Sebastián Lelio is an award-winning Chilean filmmaker whose first three films, A Sagrada Familia (2005), Navidad (2009) and El Año Del Tigre (2011) gained him international attention and awards recognition. His breakout film, Gloria premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2013, where it won a Silver Bear for Best Actress (Paulina García), the Ecumenical Jury prize and the Gilde Award.

Lelio’s next film A Fantastic Woman (2017) was an international success, becoming the first Chilean feature film to win an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film. It premiered at the Berlinale and took home the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay as well as the Teddy Award. The film also obtained The Goya Award and The Independent Spirit Award.

Lelio made his English-language debut in 2017 with Disobedience, starring Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams.  It earned him five nominations at the British Independent Film Awards. In 2018, he recreated his hit film Gloria in the USA. Titled Gloria Bell it was released in 2019 and stars Julianne Moore and John Turturro. Lelio has also obtained the Guggenheim, Cannes Residénce and the Daad fellowships.

Sebastián will give a mini-keynote address to our theme Transforming Culture and will deliver a masterclass entitled Filmmaker and Spectator both via live streaming.

WATCH SEBASTIÁN’S FILMS

André Nemec is a showrunner, screenwriter, and producer. Since graduating from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, André has enjoyed a career helming movies and television to much acclaim. Alongside fellow writer-producers Josh Applebaum, Scott Rosenberg, and Jeff Pinker, André co-founded and co-runs Midnight Radio, a TV production company.

André has written, created, and produced a diverse array of over two dozen American and international series, including Alias, October Road, Life on Mars, Zoo, Everything Sucks!, Limetown, and High Fidelity. His feature credits include Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse.

Most recently, André is developing Kill Them All with celebrated director Victoria Mahoney. On the TV side, he is currently showrunning Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop, a live-action reboot of the cult classic anime.

Finola Dwyer ONZM is a twice Oscar-nominated, BAFTA award-winning film & television producer. She runs Wildgaze Films, one of the UK’s leading independent production companies, with her producing partner Amanda Posey.

Finola has recently completed Dirt Music, developed and financed by Film4, which shot in Western Australia. Based on Tim Winton’s iconic Booker-nominated Australian novel and adapted by Jack Thorne, the film stars Kelly Macdonald, Garrett Hedlund and David Wenham, and is directed by Gregor Jordan. The film had its world premiere at TIFF in September 2019.

Her productions include Our Souls At Night, a film for Netflix, directed by Ritesh Batra, starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda, co-produced with Redford’s Wildwood Enterprises, which premiered at Venice Film Festival 2017 before launching on Netflix.  Their Finest reunited Wildgaze with director Lone Scherfig; starring Gemma Arterton and Bill Nighy, it was released Spring 2017 to outstanding reviews. In 2016 Wildgaze’s film Brooklyn took the US box office by storm and was nominated for three Oscars (including Best Picture) and six BAFTAs, winning Outstanding British Film BAFTA.

Finola’s previous producer credits include Oscar-nominated & BAFTA winning An Education, directed by Lone Scherfig; Dustin Hoffman’s directorial debut and box office hit Quartet; A Long Way Down, based on Nick Hornby’s best-selling novel; BAFTA-winning Tsunami: The Aftermath for HBO/BBC; Emmy-nominated The Hamburg Cell; Sandra Goldbacher’s BAFTA-nominated Me Without You; Iain Softley’s BAFTA-winning debut Backbeat, and acclaimed feature documentary My Nazi Legacy. Finola is a former Chair of the BAFTA Film Committee and BAFTA board member and is a member of AMPAS and currently serves on the Academy’s Producers Branch Executive Committee.

Scott Ryan is an award-winning Australian actor, writer and director. He is best known for his work as the writer and star of black comedy-crime show Mr Inbetween.

Mr. Inbetween, created by Ryan, was commissioned by US cable channel FX and was renewed for a third season in 2020. Mr. Inbetween follows Ray Shoesmith (played by Ryan), a father, ex-husband, boyfriend and best friend: tough roles to juggle in the modern age. Even harder when you’re a criminal for hire. All 3 seasons of the show were written by Ryan and directed and executive produced by Nash Edgerton (a founding member of Blue-Tongue Films).

In 2019, Scott won an AACTA Award for Best Lead Actor in Television Drama and a Silver Logie for Most Outstanding Actor for his work in Mr Inbetween. In 2018, the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts named him the Best New Talent and he was nominated for two AACTA Awards for Best Screenplay in Television and Best Lead Actor in a Television Drama; and was nominated for an Australian Writers’ Guild Award for Comedy, all for Mr Inbetween.

