Opeyemi Olukemi is Senior Director of Interactive for Tribeca Film Institute, where she oversees the TFI New Media Fund and leads the Institute’s digital and interactive programs.

A fierce advocate for cross-disciplinary collaboration and immersive storytelling, Opeyemi has provided the interactive field with 360-degree support. She spearheaded a day-long immersion into the world of digital storytelling (TFI Interactive), an arena showcasing immersive technologies and projects (TFI Interactive Playground), a creative incubator that mentors storytellers and technologists in creating interactive prototypes (Tribeca Hacks) and an interactive resource report (Tribeca Sandbox).

In 2015 Opeyemi introduced DEF CON at the Tribeca Film Festival, where the worlds of hacker culture and filmmaking merged to address issues of surveillance, technological education and access.

Previously a Senior Project Manager at ScrollMotion, she worked with and oversaw teams of designers, programmers, and third-party vendors in the production of new media applications for clients such as Disney, O: The Oprah Magazine, and Genentech.

Opeyemi is also Assistant Professor of Integrated Media at Brooklyn College’s Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema, a mentor at NEW INC and a 2016 Rockwood JustFilms Fellow.

See Opeyemi Olukemi in the following session:

Interactive Masterclass with Opeyemi Olukemi: Storytelling For The Future – Sun 25th September, 9:40 am.

Raised in Idaho, Heather Rae has been doing groundbreaking work as a producer and executive for more than twenty years. She has produced over ten feature films, numerous documentaries, and in 2009 she was named one of Variety’s Ten Producers To Watch for her success with both independent and mainstream films.

From 1996 to 2001, Heather directed the Native Program at the Sundance Institute where she cultivated the work of more than 50 Native American filmmakers and screenwriters. She was also a programmer for the Sundance Film Festival.

In 2005 she produced well-known documentary TRUDELL, a chronicle of legendary Native American poet/activist John Trudell’s travels, spoken word performances and politics, which premiered at Sundance.

She then produced critically-lauded film FROZEN RIVER (2008), the story of two women who smuggle illegal immigrants from Canada to the United States. It won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance that year, as well as two Gotham Awards, two Independent Spirit Awards, including Piaget Award for best producer, and was nominated for two Academy Awards.

Her 2010 film THE DRY LAND, which follows the struggle of a returned US soldier to readjust to homelife, premiered at Sundance and went on to win three Grand Jury awards at other festivals. Her next film, award-winning feature film MAGIC VALLEY (2011) premiered at Tribeca. Moving into a new sphere, she then produced Sundance comedy hit ASS BACKWARDS, written by June Raphael and Casey Wilson (BRIDE WARS).

Her recent films include SXSW darling I BELIEVE IN UNICORNS (starring STRANGER THINGS’ Natalie Dyer), and Netflix Original TALLULAH, written and directed by ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK writer Sian Heder. TALLULAH reunites JUNO actors Allison Janney and Ellen Page, and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2016. She recently completed work on Olivia Milch’s Blacklist script, DUDE.

Heather has sat on the board of trustees for the Sundance Institute and advised to such organisations as The Rockefeller Foundation, IFP, Film Independent, The Ford Foundation, The Tribeca Institute, and First Americans in the Arts.

See Heather in the following sessions:

Keynote with Heather Rae – Sat 24th September, 10am.

Masterclass with Heahter Rae: Decolonising the screen –  Sun 25th September, 2:15 pm.

With over 20 years experience in the film industry, Cliff Curtis has appeared in and produced many of New Zealand’s most celebrated movies – including THE PIANO, ONCE WERE WARRIORS, WHALE RIDER and THE DARK HORSE, whilst carving a career as a chameleon character actor in Hollywood.

Starting his professional career in regional theaters across NZ, Curtis made his feature film debut in a small role in THE PIANO (1993). He explored a wide range of genres in NZ films including DESPERATE REMEDIES, JUBILEE and RIVER QUEEN. But it was ONCE WERE WARRIORS (1994) and WHALE RIDER (2002) that bought him to a wider audience. To date he has received four NZ Film and TV awards as well as the Best Actor in a Feature Film – Asia Pacific Screen Awards for his role as Genesis Potini in THE DARK HORSE (2014). This role also garnered him the Best Actor Award at the Seattle International Film Festival.

In Hollywood, Curtis has played an array of diverse roles and ethnicities, starring in movies alongside Hollywood legends such as Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington, Eddie Murphy, Al Pacino, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Anthony Hopkins and George Clooney.

He starred in AMC’s FEAR THE WALKING DEAD alongside Kim Dickens. The show premiered on August 23, 2015, and was the most watched series premiere in U.S cable TV history.

Also a producer, Curtis formed Māori film production company Whenua Films in 2004 with cousin Ainsley Gardiner. The pair produced Taika Waititi’s WWII short film TAMA TU (2005), debut feature, geek comedy EAGLE VS SHARK (2007), and BOY (2010), the feature inspired by Waititi’s Oscar-nominated short TWO CARS, ONE NIGHT. Accumulating a cache of local and international acclaim and awards for each project, it was BOY that became the highest grossing local film in NZ history only to be surpassed this year by another Waititi directed feature.

In 2013 Curtis created production company Arama Pictures to continue his commitment to indigenous storytelling inspired by the work of mentors Merata Mita, Don Selwyn & Barry Barclay.

Curtis continues to alternate financing and producing local stories with acting roles in Hollywood counting over 50 credits to date between producing and acting in TV, theatre and film.

Hear from Cliff on Script to Screen podcasts in the following session:

In Conversation with Cliff Curtis – Sun 25th September, 3:25pm.

Jonathan Raymond is a novelist and screenwriter based in Portland, Oregon. In his work for screen, Jonathan is known for his creative collaborations with revered auteurs Kelly Reichardt and Todd Haynes.

As a writer, Jonathan Raymond is known for his novels including The Half-Life (2004) and Rain Dragon (2012). In 2008, Raymond published his first collection of short stories, entitled Livability, which won the Oregon Book Award’s Ken Kesey Award for Fiction in 2009. The collection was also a Barnes & Noble “Discover Great New Writer’s” selection. Raymond’s writing has appeared in Tin House, the Village Voice, Bookforum, Artforum, and other publications. His latest novel, Freebird, released in January 2017.

Two of his short stories, Old Joy and Train Choir, caught director Kelly Reichardt’s attention, and together, based on these stories, they co-wrote the screenplays for two feature films, OLD JOY and WENDY AND LUCY, both of which she directed.

OLD JOY (2006) tells the tale of old friends reuniting for camping trip, and stars Will Oldham (Bonnie Prince Billy). The film premiered at Sundance in 2006, and went on to win awards including the Tiger Award for Best Director at Rotterdam IFF, and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Producer (Neil Kopp).

