Tusi Tamasese and producer Catherine Fitzgerald about developing and making Tusi's debut feature The Orator (O Le Tulafale).
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EVENT: 12 MAY 2012, AUCKLAND
One of the standout New Zealand films of 2011, Tusi Tamasese’s The Orator is the first full length film to be made in Samoan. It wowed audiences and critics at home and abroad, premiering in competition at the Venice Film Festival and earning New Zealand’s Oscar contender spot. Set on the Samoan island of Upolu, this accomplished debut fuses cinematic convention with traditional storytelling to create a story of love, courage and honour. Writer and director Tamasese talks to fellow film director Sima Urale about writing, filmmaking and straddling two cultures, in work and in life.
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FEATURE: 7 MAY 2012
"We continue our Jedi fono (hui) on our way to a filmmakers industry party... filmmakers hustling hard and I’m relieved it’s not my time to shine. It’s very shiny here. After years of crafting your films universe, you’re in a spotlight where your film has to be seen, reviewed, critiqued, voted on and from what I can tell – BOUGHT – a major reality! I meet a distributor whose main interest is female directors, that’s encouraging in what seems to be a male dominated room."
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NEWS: 2 MAY 2012
Due to a family illness Michael is unable to do the workshop this weekend. However we will be taking Michael to Northland later in the year so do keep a look out for the new time and date. (For those attending the Nga Aho Whakaari hui - this will go ahead as planned)
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FEATURE: 25 APRIL 2012
"What gets me up when my alarm blasts me awake is that I am right there while Daniel Radcliffe is tapping a bop beat to propel him into his next scene as Allen Ginsberg. I am getting to see actors like Michael C Hall (Dexter) and Ben Foster (The Messenger, X-Men, 3:10 to Yuma, Here) as they drop into the depths of their characters."
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EVENT: 18 APRIL 2012, WELLINGTON
Gaylene Preston (Home by Christmas) talks to internationally renowned UK director Peter Webber (Girl with a Pearl Earring, Hannibal Rising) about his career as a director of film and TV, the art of making compelling drama and following one’s nose.
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EVENT: 31 MARCH 2012
A great producer needs the tenacity to drive a project from conception through to delivery to an audience. The role is multifaceted: a juggle between financing, creative direction and organisation. How do you get a film project off the ground and then protect the vision while also keeping on top of the day to day?
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NEWS: 4 APRIL 2012
“… seeing with my innocent road-eyes the absolute madness and fantastic hoorair of New York with its millions and millions hustling forever for a buck among themselves, the mad dream—grabbing, taking, giving, sighing, dying…”
-- On the Road by Jack Kerouac.
I stepped out of JFK International Airport at dusk, delirious from 30 hours of travel. A rabbi walked toward me on the zebra crossing. As we rushed through wintry Queens…
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FEATURE: 28 FEBRUARY 2012
Watching someone else take custody of characters created through a labour of love can be a profound moment for most writers. Allowing actors to breathe life into much-loved creations and enabling a ‘shared custody’ is integral to the successful transition of a script to the screen … and a critical part of an actor’s own performance and craft.
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NEWS: 16 APRIL 2012
"I’ve been based mainly from home for the last two weeks, eating scripts like taro leaf baked in coconut cream since day two. Other than a meeting with David on the KYD set to discuss a few of the many active projects Killer Films has on their slate and an afternoon watching the first week of dailies from KYD in the office, David has me fully immersed in screenplay world. The first two scripts I’m given are in production. I email my thoughts on the scripts to David and he gets back with, ‘Amazing Thoughts!’ From there my intern-ing really starts firing!"
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EVENT: 24 APRIL 2012
Come and hear editors David Coulson (Whale Rider, North Country) and Cushla Dillon (Beautiful Machine, This Way of Life) talk to director/producer Leanne Pooley (Untouchable Girls, Haunting Douglas) about the art of great storytelling. Analysing clips from their work, we dissect an editor's choices during this critical stage in the filmmaking process.
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FEATURE: 27 MARCH 2012
“Whether you make films or TV shows, these are the people most likely to review them,” said Writer’s Room MC Gavin Strawhan as he introduced an evening of lively discussion with Peter Calder (NZ Herald), Sarah Watt (Sunday Star Times), Chris Philpott (On the Box – Stuff.co.nz) and Helene Wong (The Listener).
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