Scott Ryan was also the writer, director, producer, editor and star in the no-budget film The Magician (a mockumentary about the same laconic hitman). The film was a festival hit taking away three awards (Best Actor, Best Director and Best Film) at the Melbourne Underground Film Festival and nominations for two IF Awards (Best Actor and Independent Spirit Award). The film provided a proof of concept for Mr. Inbetween.

Arielle Kilker is a two-time Emmy-winning filmmaker who has been a key collaborator on several hit series for Netflix. Most recently, she developed, produced, co-directed, and edited the six-time Emmy nominated, three-time Emmy winning docuseries Cheer. 

She was a supervising editor on Peabody Award, Cinema Eye Honors Award, IDA Award, and Sports Emmy nominated Last Chance U, as well as serving as an editor on the Emmy nominated series Chef’s Table. Starting her career as an assistant editor, she rose quickly through the ranks to serve as an editor and writer on a variety of projects for MSNBC, A&E, MTV, The Travel Channel, and PBS.

WATCH ARIELLE’S WORK

Sophie Henderson is a New Zealand screenwriter, theatre-maker and actor. Her first screenplay, Fantail, in which she also starred, won over audiences at home and overseas. Fantail premiered at the Rotterdam Film Festival in 2014 and picked up a People’s Choice Award at Melbourne International Film Festival that year. Her film Baby Done with Taika Waititi and Carthew Neal’s Piki Films is released this October. Sophie wrote the screenplay for The Justice Of Bunny King which stars Thomasin McKenzie and Essie Davis and is released in 2021.

A co-general manager of Auckland’s Basement Theatre until 2014, Sophie programmed the theatre for 4 years, developing emerging artists and new work. In 2015 Sophie was mentored by Australian screenwriter and showrunner, Alice Bell and worked in the script department for her mini-series The Beautiful Lie. Sophie has worked extensively for Silo Theatre as an actor and deviser and was named Metro’s Best Actress in both 2009 and 2014, for her work with the company in The Scene and Belleville. She can be seen in a number of film and television productions including Human Traces and Outrageous Fortune. Sophie is a member of the Script to Screen board.

WATCH SOPHIE’S FILMS

As Executive Vice President FX Current Series and FX Productions, Jonathan Frank oversees all facets of day-to-day production for the entire slate of FX Networks’ original programming and leads the networks’ documentary programming group.

Series overseen by Frank include the FX dramas Taboo, Snowfall, Mayans M.C. and Mr Inbetween; as well as limited series franchises including American Horror Story. In addition, Frank supervises the production of the FX comedy series Atlanta, Better Things, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Archer, Breeders, DAVE and What We Do in the Shadows.

Frank also leads the team developing FX’s growing slate of docuseries and documentary films, including The Weekly in partnership with The New York Times and the new series The New York Times Presents, as well as the docuseries The Most Dangerous Animal of All, AKA Jane Roe and A Wilderness of Error.

Frank oversaw production on many of FX Networks’ legacy series, including The Americans, Sons of Anarchy, The Strain, The League, Man Seeking Woman, Tyrant, Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll, Legion, Trust, Baskets, You’re the Worst and the FX Original Movie A Christmas Carol.

Frank first joined FX in 2008 as Vice President of Current Programming and was promoted to Senior Vice President of Current Programming in 2011. His subsequent role as Executive Vice President of Current Programming was expanded in 2016 to include FXP original series for non-FNG outlets.

Prior to joining FX, Frank was with Mark Johnson Productions as head of television development and Caryn Mandbach Productions as Vice President of Television Development. He began his career in 1999 at Pariah, where he rose from an assistant to a creative executive.

Frank received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Brown University. He and his wife Meredith Milton reside in Pacific Palisades, California with their children Wyatt and Greer

Nat Grouille is Director of Nonfiction Series at Netflix responsible for bringing shows like Formula 1: The Drive to Survive, The Circle, Too Hot to Handle and Dark Tourist to our screens. Prior to joining Netflix, Nat was an acclaimed and award-winning Unscripted Executive Producer and Producer in London, producing Shows like 1000 Ways to Die, Junkyard Wars and Surviving Disaster.

Polly is an International Emmy nominated Producer who joined Netflix in 2018 as a Production and Post Executive.