WENDY AND LUCY (2008) follows a broke girl travelling to Alaska in search of work, with her dog as her companion. It premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes in 2008, and stars Michelle Williams, who received unanimous critical acclaim for her role (as well as her co-star, dog – Lucy, winning the Palm Dog for best performance by a dog). The film won AFI Award for Movie of the year amongst countless other awards and nominations in North America and world wide, and appeared on numerous ‘Top 10 Movies of the Year’ lists including the New York Times and The Village Voice.

Kelly and Jonathan’s next collaborations were Oregon-based western, MEEK’S CUTOFF (2010), which played in competition at Venice Film Festival, winning the SIGNIS Jury Prize, and then suspenseful drama, NIGHT MOVES (2013) starring Dakota Fanning and Jesse Eisenberg, which also played in competition in Venice.

Most recently, Jonathan collaborated with I’M NOT THERE director Todd Haynes, co-writing HBO’s 5 times Emmy Award-winning miniseries MILDRED PIERCE, starring Kate Winslet. Together they were nominated for an Emmy for Best Screenplay.

Jonathan appeared at the 2016 BSS in the following sessions:

Writing masterclass with Jonathan Raymond: Screenwriting as earth art – Sat 24th September 11:00 am

In conversation with Jonathan Raymond: Wildess, Control and Collaboration – Sun 25th September, 11:10 am.

Hear from Jonathan on Script to Screen podcasts in the following session:

In conversation with Jonathan Raymond: Wildess, Control and Collaboration

One of the world’s most brilliant and audacious cinematographers, Christopher Doyle has undeniably created some of the most beautiful and innovative cinema imagery of all time.

He left his native Sydney beach culture on a Norwegian merchant ship at the age of eighteen, and his subsequent experience as a Kibbutz-nick cowboy in Israel, quack doctor in Thailand, and “green agriculturalist” in India, inform but don’t really explain his work. In the late seventies, Doyle was “re-birthed” as Du Ke Feng, which means “like the wind.”

Soon after, he moved to Taiwan where he started to photograph and film, theatre and dance. It was his 8mm and video work that moved director Edward Yang to hire him for his debut film THAT DAY, ON THE BEACH.  Fluent in Mandarin, French and Cantonese, Du Ke Feng subsequently became a sought after cinematographer in Taiwan, China and Hong Kong.

He has been exploring the art form ever since. Du Ke Feng has realized over fifty Chinese-language films, and his alter ego Christopher Doyle has made more than twenty in various other languages and film cultures. His body of work is famously distinct, characterised by images that are lush, kinetic and highly textural.

Du Ke Feng worked with Hong Kong director Kar-Wai Wong on DAYS OF BEING WILD, which began a collaboration between the two that included some of the most iconic Asian films of the next two decades: CHUNGKING EXPRESS, ASHES OF TIME, FALLEN ANGELS, HAPPY TOGETHER, IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE and 2046.

Du Ke Keng/Doyle went on to create stunning visual aesthetics for Zhang Yimou’s award-winning wuxia film HERO, Gus Van Sant’s masterful PARANOID PARK, M Night Shyamalan’s fantasy/thriller LADY IN THE WATER and the rich cinematic experience of Jim Jarmusch’s THE LIMITS OF CONTROL.

Doyle’s most recent collaboration with visionary Alejandro Jodorowsky on his carnivalesque memoir ENDLESS POETRY (POESIA SIN FIN) screened at the 2016 Directors Fortnight section at Cannes Film Festival.

See Christopher at the following sessions:

Cinematography Talks: Three Elements Make a Film – Sat 24th September 11am.

Address: Christopher Doyle – Sat 24th September 12:25pm.

Born in New Rochelle New York, Barrie M. Osborne earned a degree in sociology from Carleton College, Minnesota. Osborne rose to the rank of 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers before entering the film industry as an apprentice editor and assistant production manager. He was accepted into the Directors Guild of America trainee program and worked under the tutelage of directors such as Alan Pakula, Sydney Pollack and Francis Ford Coppola, who hired Osborne as production manager on APOCALYPSE NOW.

For the next 30 years Osborne worked as a production manager, director, film producer, and executive producer. His awe inspiring body of work as a producer or executive producer includes THE BIG CHILL, THE MATRIX, PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED, DICK TRACY, RAPA NUI, CHINA MOON, FACE/OFF and THE WORLD’S FASTEST INDIAN.

Osborne subsequently went on to produce THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy for which he received an Academy Award for Best Picture alongside Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh.

He has recently executive produced the THE GREAT GATSBY remake, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, and the Walt Disney fantasy adventure film PETE’S DRAGON, in 2016.

See Barrie in the following session:

In Conversation with Barrie Osborne – Sat 24th September, 4:30pm.

Cate Shortland is one of Australia’s most lauded filmmakers, and in her 15 years in the industry has created some of Australia’s most significant drama work.

Cate wrote and directed her debut feature film SOMERSAULT, a coming-of-age drama which follows a young girl as she runs away to the Australian Alps. The film premiered at Un Certain Regard at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, where it gained much attention, and went on to screen at a number of other film festivals worldwide including TIFF, Sydney, Edinburgh, Tokyo and Stockholm film festivals. It sold to international distributors including Magnolia (US), Paramount (Germany), and had a theatrical release in over 15 countries. At home in Australia it made history by winning 13 of its 15 nominations at the Australian Film Institute Awards.

In television Cate is known as both a writer and director. As a screenwriter she has worked on acclaimed TV mini series THE KETTERING INCIDENT, a chilling eight-part mystery set in the wilds of Tasmania (currently available on NZ’s VOD service Lightbox), THE DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND, DEADLINE GALLIPOLI, and THE SLAP. As a director, Cate’s credits include directing multiple episodes of THE SECRET LIFE OF US and the mini series THE SILENCE.

In 2012, Cate co-wrote and directed her second feature film LORE, a german co-production which follows the journey of a young girl fleeing Allied Forces in the immediate aftermath of WWII in Germany. The german language film is based on british book THE DARK ROOM by Rachel Seiffert. It premiered in competition at the Sydney Film Festival, and went on to win four awards at the Stockholm International Film Festival, including the Bronze Horse for best film. It won critical acclaim internationally, and gained theatrical releases across Europe and the US. It was Australia’s entry in the Academy Awards in 2013.

Most recently, Cate directed THE BERLIN SYNDROME based on a book by Melanie Joosten, adapted by Shaun Grant. The film released internationally in 2017.

Hear from Cate Shortland on Script to Screen podcasts in the following sessions:

Screenwriting Masterclass with Cate Shortland – Sat 24th September, 2:45 pm.

The Makings Of Great TV with Cate Shortland & Tony Krawitz – Sun 25th September, 9:40 am.

US born Joe Letteri one of the world’s leading visual effects artists, and is Visual Effects Supervisor at Weta Digital.

