Jane Campion NZ filmmaker Jane Campion is one of contemporary cinema’s most notable filmmakers. She is the first and only female director to receive the Palme d’Or at Cannes Film Festival (1993) and only the second of four women ever to be nominated as Best Director at the Academy Awards (1994), both for THE PIANO [Read More]
Rachel Griffiths Multi-award winning actress Rachel Griffiths burst on to the international film scene in 1994 with her memorable performance in MURIEL'S WEDDING. She has since been prolific in film, theatre and TV, earning a Academy Award nomination for her role in HILARY & JACKIE, and winning a Golden Globe for her role in Alan Ball’s critically acclaimed SIX FEET UNDER. [Read More]
Jon Landau Academy Award and two-time Golden Globe winning producer Jon Landau holds the distinction of having produced the two highest grossing films of all time: AVATAR (2009) and TITANIC (1997). He is part of the New Zealand Screen Advisory Board. [Read More]
Sebastián Silva Sebastián is a Chilean writer and director whose features have received international acclaim. THE MAID premiered at Sundance and won the Grand Jury Prize as well as a Golden Globe nomination. In 2013 he premiered two films at Sundance, MAGIC MAGIC and CRYSTAL FAIRY. His most recent film, NASTY BABY, premiered at Sundance this year and stars Kristen Wiig. [Read More]
Anthony McCarten New Zealand-born Anthony McCarten is a celebrated novelist, filmmaker, producer and playwright who has found recent success with biopic THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING, for which he won a BAFTA award for the screenplay. [Read More]
Liz Watts Liz is the principal director of film and TV production company Porchlight, and is producer of some of the most successful Australian films of recent years including David Michôd’s critically acclaimed ANIMAL KINGDOM, Cate Shortland’s LORE, Rowan Woods LITTLE FISH, and Tony Kravatz JEWBOY. [Read More]
Graeme Revell Graeme is a New Zealand film composer responsible for the scoring of well over 100 television series and feature films including THE CROW, THE SAINT, THE CHINESE BOX (Gold award, Venice Film festival), BLOW, SIN CITY, CSI MIAMI and the new hit: GOTHAM. The score of his first film DEAD CALM won him an Australian Film Industry award. [Read More]
Alison Maclean Alison is a Canadian-born, NZ-raised director, whose famed short film KITCHEN SINK was nominated for the Palme d’Or in 1989. Her feature films include CRUSH (1992), and US film JESUS’ SON (1999). After two decades of directing commercials, many episodes of acclaimed TV drama, documentary and short film, she returns to NZ to direct THE REHEARSAL. [Read More]
Bridget Ikin Bridget works as an independent producer of feature films, documentary, and more recently artists’ moving image installations. She’s currently filming an adaptation of Eleanor Catton’s first novel THE REHEARSAL with Alison Maclean. In 2015 she completed a feature documentary SHERPA (directed by Jennifer Peedom), which played at Toronto International Film Festival. [Read More]
Florian Habicht With 10 years as a writer/director, Florian is responsible for some of New Zealand’s most innovative films, from experimental WOODENHEAD (2003), to his participatory LOVE STORY (2010) and his most recent music documentary PULP: A FILM ABOUT LIFE, DEATH & SUPERMARKETS, Habicht’s unique voice has lead to an impressive following. [Read More]
Jake Mahaffy Writer/director Jake Mahaffy's self-produced, micro-budget shorts and features, including WELLNESS, MIRACLE BOY and WAR, have screened at a number of international festivals including Sundance, Venice, and SXSW (Grand Jury Prize). His latest film FREE IN DEED recently premiered at the 72nd Venice Film Festival, where it was awarded the Orizzonti Best Film prize. [Read More]
Duncan Sarkies Duncan is a screenwriter, novelist, performer and short story writer. His screen credits include black comedy SCARFIES, two episodes for the HBO series FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS, and feature TWO LITTLE BOYS - adapted from his own novel in 2012. He is currently working on many projects including a collaboration with Jemaine Clement, Lawrence Arabia and Stephen Templer. [Read More]
Anna Dean Anna Dean is a PR maven with a passion for arts, culture and entertainment. Her successes on the WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS campaign were recognised with the Best Independent Marketing Campaign Award 2014 awarded earlier this year by the NZ Motion Picture Industry Council (NZMPIC). [Read More]
Chris Pryor Chris is a documentary director, editor and cinematographer who works with his partner Miriam Smith to deliver groundbreaking feature documentaries, most recently THE GROUND WE WON. HOW FAR IS HEAVEN (2012) was nominated for Best Documentary Film, Best Documentary Director, Best Documentary Editor and Best Documentary Cinematographer at the NZ Film Awards. [Read More]
Miriam Smith Miriam produced & co-created the critically acclaimed observational documentaries THE GROUND WE WON (2015) & HOW FAR IS HEAVEN (2012) with her partner Chris Pryor. Both had successful cinema releases in New Zealand. THE GROUND WE WON has recently screened at Melbourne and Locarno, amongst a growing list of international festivals. [Read More]
Chelsea Winstanley Chelsea has a background in documentary and began producing television and short films with business partner Desray Armstrong. She has made some of the most successful NZ shorts of the last 5 years, including having films in competition at Cannes two years in a row. Her first theatrical feature was low-budget feature WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, which was listed as one of 2015’s 20 highest grossing indie films by Indiewire. [Read More]