In 2018 she was Associate Producer on Disney live-action film Mulan and producer of the Original Netflix series Dark Tourist featuring David Farrier. Polly both produced and provided finance supervision for Modern Dinosaurs which is a factual series co-production with Discovery, Arte and Prime.

Specialising in challenging projects and innovative solutions Polly loves collaborating with others which has led to a diverse range of roles and credits covering development, financing supervision, production and post on titles such as Baby Done, Tickled, Chasing Great, The Breaker Upperers, The Day That Changed My Life and The Golden Hour.

Gregor Jordan is an Australian film and television writer, director and producer. His first short film Swinger won the Jury Prize at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. His debut feature film Two Hands starring Heath Ledger, Bryan Brown and Rose Byrne won Australian Film Institute awards for Best Screenplay, Best Director and Best Film. His second film Buffalo Soldiers, starring Joaquin Phoenix, Anna Paquin and Ed Harris won a British Independent Film award for best screenplay. His other films include Ned Kelly starring Heath Ledger, Naomi Watts and Geoffrey Rush; The Informers with Billy Bob Thornton, Kim Basinger, Winona Ryder and Mickey Rourke, and Unthinkable starring Samuel L Jackson, Michael Sheen and Carrie Anne-Moss. His most recent film Dirt Music stars Kelly MacDonald, Garrett Hedlund and David Wenham.

Gregor’s TV work includes the upcoming Channel 7/ Roadshow Rough Diamond series Australian Gangster, the ABCTV Australia documentary Ian Thorpe – The Swimmer and the ABCTV Australia series Old School starring Bryan Brown and Sam Neill.

Rosie has spent the past 25 years working in the comedy industry globally.  Rosie started out owning her own performance venue The Green Room in Christchurch, where she discovered comedy and her now-husband Rhys Darby. She went on to manage the Classic Comedy and Bar, work at NZ International Comedy Festival, ran venues and reviewed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, was a talent booker at the UK’s largest chain of comedy clubs, Jongleurs before following her husband to New York for a little show called Flight of the Conchords. Since then Rosie has focussed on Team Darby, producing four of Rhys’ comedy specials, executive producing Short Poppies for TVNZ and producing several pilots in both the USA and NZ. She has also produced live shows for Rhys and other comedians in New Zealand and the USA.  Along the way, she has worked closely with agents, managers, creatives, writers and producers across the world.

Most recently Rosie joined Karen Kay Management in Auckland as an Agent. It felt like a natural progression from “Wifeager” the term used in the USA for the wives that actually handle all the business for their very busy other halves! Now back in NZ as a COVID refugee Rosie is fascinated by the effect it has had on the industry both here and in the USA.

Sam Kelly graduated from Victoria University with a degree in Film and Masters in Screenwriting. Sam then made several short films, including winning Wellington’s 48HOURS filmmaking competition for an unprecedented three consecutive years. In 2010 Sam won SPADA’s ‘Young Filmmaker of the Year’.

In 2012 his short film Lambs received official selection at many prestigious international film festivals including Berlin, Clermont-Ferrand, Melbourne, Uppsala and Raindance, and won the Jury Prize and Audience Award at the New Zealand International Film Festival, Best Director at Show Me Shorts, the Young Jury Prize at Sequence (Toulouse), and Runner Up at One Lens (Hollywood). His feature film Savage was released in 2020 and achieved stellar reviews and popular success, now sitting in the top 20 NZ films of all time at the box office.

Vicky Pope is an award-winning producer with over 15 years of experience working across film, television and advertising. Her short and feature film productions have sold around the world and screened in prestigious international festivals including Cannes, Venice and Berlin.

Vicky’s feature film producing credits include the critically acclaimed theatrical documentary Trouble is My Business directed by Juliette Veber. In 2012 she produced NZ comedy Two Little Boys, directed by NZ director Robert Sarkies (Out of the Blue, Consent, Scarfies), that premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in 2012 and starred Bret McKenzie (Flight of the Conchords). In 2013 Vicky produced and distributed NZ independent documentary Gardening with Soul directed by Jess Feast. The film won Best Documentary at the 2013 NZ Film Awards and became one of the highest-grossing NZ documentaries at the box office at the time.

Vicky’s most recent production is Sam Kelly’s debut feature film Savage that premiered in competition at Busan and London BFI Film Festivals in 2019. The film has released theatrically worldwide in 2020, and secured a local box office of more than $1.5M, making it one of the top 20 NZ releases of all time.