His pioneering work on digital visual effects has earned him four Academy Awards and four BAFTAs for best visual effects on THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (2002), THE LORD OF THE RINGS: RETURN OF THE KING (2003), KING KONG (2005) and AVATAR (2009). He has also received the Academy’s Technical Achievement Award for co-developing the subsurface scattering technique that brought Gollum to life.

Over his career, Joe has developed many techniques that have become standards for bringing photographic quality to digital visual effects. He specializes in the creation of realistic creatures, from the dinosaurs of JURASSIC PARK (1993), to Gollum, King Kong, the Na’vi in AVATAR, and Caesar from THE PLANET OF THE APES movies.

After joining Weta Digital as Visual Effects Supervisor on THE TWO TOWERS in 2002, he has since led the company to become one of the world’s premiere visual effects studios.

As Senior Visual Effects Supervisor on AVATAR, Joe oversaw a programme of research and development over four years that produced shots larger and more complex than ever attempted before. This involved shooting on a virtual stage with a new camera system, along with the development of a full pipeline of tools that effectively launched a new approach to filmmaking called virtual production.

Under Joe’s leadership, Weta Digital has continued to expand and improve these techniques through films like THE ADVENTURE OF TINTIN (2011), THE HOBBIT trilogy and THE PLANET OF THE APES films. Joe has recently been focused on Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of the Roald Dahl classic THE BFG (2016) and Luc Besson’s sci-fi epic, VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS (2017).

See Joe Letteri in the following session:

Digital Effects Masterclass with Joe Letteri : Bringing the Virtual to Reality – Sat 24th September, 2:45 pm.

Tony Krawitz is a sought-after Australian writer and director, known for his work in film, documentary and television.

Tony came to international attention when his 52min drama JEWBOY, which he wrote and directed, premiered at Un Certain Regard at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival. It went on to screen at many festivals including Sundance, and won international awards including the AFI Award for best screenplay in a short film, and the Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for best short film.

In 2012 Tony directed his first feature film, DEAD EUROPE, based on Christos Tsiolkas’ award-winning 2005 novel of the same name, adapted by Louise Fox. It screened at film festivals including TIFF, Sydney, Melbourne and BFI London.

His 2011 documentary THE TALL MAN unravels the events surrounding the mysterious death of Cameron Doomadgee at a police station on Queensland’s Palm Island, and is based on the best-selling book about the incident by Chloe Hooper. It won the Australian Director’s Guild Award for best director, and the Alanis Obomsawin Best Documentary Award at ImagineNATIVE.

In television, Tony has directed numerous episodes of some of Australia’s most acclaimed television drama, including THE DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND, which deals with sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, as well as A PLACE TO CALL HOME, THE SURGEON, CITY HOMICIDE, ALL SAINTS and READY FOR THIS.

Most recently, Tony directed half of the FOXTEL series THE KETTERING INCIDENT, a chilling eight-part mystery set in the wilds of Tasmania (currently available on NZ’s VOD service Lightbox.)

Hear from Tony Krawitz on Script to Screen podcasts in the following sessions:

The Makings Of Great TV with Cate Shortland & Tony Krawitz – Sun 25th September, 9:40 am.

Directing Masterclass with Tony Krawitz: Intimacy With The World Of Your Story – Sun 25th September, 2:15 pm.

Courtney Botfield is a communications, marketing and management specialist with 20 years experience in independent film across development, production, distribution and exhibition in Australia and the UK. She has worked across the globe on many prestigious projects including as Head of Press at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, as General Manager of Transmission Films and helping with the re-opening and running of the beloved Chauvel Cinema in Sydney.

She has managed many successful distribution campaigns that have followed both conventional and innovative models including THE KING’S SPEECH, SAMSON & DELILAH, THE RAILWAY MAN, BALIBO, BOY, THE EYE OF THE STORM, ANTICHRIST, AMOUR, MAD BASTARDS, SHAME and MY YEAR WITHOUT SEX.

Courtney is the recent recipient of the 2015 Natalie Miller Fellowship which recognises and nurtures the next generation of female leaders in the Australian screen community and inspires them to achieve outstanding success at the most senior levels of the business.

She is currently the director of The Goodship Agency, which provides services for independent filmmakers exploring alternate and innovative pathways in the ever changing and challenging landscape of film financing and distribution, and in turn ensures they will have the capacity to attract and impact their target audience.

Courtney and Goodship co-director Tracey Mair use their communications, marketing, sponsorship and distribution expertise to develop strategies and broker partnerships between screen content creators and brands, corporations, distributors, private enterprise and philanthropists, charities, NGOs and others in the not-for-profit sector for production finance, marketing campaigns, impact and outreach campaigns and both conventional and innovative distribution models.

In July 2016, Goodship was announced as a recipient of Screen Australia’s Gender Matters: Brilliant Stories and Brilliant Careers, marking the largest number of projects funded in a single day in the agency’s history.

See Courtney Botfield in the following session:

Impact producing, Marketing and Distribution Masterclass with Courtney Botfield – Sat 24th September, 2:45 am.

Pietra Brettkelly is a multi award-winning documentary director and producer whose work has taken her to over 100 countries around the globe.

Pietra first made her name known on the international stage with her feature documentary BEAUTY WILL SAVE THE WORLD, which follows the exploits of 19 year-old Teca Zendik, the American contender in a beauty pageant in Libya in an era of pro-Gaddafi and anti-American political volatility. The documentary premiered at the 2003 AFI Film Festival and went on to screen at Hot Docs and IDFA in 2004.

Her 2008 documentary, international adoption saga THE ART STAR AND THE SUDANESE TWINS, follows renowned and controversial contemporary artist Vanessa Beecroft from New York to Africa and Europe in her efforts to adopt two orphaned Sudanese twins. The film received much critical acclaim and won best director and best documentary at the 2009 Qantas Film and TV Awards as well as the World Cinema Documentary Editing Award at Sundance Film Festival. It went on to screen at over 100 festivals around the world.

Her next documentary was the critically acclaimed MAORI BOY GENIUS (2012), which tells the story of 16-year-old Ngaa Rauuira Pumanawawhiti, a boy from Hawkes Bay who began his university degree at 12 years old, and is the youngest student to be accepted into Yale. The documentary premiered in competition at Berlinale in 2012 and won a MOA at the NZ Film Awards for best documentary.

Her most recent film, A FLICKERING TRUTH (2015), follows a group of Afghan archivists endeavouring to uncover their country’s cinematic past, retrieving over 8,000 hours of film footage that they risked their lives to conceal during the Taliban era. The film opened in competition at the prestigious Venice Film Festival and TIFF last year, and has received glowing critical reviews internationally. 

Pietra recently worked on a new documentary about the Chinese designer Guo Pei, who has designed for various celebrities including the American singer Rihanna.

See Pietra Brettkelly in the following session:

Case Study: A Flickering Truth with Pietra Brettkelly – Sun 25th September, 9:40 pm.