Briar Grace-Smith Briar (Ngā Puhi) is an award-winning writer of stage plays, screenplays and short fiction. Presently Briar teaches ‘writing for theatre’ at the International Institute of Modern Letters, and works as a script consultant. Of her own writing projects, Briar is excited about her feature script THE SONG JAR – a dark but funny tale about three heroic sisters, as well as her stage play ONLY BIRDS. [Read More]
Libby Hakaraia Libby has worked in broadcasting and media for the past 25 years as a producer and director. In 2014, Libby launched Maoriland Film Festival, NZ’s first international Indigenous industry focused film festival. Libby has been a jury member at imagineNATIVE, the world’s largest Indigenous film festival in Toronto, and has also participated in forums at the Berlin International Film Festival. [Read More]
Matthew Metcalfe Matthew is a leading NZ producer who has worked in film and TV for the past eighteen years. In that time he has produced over NZD 110 million worth of production, representing eleven feature films, ten tele-features and numerous TV shows, TVC’s, documentaries and music videos. This year Matthew premiered his latest film at TIFF, 25 APRIL, and is in production with action/thriller 6 DAYS and documentary MCLAREN. [Read More]
Dave Gibson Dave Gibson is the CEO of the New Zealand Film Commission and has produced feature films and television programmes that have sold in more than eighty countries worldwide. In 2012 he was appointed an officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) in recognition of his services to the film and television industries. [Read More]
Moderators
Robyn Malcolm Robyn is one of NZ's most respected and iconic actors. She has worked across film, TV and theatre for over two decades and made a lasting impression as lead Cheryl West in the long-running series OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE. In 2013 she starred in her series AGENT ANNA, and in Campion's TOP OF THE LAKE. Recently she has worked in Australia, starring in popular comedy UPPER MIDDLE BOGAN and acclaimed political thriller THE CODE. [Read More]
Philippa Campbell Philippa has produced five New Zealand feature films, including RAIN, NO.2, BLACK SHEEP, and genre-busting RUBBINGS FROM A LIVE MAN. She produced Jane Campion’s Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning series TOP OF THE LAKE, and is currently in development with the show’s second season. [Read More]
Gaylene Preston Gaylene is one of New Zealand’s most celebrated filmmakers, and has continued to make enduring classics of New Zealand cinema including WAR STORIES and HOME BY CHRISTMAS. Gaylene is currently working on a feature documentary for international distribution following one of the most powerful New Zealanders in the world. [Read More]
Tom Hern Tom has produced three NZ features including I’M NOT HARRY JENSON, EVERYTHING WE LOVED, and most recently THE DARK HORSE, which has taken the world by storm, and is scheduled for US release in Dec 2015. Tom was recently recognised as a future leader of the industry in SCREEN INTERNATIONAL’s special Cannes 2015 edition. [Read More]
Christina Milligan Christina is an Auckland-based producer, writer and script consultant. Her most recent production is the feature documentary THE PRICE OF PEACE, directed by Kim Webby, which is currently playing in cinemas in the North Island after a very successful run at the NZ International Film Festival. As a producer or executive producer, her work includes [Read More]
Brita McVeigh Brita coaches established and emerging actors, directors, writers and producers in NZ, Australia and the US. In less than a decade, Brita’s working methodology has contributed to the development of more than 113 feature film, short film, television and theatre projects. She is a board member of Script to Screen NZ and an advisory board member of the Writer’s Lab Aotearoa. [Read More]
Karin Williams Karin's bicultural genealogy (Cook Island ‘akapapa and British) makes her a proud Kiwi who is passionate about the stories of her tupuna on both sides. She began her career as a journalist on Rarotonga and went on to work in New Zealand and the USA as a writer, director and producer for broadcast, film and theatre. Her award-winning independent documentaries, short films and theatre productions have shown at festivals around the world. [Read More]
Georgina Allison Conder Georgina started her career as a line producer, working on NZ feature films EAGLE VS SHARK, NZ box office hit BOY, SHOPPING and THE PA BOYS. In 2014 she co-produced the acclaimed TV drama CONSENT: THE LOUISE NICHOLAS STORY, and most recently she co-produced director Jake Mahaffy’s Venice Grand Jury Prize winning film FREE IN DEED. [Read More]
Julia Parnell Julia is an award-winning producer and documentary director. Since launching Notable Pictures, Julia has expanded into producing drama, including NZIFF Best Short FRIDAY TIGERS (2013) and Show Me Shorts Best Film DIVE (2014). She also founded successful short documentary platform LOADING DOCS in 2013. [Read More]
David Farrier David began work on NZ news show NIGHTLINE as an entertainment reporter in 2005. He quickly became known for covering quirky news, and bigger entertainment stories overseas, travelling to LA to cover events like the Grammys and the E3 expo. He is currently working on his first feature length documentary. [Read More]
Victoria Kelly Victoria is an award-winning composer and musician. Her original scores include BLACK SHEEP, UNDER THE MOUNTAIN, OUT OF THE BLUE, and FIELD PUNISHMENT NO.1. She co-composed the music for the television series THE ALMIGHTY JOHNSONS with Sean Donnelly and performs regularly with SJD, The Bellbirds, and with Neil Finn. [Read More]