Under her production company POP Film, Vicky has numerous projects in development including high-end drama series The ARK created by Robert Sarkies, Samuel Van Grinsven’s second feature Went Up The Hill being developed in co-production with Sam Jennings and Kristina Ceyton of Causeway Films in Australia, and Big Girls Don’t Cry from debut writer/director Paloma Schneideman.

Lanita Ririnui (Ngāiterangi, Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāpuhi, Ngatiwai, Tumutevarovaro) has a long career in factual TV programming and is currently the Kaikōkiri kaupapa (Content Commissioner) at Māori Television. She has worked as a director on various productions including Haka Global, Marae DIY, Tātai Hono, Fresh, and IAMTV. Lanita was the producer, live studio and field director of lifestyle, entertainment and event programmes Code, Waitangi Day, Aotearoa Reggae All Stars, Bromasters, Kanikani mai, Mā Tātou and the Waiata Māori Music Awards.

From 2015 – 2019 she was the Kaihautū Whakapā (Founder and Company Director) of media company Through the Fire Ltd and is the creator of Poi 360 – the first indigenous interactive documentary site about stories of poi from Aotearoa and first poi performance using 360 technology. She was also the Co-Producer and Director of award-winning webseries Poi Hopes & Dreams, and 360 Short films Fan-Girl and Poipoiā.

Lanita has previously served as a board member for Ngā Aho Whakaari and an MC and Ambassador to the Someday Filmmaking Challenge.

Becs Arahanga (Kai Tahu, Waitaha, Ngāti Raukawa) has burst onto the film and television scene with three films in two years. With an instinctual knack for story, comedy and a strong understanding for the human condition, Becs recently co-directed/wrote multi-award-winning feature film, Vai and short film Hinekura, which won the audience choice and civic awards at NZIFF 2019. Her first short film, Laundry – about a mother struggling to have a sex life whilst raising kids, was selected as part of NZ Best at NZIFF 2016 and was nominated for four awards at Show Me Shorts – Best Film, Best Director, Best Writer and Best Editor.

Becs is incredibly passionate about telling heartfelt and real stories, uplifting and celebrating women and indigenous voices.

Piripi Curtis (Ngāti Rongomai, Ngāti Pikiao) is a well-respected film and television producer with a passion for indigenous storytelling. He is the managing director of Hikoi NZ Ltd which has produced Hunting Aotearoa, Kai Safari, Nanakia and Harakore. His film credits include Tits On A Bull, award winning short Ahi Kaa, Meke (which qualified for a number of international film festivals), Elevation, Ka Puta Ko Au, Aramarumaru, Māreikura and Māori Time – which is in the final stages of completion. He also co-directed Aitu for this year’s Native Slam at Māorilands Film Festival.

Piripi is an active member of the Steambox Film Collective and one of the directors of the Rotorua Indigenous Film Festival which is run in Rotorua. He sits on the board of Directors for the Waiariki Film Studio, screen industry guild Ngā Aho Whakāri and has recently stepped down from the board of Film Bay of Plenty which was set up to promote the area to the film and television industry. Piripi is currently an associate producer of Vegas which is currently being filmed in Rotorua. Vegas is a Māori Story written by Māori, Directed by Maori and co Produced by Māori.

Associate Professor Siouxsie Wiles MNZM is an award-winning scientist who has made a career of manipulating microbes. She heads up the Bioluminescent Superbugs Lab at the University of Auckland where she and her team make bacteria glow in the dark to understand how infectious microbes make us sick and to find new antibiotics.

Associate Professor Wiles is also passionate about demystifying science and has won numerous prizes for her efforts, including the Prime Minister’s Science Media Communication Prize in 2013. In 2017 she published her first book, Antibiotic resistance: the end of modern medicine? and in 2019 was appointed a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to microbiology and science communication.

During COVID-19 Associate Professor Wiles joined forces with Spinoff cartoonist Toby Morris to make the science of the pandemic clear and understandable. Releasing their work under a Creative Commons licence, their graphics have been translated into multiple languages and have been adapted by various governments and organisations as part of their official pandemic communications.

Photo credit: Arvid Eriksson

Cole Meyers is a writer, activist and educator. He is series writer and co-producer of Rūrangi, NZ’s first transgender drama series that was recently selected for the Berlinale Series Marketplace.

He works as a consultant on trans and gender diverse narratives and inclusion in film, television, web series and theatre, including at Shortland Street, where he is currently a dialogue script writer, and has previously worked as a storyliner.

Cole has been on the board of Same Same But Different LGBTQI Writers Festival, where he has been a speaker and curated events, and also on the board of Breaking Boundaries, where he has run workshops on writing, performance and art.