Stallone Vaiaoga-Ioasa is a New Zealand born Samoan freelance television director and camera operator. With almost a decade’s experience working on NZ magazine and youth shows such as the incomparable FRESH (TV2) and the “I didn’t think reality game shows could be this funny” GAME OF BROS (Maori Television); Stallone has learned much along the well-travelled NZ road of creating content that supersede the expectations of budget.

After finally getting his s**t together; Stallone took the leap of faith and pursued his decade long ambition to make a feature film, the self-funded and self-distributed THREE WISE COUSINS. With only friends and family for crew, and taking the lesser known path of self-distribution, THREE WISE COUSINS exceeded all expectations to make $NZ970,000 at the New Zealand box office and cross well into the $1million mark with the Australian box office. Armed with only a Facebook page and word-of mouth, THREE WISE COUSINS is a film marketing anomaly but a prime example of film that knows it’s audience.

Further defying expectations, THREE WISE COUSINS continues to be self-distributed and has made its way onto the US mainland. His latest feature HIBISCUS AND RUTHLESS released in 2018.

Simon Price is one of New Zealand’s sought after editors, with over 20 years experience in film and television.

Simon grew up in Dunedin where he originally worked as both an actor and an author. In 1996 he published a researched account of early film-making in Otago and Southland entitled NZ’s FIRST TALKIES (Otago Heritage Books). Named most daring graduate at Melbourne’s VCA School of Film & TV in 1998, his first short film TURANGAWAEWAE was awarded most innovative VCA production of the year and won an Australian ATOM award for most innovative short in 1999.

While living in Australia, Simon made his second short film BUSTING, which was nominated for a Dendy best short award at Sydney IFF in 2000. He also worked as a video artist exhibiting at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, at Melbourne’s Federation Square and as part of significant shows in Mexico, Beijing, USA, NZ and Australia’s Next Wave Festival. He went on to help establish the Irrkerlantye Media Unit for Aboriginal youth at risk in Alice Springs where he was a regular tutor up until 2003.

Simon’s first NZ feature-film edit BLACKSPOT (dir Ben Hawker, prod. Freya Blackwood) was awarded Best Editing at the 2008 Rhode Island International Film Festival. Since then Simon has continued to win major international attention for his editing work.

In 2008, Simon edited the HBO released documentary FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS: ON AIR (dir. Hannah Clarke, prod. Vicky Pope). His next NZ feature film, DESERT (dir Stephen Kang, prod. Leanne Saunders), premiered at 2010 Pusan International Film Festival.

In 2011 Simon edited O LE TULAFALE: THE ORATOR (dir Tusi Tamasese, prod. Catherine Fitzgerald) which won three awards at the Venice Film Festival, and best film at the 2012 NZ Film Awards and Nara IFF. The same year he also wrote, directed and edited LAST MEN STANDING: A FAREWELL TO CASSINO, a 1 hour documentary for TV3, and cut NZ short ELLEN IS LEAVING (dir Michelle Saville prod. Desiree Armstrong), which won best short film at the 2013 SXSW Film Festival and the San Francisco IFF.

Simon’s next major feature was the Cambodian/Australian co-production RUIN (dir/prod Amiel Courtin-Wilson & Michael Cody) which was awarded the Orrizonti Jury Prize at the 2013 Venice Film Festival + beat luminaries such as Wong Kai Wai to take out Best Editing at the 2013 Asia-Pacific Film Awards in Macau. RUIN was also in competition at both the 2014 Sydney Film Festival and the 2014 Melbourne IFF alongside another of Simon’s feature edits, FELL (dir. Kasimir Burgess, prod. John Maynard). The same year Simon edited and story edited the NZ feature documentary ANTARCTICA: A YEAR ON ICE (dir/prod Anthony Powell) which was long listed for best documentary at the Academy Awards and nominated for best editing at the Milano IFF.

In 2014 Simon was the writer/director in one of only 12 applications accepted world-wide to attend the Biennale di Venezia – Biennale Cinema College in Venice, Italy, with his own feature project BE WILDEBEEST (currently in post-production).

Simon was the lead editor on the landmark Australian TV series CLEVERMAN (dir Wayne Blair & Leah Purcell, prod. Rosemary Blight & Angela Littlejohn) in 2015. He also co-edited FREE IN DEED (dir Jake Mahaffy) which won Best Film at Venice IFF 2015 (Orrizonti section).

In 2016 Simon edited Yamin Tun’s short film WAIT (prod. Vicky Pope), which won best short in cometition at NZIFF, and the best short film at Sydney FF, SLAPPER (dir/prod. Luci Schroder) as well as cutting the debut feature of Australian director Kiku Ohe, BETH (currently in post-prod).

Simon is also a founding member of Arc Edit (www.arcedit.com), a new post-production house based in Sydney that specialises in story-telling of all durations and platforms. He holds an MA in scriptwriting and a PG Dip in documentary production. He currently lives in Wellington with his wife Brita and five year old son Pelle.

See Simon Price in the following session:

Editing Masterclass: Serious With Simon Price: Sun 25th September, 9:40 am.

Jackie Van Beek is a New Zealand actor/writer/director with a background in theatre.

As well as making and staging many of her own theatre shows, she has had plays commissioned by Young & Hungry, Silo Theatre and Ohio Northern University. In 2005 she collaborated with Jonny Brugh, Jodie Molloy and Colin Mitchell to create MY BROTHER & I ARE PORNSTARS which played in NZ, Melbourne, the Edinburgh Fringe and London’s Soho Theatre.

Jackie moved into filmmaking and has now made seven short films produced in NZ, Australia and the UK, including UPHILL, GO THE DOGS and ONE SHOE SHORT. Her shorts have played at numerous festivals including Berlin, London, Palm Springs and MIFF, have picked up a number of awards in Australasia and are being used as educational resources in Australia, France, Denmark and the UK. Her films have been sold to Australian networks; SBS and NITV as well as German/French broadcaster ZDF/ARTE.

Jackie won SPADA New Filmmaker of the Year in 2013 and was awarded first prize in the 2015 WIFT International Shortcase for her short film UPHILL.

As an actor she is best known for her role as the desperate familiar in Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement’s WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS and the inept producer, Pauline, in TV3s FUNNY GIRLS.  

She released her first feature film, THE INLAND ROAD, in 2017 and her second feature, THE BREAKER-UPPERERS, with co-writer/director/actor Madeleine Sami was released in 2018.

With over 10 years experience and six feature films, writer/director Florian Habicht is continually exploring new ways to tell a story.

Florian was born in Berlin, and immigrated with his family to New Zealand in the eighties. He studied at the Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland and Binger Filmlab, Amsterdam. He is responsible for some of NZ’s most innovative films.

His debut feature WOODENHEAD (2003), a Grimm-inspired musical fairytale, is renowned for its unique process. In lieu of writing a screenplay, Florian first recorded the soundtrack including dialogue, music and location sounds, in the style of a radio play. He then shot the black and white visuals, giving the film it’s fairy tale like quality.

His well-loved documentary KAIKOHE DEMOLITION (2004), reveals the heart and soul of Far North town Kaikohe, as it follows a group of regulars at the local demolition derby.

In his 2010 feature film LOVE STORY, Florian shot the film’s opening sequence and then asked New Yorkers on the streets of NYC for love advice and ideas on what should happen next in the story. These were then acted out by Habicht & actress Masha Yakovenko.

When LOVE STORY screened at the London Film Festival, Jarvis Cocker of PULP invited Florian to make a feature documentary about the UK group. This became Florian’s most recent endeavour PULP: A FILM ABOUT LIFE, DEATH & SUPERMARKETS.

Florian went on to shoot three short films in the UK: on musician BECK, spiritual speed dating, and Japanese band BOREDOMS. These ‘Random Acts’ were commissioned by Channel 4.

In 2017 Florian released his latest feature film SPOOKERS, and has two other feature films in development.

Lukasz Pawel Buda is one of the key members behind the award-winning band The Phoenix Foundation, which has been nominated for 24 VNZMA awards and won six, including best producer for three albums in a row and best band.

Luke, along with his bandmate Samuel Flynn Scott, has also produced and composed several film and television scores including ones for HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE, BOY, EAGLE VS SHARK and SEPARATION CITY. Their soundtrack for BOY won them (along with fellow Phoenix-er and film composer Conrad Wedde) Best Original Music in a Feature Film at the NZ Film and Television Awards.

Luke has also done several solo project including co-writing the song “Apple Pie Bed” with Lawrence Arabia, which won an APRA Silver Scroll Award.

See Lukasz Pawel Buda in the following session:

Composing Masterclass with Luke Buda and Sam Scott: Scoring HUNT FOR THE WILDER PEOPLE – Sun 25th September, 2:15 pm.

Samuel Flynn Scott has been writing, performing and producing music for 16 years with the award-winning band, The Phoenix Foundation. The band has been nominated for 24 VNZMA awards and won six, including best producer for three albums in a row and best band.

Along with his bandmate Lukasz Pawel Buda, he has composed scores for various films and television shows, including HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE, BOY, EAGLE VS SHARK and SEPARATION CITY. In 2010, they (along with fellow Phoenix-er and film composer Conrad Wedde) won Best Original Music in a Feature Film at the NZ Film and Television Awards for BOY.

In 2004, Sam branched out, forming his solo band Bunnies on Ponies. The band’s debut album was included in Amplifier Magazine’s Top 20 Kiwi Albums of 2006.

See Samuel Flynn Scott in the following session:

Composing Masterclass with Luke Buda and Sam Scott: Scoring HUNT FOR THE WILDER PEOPLE – Sun 25th September, 2:15 pm.

Ainsley Gardiner is of Ngāti Awa, Te Whānau-a-Apanui, Ngāti Pikiao and Whakatōhea descent.

Notably, Ainsley produced Oscar-nominated short film TWO CARS, ONE NIGHT (2002) and TAMA TŪ (2004), both written and directed by Taika Waititi. She went on to collaborate with Waititi on his feature films, EAGLE VS SHARK in 2005 and his (original) No. 1 Box Office hit, BOY in 2009.

Ainsley has produced other features, most recently THE PĀ BOYS with writer/director Himiona Grace, as well as drama for television.

Ainsley has hosted a short film programme on Māori Television and has also dabbled in writing and directing. Her first short film, MOKOPUNA, had a successful festival life, winning gold at the Dreamspeakers Indigenous Film Festival.

Ainsley often works as an external script assessor and mentors a number of emerging Māori writers, directors and producers.

She is focusing on producing until her children get old enough to cook for themselves and then she will work on her aspiration to be New Zealand’s next Taika Waititi…

She is currently a director with WARU, a collaborative feature film with eight Māori women directors.

Hear from Ainsley on Script to Screen podcasts in the following session:

WARU: Breaking the silence – Sat 24th September, 11:00 am.

Briar Grace-Smith is of Ngā Puhi descent, and is an award-winning writer of short fiction, stage plays and feature films. 

Her plays include Ngā Pou Wāhine, Purapurawhetū and When Sun and Moon Collide. She is an inaugural Arts Foundation Laureate and was the writer in residence at Victoria University in 2003. She has also worked as a Development Executive for the New Zealand Film commission and taught ‘Writing for Theatre’ at IIML (2015).

Briar is a Sundance alumni and the writer of the feature films THE STRENGTH OF WATER and the horror comedy FRESH MEAT. Her television credits include FISHSKIN SUIT, BEING EVE, KAITANGATA TWITCH and the Māori Television drama THIS IS PIKI. She was a director and co-writer of the short film, NINE OF HEARTS, and recently wrote and directed CHARM for the collaborative feature project WARU (BSAG Productions), which brought together the work of eight Māori women directors.

See Briar Grace-Smith in the following session:

WARU: Breaking the silence – Sat 24th September, 11:00 am.

Chelsea Winstanley is a filmmaker with nearly 15 years experience in the industry. In 2002, she graduated from Auckland University of Technology majoring in television production in 2002, being awarded the prize for top graduate of her class. During her time as a student, she directed her first short documentary, which gained her a Media Peace Award, igniting her interest in the documentary form.

Chelsea began producing television and short films soon after graduating from AUT. She worked at Kiwa Media for several years making documentaries and television series for the indigenous broadcaster Māori Television. TV series included HAUMANU, on the origins of traditional Māori music, and KETE ARONUI, an arts series featuring Māori artists of all disciplines.

Since then Chelsea has gone on to produce some of the most successful NZ short films, including having films in competition at the Cannes Film Festival two years in a row; MEATHEAD by Sam Holst (2011), and NIGHTSHIFT by Zia Mandviwalla (2012).

In 2010 Chelsea was producing Merata Mita’s feature documentary SAVING GRACE: TE WHAKARAUORA TANGATA, when she suddenly passed away.

She graduated from EAVE in 2011 with a focus on international co-production and European finance. In 2014 Chelsea produced the award-winning feature film WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, written and directed by Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi, which premiered at Sundance and screened at SXSW. In NZ the film became the highest grossing local film of 2014, and then went on to make waves internationally, receiving unanimously positive critical reviews and making Indiewire’s list of ’20 Highest Grossing Indie Films of 2015.’

She has been a board member of Ngā Aho Whakaari and WIFT. In 2013 she was part of Script to Screen’s FilmUp Mentorship Programme with producer Tim White as her mentor. Chelsea is currently a director on WARU, a collaborative feature film project, made up of eight short films by eight female Māori directors.

In 2018, MERATA a feature documentary about Aotearoa’s pioneering Maori filmmaker Merata Mita was released. Future projects include Taika Waititi’s upcoming World War 2 drama JOJO RABBIT, and the feature documentary SPRAY OF PLENTY.

Chelsea is a mother of three and is married to award-winning director Taika Waititi. She lives in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand.