Cole is a regular speaker and interviewee on trans representation, and is passionately focused on supporting the authentic representation, creative opportunities and powerful potential of gender diverse people and people with disabilities in both the screen industry, and in society as a whole. 

As a games designer and producer, Maru’s focus is on indigenous storytelling as culture-based games are hugely influential and are a powerful outlet for engagement and learning.  Maru has published several games including Sparx to teach rangatahi how to manage depression, Takaro to teach rangatahi about coding concepts and Guardian Maia, interactive fiction that follows the journey of a Maori woman through a dystopian future.

Maru believes that Maori cultural identity is a unique strength in the future of NZ. 

Emma is currently in production on the absurd comedy Nude Tuesday, a feature starring Jackie van Beek (The Breaker Upperers), Damon Herriman (Mindhunter, Judy & Punch) and Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords), as well as David Farrier’s (Dark Tourist, Tickled) latest feature documentary.

Recently, Slade produced Come to Daddy, an NZ/Irish/Canadian official co-production, which premiered at Tribeca 2019 and after premiering at numerous was released world-wide in 2020. The project won best director (Ant Timpson) and actor (Elijah Wood) at the Toronto After Dark Festival 2019.

In 2017, her young adult thriller The Changeover starring Timothy Spall (Mr Turner) and Melanie Lynskey (The Intervention), was in competition at the Alice Nella Citta, Venice Film Festival. Earlier that year, Slade produced Into the Rainbow, which was the first Chinese/NZ co-production, starring Willow Shields (Hunger Games) and the Brazilian/NZ feature Little Secret, which was nominated as Brazil’s Oscar entry for Best Foreign Film 2017.

Upcoming films include The Justice of Bunny King starring Essie Davis (The Babadook) and Thomasin McKenzie (Leave No Trace). Emma is a producer and the founder of production company Firefly Films.

Leanne Pooley is one of New Zealand’s most accomplished documentarians having worked around the world for over 25 years.  Her films range in topic from the Topp Twins to The Pope, have screened in more than 100 countries and have won dozens of international awards including Best Documentary at TIFF.  She directed NZ’s highest grossing documentary, the first New Zealand animated film to qualify for Oscar recognition, is an Officer of the NZ Order of Merit, an Arts Laureate and a member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Ainsley Gardiner (Ngāti Awa, Te Whānau-a-Apanui, Ngāti Pikiao and Whakatōhea) produced Taika Waititi’s short films Two Cars, One Night and Tama Tu and went on to collaborate with him on his first two feature films, Eagle Vs Shark and Boy.

Her first short film as a writer/director, Mokopuna, had a successful festival life, winning gold at the Dreamspeaker Indigenous Film Festival. She was one of the nine wāhine māori filmmakers to write and direct for the acclaimed feature film Waru. In 2018 Ainsley was awarded the Mana Wāhine award at the Wairoa Festival and was also made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to film.

She is a recipient of The 2019 Merata Mita Fellowship, alongside Briar Grace-Smith and was the co-Director (with Briar) of the feature film Cousins to be released in 2021. This was adapted from the novel written by Patricia Grace.

Briar Grace-Smith is of Ngā Puhi descent and a 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 Arts Foundation Laureate and was recently made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to film, television and theatre. She has worked as a Development Executive for the New Zealand Film Commission and taught ‘Writing for Theatre’ at IIML (2015).

Her television credits include Fishskin Suit, Being Eve, Kaitangata Twitch and the Australian children’s television series, Grace Beside Me (2017). She was a director and co-writer of the short film, Nine of Hearts, and wrote and directed Charm for the feature project Waru (2017). She collaborated with Toi Whakaari, directing Krystal, a short film by Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu. 

Briar is a Sundance alumni and the writer of the feature films The Strength of Water and Fresh Meat.  She is a recipient of The 2019 Merata Mita Fellowship, alongside Ainsley Gardiner.

She was the writer and Co-Director (with Ainsley Gardiner) of the feature film Cousins to be released in 2021. This was adapted from the novel written by Patricia Grace.

Matthew J Saville is a director, writer with a long list of credits, in both film and television. Including writing and directing prime time drama and creating successful children’s television show Kune’s Kitchen. His short films have screened at some of the most prestigious film festivals in the world. He is currently in post-production with his feature film Juniper which stars Academy Award nominee – Charlotte Rampling.