See Chelsea Winstanley in the following session:

WARU: Breaking the silence – Sat 24th September, 11:00 am.

Katie Wolfe (Ngāti Mutunga and Ngāti Tama) works across acting, directing, producing, writing and development in the theatre and screen industries.

Trained at Toi Whakaari her first professional acting job was at Dunedin’s Fortune Theatre, where she also presented several episodes of Natural History NZ’s children’s nature series WILD TRACK. Her first TV acting role was Ginny Gannaway in South Pacific Pictures’ MARLIN BAY, followed by acting roles in RAY BRADBURY THEATRE, the KURT VONNEGUT SERIES, SHORTLAND STREET and MERCY PEAK. She also starred in Gibson Group’s COVERSTORY, and received the best actor award at the 2005 NZ film and TV awards.

Her big screen work began with acting roles in short films LA VIE EN ROSE, LEMMING AID and PLANET MAN then onto the World War Two feature THE LAST TATTOO and THE IRREFUTABLE TRUTH ABOUT DEMONS.

Katie then moved into directing, and after a 100 episodes of SHORTLAND STREET, she became the lead out director for South Pacific Pictures’ GO GIRLS and GOLDEN.

Her first two short films, THIS IS HER (2008) and REDEMPTION (2010), both premiered at Sundance, and went on to screen at Berlinale, New York and Telluride Film Festivals, garnering numerous awards including NZ Film Awards. For REDEMPTION, Katie was the recipient of the Emerging Filmmaker Award and Best Film Award at the 2010 ImagineNATIVE Festival. Her first tele-feature, entitled KAWA, was an adaptation of Witi Ihimaera’s book, Nights in the Gardens of Spain.

In 2011 Katie was the recipient of the inaugural Mana Wahine WIFT Award.

For Māori Television she has also contributed to KORERO MAI, PUKORO, WAIMARIE, DIY MARAE, HOME KREW and WHANAU, and was the subject for a Kim Webby documentary, THE MISSING PIECE, about her whanau connection to Parihaka.

Producing credits include SHORTLAND STREET, ATIMIRA for Māori Television and theatre productions for the NZ Actors Company.

Her first stage production was The Women for Silo Theatre. The production went on to have 3 sell-out seasons in Wellington and Auckland, and Wolfe received a Chapman Tripp award for directing. Other recent productions include Luncheon, 2080, Nga Manurere, and most recently The Mooncake and the Kumara for the Auckland Arts Festival.

Katie recently made a foray back into acting with roles in the short film UKAIPO WHENUA, and TV series THE BROKENWOOD MYSTERIES, and, as both actor and writer, for HAKA CITY.

She recently completed post-production on her short film for WARU.

See Katie Wolfe in the following session:

WARU: Breaking the silence – Sat 24th September, 11:00 am.

Writer & director Paula Jones (Whakatōhea, Te Aitanga a Mahaki, Ngāti Porou) has been working for the TV industry for nearly 20 years. Her directorial debut was the acclaimed documentary GANG GIRLS.

Since then, Paula has worked on various award-winning documentaries including researching and directing the New Zealand portion of the Australian co-production ONCE BITTEN.

While living in Palestine, she also made promotional videos for the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund and filmed a self-funded documentary THE DOCTOR’S WIFE.

In 2010, an illness left her partially paralysed. While recovering, Paula became determined to “never let anyone else dictate her worth,” inspiring a burst of activity. In the past two years, she has filmed two documentaries in Cambodia and Palestine, completed a masters in screenwriting, and has written and will direct two short films. One short is part of, WARU, a collaborative feature film project with eight Māori female directors.

See Paula Jones in the following session:

WARU: Breaking the silence – Sat 24th September, 11:00 am.

Renae Maihi (Ngati Whakaue, Ngapuhi) is an award-winning & critically acclaimed writer & director in theatre & film.

After completing a drama degree in 2005 she went on to write her debut play NGA MANURERE, starring Keisha Castle-Hughes. NZ Herald Best of 2009 favoured NGA MANURERE as the “surprise jewel of the year”.

The short film REDEMPTION, which she co-wrote with Tim Balme & Katie Wolfe, travelled to Berlin Film Festival, Sundance & won the Best Short Film at Toronto’s Imaginative Film Festival 2010. Renae then went on to write & direct her NZFC funded, award-winning short film BUTTERFLY (PUREREHUA) which screened at international film festivals including Toronto’s imagineNATIVE.

Her play Patua won Renae the Adam NZ Playwrights award for Best Play by a Maori Playwright. In its debut season directed by Renae, critics called Patua a “NZ classic” & the NBR noted that it should be “studied in every high school in NZ.”

In 2015, Renae directed an NZ on Air funded music video for LOCKDOWN by Rezist, before spending two months in New York City at NYFA developing her filmmaking skills with the support of the NZ Film Commission and the Ngāti Whakaue Education Endowment Trust. Whilst there, she wrote and directed her most recent short film MANNAHATTA, shot entirely on location in New York City. The film will began its international festival run in October 2016 in Toronto.

She is currently one of the directors selected by the DEGNZ for a female director focused incubator initiative. Furthermore, Renae, along with two other directors, was selected by the NZFC for the one-year accelerator mentoring initiative, which grants her direct mentorship with experienced directors and opportunities, such as the MIFF accelerator program, with the overall view of getting her to feature film level.

In 2016 Renae was selected by BSAG Productions as one of eight Māori women directors for WARU, a collaborative feature film with some of NZ’s top filmmaking talent.

It is her ambition to begin her career as a feature film writer/director with her trilogy series THE WHITE FEATHER PROPHECIES.

See Renae Maihi in the following session:

WARU: Breaking the silence – Sat 24th September, 11:00 am.

Awanui Simich-Pene (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hauā, Ngāti Tuwharetoa, Ngāti Apakura, Croatian, Belgian) was raised by her whānau and people of the Far North. A strong spirit of social consciousness was roused in Awanui and her siblings from a young age through their immersion within the rōpū known as Te Kawariki, who actively pursued recognition of Māori rights and Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Waitangi Day was an important annual event where passion for cause was nurtured and demonstrated by parents, aunties, uncles, and cousins alike.

A child of the 1980s, Awanui is part of the first wave of the Kōhanga Reo generation, having started her journey with te reo Māori at Waimanoni marae in the far north followed by the kōhanga on her marae at Waimate North. Māori-medium education, for which her parents and whānau fought to achieve, remained an important influence through Awanui’s formative years. Horse riding was also a love cultivated within the home, where exploring the outdoors and attending equestrian events as a whānau, further shaped her outlook. Awanui left the Far North in Year 12 to attend Kamo High School in Whangarei because of their reputation for teaching photography, and then transferred to the Māori immersion unit at Western Springs College to further pursue her love of Te Ao Māori and art/photography.

In 2001 Awanui began a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Auckland, majoring in Māori and Sociology. She enrolled in a course in film studies, which then changed her career direction. She went on to enrol in the Bachelor of Performing and Screen Arts (writing & directing) at Unitec, graduating in 2005. Since then, Awanui has directed for television, including children’s Māori-language shows, PŪKORO and PUKANA; and documentary series for Māori TV such as TE HAERENGA, WARRANT OF FITNESS, and WHARE TAONGA. She has directed drama, including the BROWN BROTHERS TV series (TV3), and the feature-length play IRIRANGI BAY for the Atamira series on Māori TV. Most recently Awanui has directed FIND ME A MĀORI BRIDE (Season 2).

Awanui has also worked as a script supervisor on productions such as POWER RANGERS, feature films RUSSIAN SNARK and KAWA (based on Witi ihimaera’s book Nights in the Gardens of Spain); TV series THE BLUE ROSE, STEP DAVE, AGENT ANNA, and docu-drama PIKE, about the Pike River mine disaster. Most recently, Awanui is proud to have script supervised for the two new Māori TV dramas, THIS IS PIKI and HAKA CITY. She says, “I enjoy script supervising, it’s a challenging role where preparation is key. It’s helped me to develop a strong skill set which informs my directing as well. Getting to observe directors at work has been a wonderful learning experience for me, how they prep, how they communicate their ideas, and how they collaborate on set with actors and crew, I’m always watching and learning.” For Awanui, “directing is an extremely rewarding outlet for creativity, exploration, connection and heart, a role where I see a thorough process of preparation takes place, and then there is a kind of release that gives way to collaboration and instinct. This is an exceptionally creative space for me, and I have great enthusiasm for this work.”

The most recent collaboration for Awanui is being one of the eight Māori women directors on the innovative production, WARU. The eight-day shoot concluded in August, each day involving one director, shooting a ten-minute story, in one shot. For Awanui, “This has been an amazing project to be part of, bringing together these incredible women, some of whom I had not previously worked with. Looking across the table to women like Ainsley, Chelsea, Briar and Katie, I asked myself how I got there, then eventually I had to get over myself and just do the mahi! I just feel so blessed.”

See Awanui Simich-Pene in the following session:

WARU: Breaking the silence – Sat 24th September, 11:00 am.

Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu is an Auckland-based writer and actor.

She is a graduate of Unitec’s Screen and Performing Arts degree and holds a Bachelor of Arts from Auckland University in Film, Television and Media.

Josephine was one of eight filmmakers selected to participate in Script to Screen’s 2016 FilmUp Mentorship Programme. She worked alongside her mentor, Mexican filmmaker Dana Rotberg, developing her first feature film script.

With a background in theatre, her earlier works, co-written with a devising partner, Chalk and Ruby Tuesday, had seasons in Auckland and Wellington. Both of which were nominated and winners of the Wellington Fringe Awards and the Auckland Fringe Awards.

In 2015, her play The Black, was a personal telling of her own experiences with depression. The piece was named one of Auckland Theatre’s Best Moments of 2015 by The Pantograph Punch. It integrated live animation and projected stop-motion alongside live performance.

Her most recent work, a play, Sean Penn is in His Boat, was awarded runner up at the prestigious Adam Play Awards 2016 and is in the process of being developed by Playmarket New Zealand.

Aside from script writing, Josephine is a guest columnist for the online cultural magazine The Pantograph Punch. She has also spent 3 years writing and researching for Marilyn Waring, and her work on Gender Identity in the Asia Pacific region for the UNDP.

When she isn’t writing or acting, Josephine as a casting assistant for film, television, and advertising. Most notable productions include FILTHY RICH and Lee Tamahori’s MAHANA.

See Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu in the following session:

WARU: Breaking the silence – Sat 24th September, 11:00 am.

Casey Kaa’s passion for children and her indigenous language led her to producing children’s television and web content in Te Reo Māori and English over the past decade. Casey was the series director and producer for KETE KORERO – MY MAORI MYTHS, a web-series created with funding from the NZ on Air Digital Fund, and KIA MAU, which was Casey’s first solo series and what led her to start her own production company, Takitini Productions, in 2015.

In 2013, Casey first dived into film when she worked as the art director for Nikki Si’ulepa’s short film MA. Since then the pair have worked together in 48hr film competitions and are in production and development of various short films. They have recently been accepted into the NZ Film Commission’s Fresh Shorts development lab for Casey’s short film, HAA (Breath).

Casey is also currently producing an intrepid travel web-series, titled #NOTTHESETOURISTS, that she co-shot and co-presented throughout North, Central and South America in 2015.  

In addition, she is writing and developing various stories for film and is excited to transition into and explore the medium of cinema to express her perception of identity, culture, history, and truth of being a young Māori woman in modern Aotearoa. 

One way she is doing that is by working on WARU, a collaborative feature film project, made up of eight short films by eight female Māori directors.

See Casey Kaa in the following session:

WARU: Breaking the silence – Sat 24th September, 11:00 am.

Jane Wrightson is the Chief Executive of NZ on Air. She has worked in the screen and broadcast sector for over 30 years and previously held chief executive positions with the Broadcasting Standards Authority and SPADA, the Screen Production and Development Association. Jane became New Zealand’s first woman Chief Film Censor after working in commissioning, acquisitions and programming-related roles at TVNZ for a decade. She holds an MBA with Distinction from Massey University, a BA in Literature from Victoria University, and is a Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors.

See Jane at the following session:

NZ On Air announcement and Q&A by Jane Wrightson – Sat 24th September, 2:05pm

Emily Perkins is a short story writer, novelist and creative writing teacher based in Wellington. She has recently ventured into script writing, with her adaptation of Ibsen’s A DOLL’S HOUSE having its first run in Auckland in 2015.  She is the co-writer, with director Alison Maclean, of THE REHEARSAL, a feature film based on the novel by Eleanor Catton, which screened throughout New Zealand and at international festivals in 2016.

Emily’s fiction is published internationally and her stories have been widely anthologised. Her first book, Not Her Real Name and Other Stories (VUP and Picador, 1996), won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize (UK) and the Montana Award for Best First Book of Fiction (NZ). Her four novels include Novel About My Wife which won the Montana Book Award (NZ) and the Believer Book of the Year (US).

Her most recent novel is The Forrests (Bloomsbury, 2012), selected as a Book of the Year in the Daily Telegraph, Observer, and New Statesman among other venues, long-listed for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2013 and shortlisted for Best Book of Fiction in the 2013 New Zealand Post Book Awards.

Emily is a graduate of Toi Whakaari, the New Zealand Drama School, and holds a Master of Creative Writing from the University of Auckland. She has held the Buddle Findlay Sargeson Residency and in 2011 was named an Arts Laureate by the Arts Foundation. She teaches creative writing at Victoria University’s International Institute of Modern Letters, where she convenes the MA Fiction workshop.