WATCH MATTHEW’S FILMS

Linda has written and directed four short films and a range of promotional videos. Two of her shorts have screened at festivals in New Zealand and overseas. Her co-written feature film Second-Hand Wedding was a breakout success in New Zealand making it into the Top 10 New Zealand films at the box office. Her eye (and ear) for detail, visual style and elegance, and witty juxtaposition and emotional metaphor is evident in her writing and directing. She has published two collections of short stories and her writing has been broadcast and widely anthologised.

Her recent work focuses on female protagonists and New Zealand feature Poppy is one such story. Written and directed by Linda, produced by Robin Laing and Alex Cole-Baker and supported by NZFC’s 125 Fund set up in 2018 to celebrate 125 years of Women’s Suffrage, TVNZ, NZ On Air, IHC Foundation and private philanthropic funders,

is now in post-production.

WATCH LINDA’S FILMS

Roseanne Liang is an Aotearoa-born Chinese director and screenwriter who enjoys the cut and thrust of genre, social resonance and culture. Her feature film My Wedding and Other Secrets is the most successful NZ-Asian feature film to date, based on her festival hit documentary Banana in a Nutshell. Roseanne has also made award-winning work across TV comedy and short film including Berlin-winning Take 3, cult-favourite webseries Flat3/Friday Night Bites, and Sundance-SXSW breakout action short Do No Harm. Roseanne’s latest US action-thriller feature film, Shadow in the Cloud, stars Chlöe Grace Moretz and Nick Robinson. It premiered Sep 2020 at Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award.

Florian Habicht studied filmmaking at the Elam School of Fine Arts and Binger Filmlab, Amsterdam. He is an innovative and prolific filmmaker. His films have been distributed in over 18 countries. His hybrid NYC romance Love Story opened the New Zealand International Film Festival in 2011. When Love Story screened at the London Film Festival, Jarvis Cocker of British group Pulp invited Florian to make a music film about Pulp and their last concert in hometown Sheffield. Pulp: a Film about Life, Death & Supermarkets premiered at SXSW and opened Sheffield Doc/Fest in 2014. It won Best Music Film at the NME Awards in 2015. Florian’s film Kaikohe Demolition 2004, a portrait of a small struggling town with a big heart, is one of New Zealand’s most entertaining and loved documentaries. TVNZ OnDemand is currently streaming 4 of Florian’s films on their Pulse channel. Other career highlights include winning the Best Decorated Bicycle Award at Paihia Primary School in 1982.

Hailing from Hutoia in the Far North of New Zealand, Hanelle is of Māori (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Tūwharetoa ki Kawerau and Ngāti Porou) and Lebanese lineage. In 2011 she graduated with a Bachelor of Performing Arts in Acting for Screen & Theatre from Unitec. Hanelle is an award-winning writer, producer and director who is gaining rapid recognition as a fresh and provocative voice. She is passionate about Māori and Polynesian stories, particularly those with strong female perspectives, socially challenging ideologies and distinctive next-generation voices.

She completed her Post-Graduate Diploma in Directing, Writing and Screen Production in 2013, and shortly after was cast as Tibs in Escalator-funded feature film Orphans and Kingdoms. Her most well-known work as a writer includes award-winning short film, The Promise Of Piha, Maori TV’s groundbreaking bilingual drama Ahikāroa, trailblazing web series Baby Mama’s Club (in which she also starred) and one hour TV spinoff Sis for Comedy Central. Hanelle is currently in funded development for a number of projects including Baby Mama’s Club (feature film) and Basic Training (TV drama series).

WATCH HANELLE’S WORK

David White has produced and directed a substantial body of documentary and drama work that has enjoyed considerable national and international success, among them Meat, Shihad: Beautiful Machine, I Kill, Little Criminals, The Cleanest Pig and This Town. His work has screened at over 50 film festivals including Sundance, AFI, SXSW, SilverDocs, Tribeca, MIFF, TRUE/FALSE, Clermont Ferrand and been commissioned and screened on BBC, Sky and PRIME TV amongst selling commissioned work across the globe.

He was the first New Zealander to be shortlisted for a Cinema Eye Honor (documentary) for his film I Kill. In 2014 David graduated from the inaugural Entrepreneurial Producing for Creative Industries course run by the NFTS. His documentary Little Criminals (2015) aired on PRIME TV to strong ratings and critical acclaim and more recently directed an episode of Decades In Colour (2017 – PRIME TV) for Greenstone.

Meat (2017) Executive Produced by Phil Fairclough (Grizzly Man / Cave Of Forgotten Dreams) opened to 4-star reviews and sell out audiences throughout NZ and was recently released on multiple NZME platforms. Meat was also been picked up by MPI Media Group and has sold globally.

David’s (writer/director/producer) debut comedy film This Town (in association with South Pacific Pictures) staring Robyn Malcolm, Rima Te Wiata, and himself as the main character was both number one at the NZ theatrical box office for 21days straight and was critically acclaimed. World sales are being handled by The Film Sales Company.

This Town was developed at the prestigious Venice Biennale College – Cinema of which only 12 people are selected from a worldwide call each year.

David has just been commissioned to write his next feature film, has several TV shows in development and is has recently gone back to his roots and has started to Produce other peoples work.

He is a past board member of SPADA has his own BBQ sauce and has had several gallery shows for his lathed wooden bowls.

WATCH DAVID’S WORK

Rachel Davies helps teams and individuals maximise their collaboration and success by incorporating game-changing communication tools along with the latest in brain science and visualisation strategies. She has a decade of broad training in the healing arts, including a few years studying at the legendary Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA. Previous to this, she spent two decades winning awards as a director and editor in the New Zealand film industry where she made seminal music videos, documentary and television commercials.  She’s known for her good-humoured, down to earth, collaborative approach that supports teams to unlock their best, along with a dedication to exploring the cutting edge.

www.rachel-davies.com

MP for Kelston, Carmel Sepuloni is of Samoan, Tongan and NZ European descent. She was born and raised in Waitara but has lived in Auckland since 1996.

Outside of politics Carmel has worked broadly across the health and education sectors, working as a Literacy Educator with youth in West Auckland, teaching in Samoa, managing equity programmes at the University of Auckland, managing the non-regulated Pacific health research project and acting as CEO of New Zealand’s only national Pacific health provider, Vaka Tautua.

Carmel has always been committed to improving social, health and educational outcomes for all New Zealanders but has especially focused during her career on low socio-economic groups, Māori, Pacific, disabled people and sole parents.  During her political career Carmel has brought to the fore the slashing of the training incentive allowance, made public the impact of cuts to ACC funding for survivors of sexual violence, campaigned for better legislation around social workers and fought for the right to privacy for social service users.

In the 2020 Labour Government, Carmel was sworn in as the Minister for Social Development and Employment, Minister for ACC, Minister for Disability Issues, and Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage. Carmel is looking forward to continuing her work on building a fairer welfare system that treats New Zealanders with respect, upholds their dignity and supports them and their families to realise their potential.

Annabelle commenced her role as CEO of the New Zealand Film Commission in January 2018. Prior to this, Annabelle was CEO of South Australia Film Commission (SAFC) from 2015 to 2017. Annabelle has longstanding experience as a Chief Executive and Senior Executive in the Australian screen industry. From 2003 to 2013, Ms Sheehan was the CEO and Senior Agent at RGM Artist Group (RGM), a major Australian talent agency representing Australia’s leading artists in film, television, theatre and radio. Prior to joining RGM, she was Head of the Film and Television division at Australia’s peak national production education centre – The Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS) for six years. Her career began in post-production from which she has an extensive list of credits, nominations and awards for her work on feature films such as Dead Calm, Mad Max 3, The Piano, Fearless and Portrait of a Lady.

She holds a Master of Arts in Cinema Studies from New York University. Her Bachelor of Arts in Communications and Graduate Diploma in Education were gained at the University of Technology Sydney.

Cameron is the Chief Executive of NZ On Air, responsible for the operational delivery of the agency. Cameron has a long and varied career in the screen and entertainment industries including running Park Road Post Production and Stone Street Studios in Wellington. Prior to working at NZ On Air he was involved in advertising, working for Saatchi & Saatchi in London and Wellington and before that Head of Professional Rugby at NZ Rugby. He is a former Board member of the NZ Film Commission and was Deputy Chair of TVNZ.

Amie is a member of the Senior Leadership Team and has overall responsibility for the Scripted, Factual and Platforms streams of the NZ Media Fund. Amie has worked in the media industry in Aotearoa and abroad, in a range of creative and digital production roles. She is the former Digital & Children’s Commissioner at TVNZ and was co-lead of the New Blood Innovation Programme aimed at reaching non-traditional audiences with local content. In 2015 she joined Saatchi & Saatchi London to help deliver a BAFTA-winning mobile game, Sea Hero Quest, to help scientists fight dementia with the world’s largest crowd-sourced database for medical research.