See Emily Perkins in the following session:

In conversation with Jonathan Raymond: Wildess, Control and Collaboration – Sun 25th September, 10:25 am.

Timothy White is one of Australia & New Zealand’s most experienced producers. He is a graduate of University of Canterbury’s School of Fine Arts.  His credits include: Nadia Tass’ MALCOLM(AFI Best Film 1986); SPOTSWOOD, starring Anthony Hopkins and Russell Crowe; COSI, starring Toni Collette and Rachel Griffiths; Michael Rymer’s ANGEL BABY (AFI Best Film 1995); DEATH IN BRUNSWICK, starring Sam Neil; Vincent Ward’s MAP OF THE HUMAN HEART and Gillian Armstrong’s OSCAR AND LUCINDA, starring Ralph Fiennes and Cate Blanchett.

Timothy executive produced Gregor Jordan’s TWO HANDS  (AFI Best Film 1999), starring Heath Ledger and Bryan Brown, before heading up Working Title Films’ Australian arm. Under this banner he executive produced , NED KELLY starring Heath Ledger, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom and Naomi Watts. He also produced GETTIN’ SQUARE, starring Sam Worthington and David Wenham.

In 2005 he produced Toa Fraser’s NO2. The film won the World Cinema Audience Prize at The Sundance Film Festival. This was followed by Robert Sarkies’ OUT OF THE BLUE (Best Film 2008 NZ Film Awards) and THE WARRIOR’S WAY, starring Kate Bosworth, Danny Huston and Geoffrey Rush.

In 2009 Timothy produced Scott Hicks’ THE BOYS ARE BACK, starring Clive Owen. He then executive produced Julia Leigh’s SLEEPING BEAUTY, which premiered in Competition at Cannes in 2011.

Most recently, Timothy executive produced MR PIP, an adaptation of the Booker short-listed novel, directed by Andrew Adamson and starring  Hugh Laurie. He has just completed producing Julius Avery’s debut feature SON OF A GUN starring Ewan McGregor and Brenton Thwaites and served as executive producer on James Napier Robertson’s debut THE DARK HORSE and Robert Sarkies tele-feature CONSENT.

Session info: Conversation: Navigating the Film Festival Circuit with Maryanne Redpath and Al Cossar

Brita McVeigh works with actors, directors, writers and producers, as a dramaturg, coach and consultant. In less than a decade, Brita’s working methodology has contributed to the development of more than 123 feature film, short film, television and theatre projects. Brita began working in the film industry at the age of 19 and directed her first film at 28.  She had previously worked in story development, casting, production and post production in both NZ and the United States. Since 2011, over 400 creative professionals have attended Brita’s Acting for Humans workshops. She is an advisory board member of Story Camp Aotearoa, a five-day residential retreat for filmmakers. 

See Brita McVeigh in the following sessions:

Screenwriting Masterclass with Cate Shortland – Sat 24th September, 2:55 pm.

Directing Masterclass with Tony Krawitz – Sun 25th September, 2:15pm.

Max Currie is a writer/director from Auckland, New Zealand. He’s been a bartender at a New York go-go bar, a New Zealand youth ambassador, a piano soloist, a writer for New Zealand’s biggest women’s magazine; the host and director of groundbreaking LGBT television series QUEERNATION, a two-times Goethe Institute scholarship recipient, a full-time writer for five years on prime-time serial drama SHORTLAND STREET, a writer on both seasons of the TV2 comedy drama STEP DAVE – and most recently, the writer and director of EVERYTHING WE LOVED, his multi-award-winning feature debut produced by Tom Hern (THE DARK HORSE, PORK PIE) and Luke Robinson (BEYOND THE KNOWN WORLD).

EVERYTHING WE LOVED (2014) played in competition in a slew of festivals, including Palm Springs, Munich, Sāo Paulo, Seattle, St Petersburg and Marrakech. It won Best Actress and Best Cinematography at the 2014 NZ Film Awards, Best Actor at St Tropez, and Best Director at VTXIFF 2015 in Texas.

EVERYTHING WE LOVED remains the number one most-watched title on the NZ Film On Demand VOD platform. Max now has two features in NZFC-funded development, both again with Tom Hern and Luke Robinson as producers; one set in New Jersey, USA, the other set across Piha and Berlin.

Max is gay, the son of a microbiologist and a kindergarten teacher, and grew up in the agricultural epicentre of New Zealand that is Palmerston North.

See Max Currie in the following session:

The Makings Of Great TV with Cate Shortland & Tony Krawitz – Sun 25th September, 9:00 am.

Bailey Mackey is an award-winning producer and current CEO of Pango Productions. Starting as a DJ on the iwi radio station Radio Ngāti Porou (Ruatoria) in 1999, Bailey has gone on to produce dozens of successful television shows over the years.

He is of Ngāti Porou, Tuhoe and Rongowhakaata lineage and fluent in Te Reo Maori, which has lead him to maintain a strong focus on developing Māori content programming for broad audiences and to produce shows such as THE GC, ONE LAND, WITH STRINGS ATTACHED, SAVING GEN Y, KAPA HAKA KIDS, HIP HOP HIGH, ATAMIRA, BENEATH THE MAORI MOON, MIND YOUR LANGUAGE, THE KAPA, ANZAC DAY and the RISE UP TELETHON.

His most recent show, SIDEWALK KARAOKE, has charmed audiences on Māori TV and is set to hit more than 30 international markets. The show’s popular format was recently bought by FremantleMedia, a global content company with offices in 31 markets.

Mackey also has a strong passion for New Zealand music and is keen to ensure it remains on network free-to-air television. Bailey is the former Head of Sport at Maori Television and GM of Black Inc Media Ltd.

Victoria Kelly is an award-winning composer and musician. Her contemporary classical music has been commissioned, performed and recorded by many of NZ’s leading performers and ensembles including NZTrio, the NZ String Quartet, Stroma and Michael Houstoun.

For her work in film and television, she has received numerous nominations and won two New Zealand Screen Awards. Her original scores include BLACK SHEEP, UNDER THE MOUNTAIN, OUT OF THE BLUE, and FIELD PUNISHMENT NO.1. for which she won the inaugural APRA Best Original Music for a Feature Film award at the Silver Scrolls in 2014. She co-composed the music for the television series THE ALMIGHTY JOHNSONS with Sean Donnelly and has performed extensively in Sean’s band, SJD, as well as in ‘The Bellbirds’ with Don McGlashan, Sean Donnelly and Sandy Mill.

Victoria tours and performs regularly with Neil Finn and created the orchestral arrangements for his recent solo album “Dizzy Heights.” In 2011 she was the composer and Musical Director for the Opening Ceremony of the Rugby World Cup 2011. Victoria is now the Director of NZ Member Services at APRA AMCOS.

See Victoria Kelly in the following session:

Composing Masterclass with Luke Buda and Sam Scott: Scoring HUNT FOR THE WILDER PEOPLE – Sun 25th September, 1:50 pm.