Jonny Brugh is an actor, comedian, writer, artist, and producer from New Zealand. Having made a big splash on-screen as sexy vampire Deacon in the largely improvised cult hit What We Do In The Shadows, Jonny has gone on to develop a brand as an improvised screen actor/comedian. Although you’ll also find him learning his lines for BBC’s new drama Mystic screening in the UK in 2021.

Jonny cut his comedy teeth thru the ’90s with innovative Billy-T Award-winning duet Sugar & Spice touring the Australasian comedy club circuit for over a decade. The 2000s saw him join forces with Jackie van Beek to tour internationally with their darkly comic live shows My Brother And I Are Pornstars and Flashdunce after which they joined forces with comedian, director Jesse Griffin to create Educators, an improvised comedy soap opera currently playing on TVNZ On Demand.

While Jonny often spends time in USA performing and appearing at pop culture conventions, this year you’ll find him back on the comedy club circuit in New Zealand and developing concepts for both podcast and screen.

Jonny is Taurus born in the year of the dog and enjoys sleeping and marauding the New Zealand coastline in his Pengiun ocean kayak.

Helen Bowden is one of Australia’s most prolific and highly awarded drama producers.

Her most recent production The Secrets She Keeps is based on the international best-seller by Michael Robotham, and stars Laura Carmichael (Downton Abbey), Jessica de Gouw and Michael Dorman.  It has sold to the BBC and Sundance Now, among numerous other major international territories. Its premiere on BBC1 was their highest Monday night launch of the year.

Other recent credits include: Lambs of God starring Ann Dowd, Essie Davis and Jessica Barden (which received a record-breaking 18 nominations and nine wins at the Australian Academy – AACTA – Awards); UK/Australian co-production Upright starring Tim Minchin; On the Ropes starring Keisha Castle Hughes; and Wake in Fright starring David Wenham.

Helen was a founder and the foundation Managing Director of Matchbox Pictures, which formed in 2008.  The company enjoyed a spectacular rise and was sold to NBCUniversal in early 2014.  In 2015 Helen formed Lingo Pictures with Jason Stephens (ex Fremantle). She is the Managing Director.

Carthew Neal is an Academy Award-nominated producer. He produced Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit & Hunt For The Wilderpeople, Jackie van Beek & Madeleine Sami’s The Breaker Upperers & Super City, Jessica Hansell’s Aroha Bridge, David Lowery’s Pete’s Dragon, David Farrier’s Tickled and Dark Tourist, Tanu Gago’s fafswagvogue.com, Justin Pemberton’s ISpydoc.com, and conceived and produced two series of non-fiction series Wa$ted.

Dominic Corry is an entertainment journalist, film critic and broadcaster. He has spent the last five years living in Los Angeles covering film and television. There he interviewed filmmakers such as Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, David Lynch and Charlie Kaufman, and performers such as Charlize Theron, Tom Hanks, Amy Adams and Ryan Gosling. He has appeared as an entertainment reporter, pop culture commentator and/or film critic on RNZ National, Newstalk ZB, TVNZ, Three and Al Jazeera English. His written work currently appears in NZ Herald, Letterboxd and Backstory Magazine.

Karin Williams began her career as a reporter at the Cook Islands News in Rarotonga. She went on to become a producer for film, television and theatre in the USA and Aotearoa. Her work has earned dozens of honours, including five regional Emmys, and her independent films have screened at festivals around the world. Karin served as Development Executive at the NZ Film Commission from 2015-18, working on a wide range of NZ feature films. She is currently producing projects with Pasifika stories for stage and screen.

Gemma Gracewood is currently the Editor-in-Chief of Letterboxd, a global community of film lovers, and host of the Letterboxd Show podcast, and has been working between New Zealand and New York since 2010. 

A producer, writer, director and publicity strategist, Gemma has helmed productions including Frontseat, New Artland, Jiwi’s Machines, What’s Your Problem?, Dead Letters, Flight of the Conchords: A Texan Odyssey, Joseph Gets Dressed, and, in New York, has coordinated shoots for My Year with Helen, Dawn Raid, Anthems, The Chills: The Triumph & Tragedy of Martin Phillipps, and The Hobbit behind the scenes interviews.

Kay has produced and/or directed more than 20 documentaries, and a range of factual television series and children’s programmes in English and Te Reo Māori.

In late 2018 she joined RNZ to establish a commissioning department and now oversees a varied slate of productions which include documentaries, podcast series, investigative journalism projects, scripted comedy, and stories and songs for children.