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Jared making himself heard...loud and clear!

My name is Jared Flitcroft, Crew 23. I am the first deaf graduate of the New Zealand Film and Television School.  I have directed a number of short films including Ripped Apart, Sic and Evacuo, each of which were finalists in the NZ Deaf Short Film Festival.  At Film School, I made a music video in New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) and a documentary about the Wellington Deaf Club.  Film making has long been a passion of mine and I see it as a great way for deaf and hearing to collaborate.  The story of ‘Tama’ reflects my experience as a deaf Māori man.  This year I was one of the 2012 recipients of the AMP Do Your Thing! Advicefirst Wellington scholarship.

The new kiwi crowd funding website "Boosted" has just launched, and our short film "Tama" is one of the featured projects!  My incredible collaborators Jack O'Donnell, Melissa Dodds, Johnny Crawford, Nicola Clements, Nadia Austin, Amber Shaw-Vryer, El Cuttiford, Megan Melvin and I urge you to consider supporting it, by either donating or spreading the word - it will be worth it!

http://www.boosted.org.nz/projects/tama

‘Tama’ is about a Maori deaf boy from a small town of Kaikohe who strives to do the Haka and in doing so, struggles to keep with his hearing peers while being isolated by the community. He overcame this by finding his place in the world.

This film crew has a mixture of both deaf and hearing people from all over New Zealand and our goal is to raise $10,000 so that the film will be made and shown in many deaf and hearing festivals around the world.

For more information, go to http://oddsocks.co.nz/tama/
The videos are in New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) with English captions.

Nga mihi

Jared Flitcroft

 

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What U doing...after grads...?

John Silvester C24:
Working 7 days a week: splitting time between data wrangling for Gibson Group TV production "Street Hospital", and doing rough cut of a freelance documentary. On the 8th day I work on Yuri...

Fraser Rudman C24:
I'm at the Gibson Group as an assistant (for Production, Camera, and Director) for an upcoming factual documentary series. Also doing a bit of part-time freelance work on the side...

Jack Barrowman C24:
I've been working as the sound recordist and boom swinger on the new feature film from Jonathan King...

Quade Biddle C24:
I'm technical assistant on a TV series and I am editing promotional video clips for a company up north in the Coromandel. After this i have three jobs lined up. Oh, and I am working at the Jimmy Cafe thanks to a great chap that sits around all day and does nothing.

Bryden, Joe, and Jacob C24:
 We have been making a music video for an auckland artist.

Joseph Hambleton C24:
Thanks to you and your awesome emails I picked up a lighting assistant job on 'Letter of Hope' and doing that this weekend. The Wellington District Health Board have asked to make a few instructional videos for their hospital channel. I'm working on making contacts on that shoot but have been emailing and meeting up with local directors who have been promising work later on in the year. I just got offered a job by Louis Sutherland to help out with his casting team for commercials which I will be doing in couple of weeks. All in all, just taking whatever comes by and focusing of getting a solid foot in the industry this year.

Sam Spooner C22:
I am currently producing a low budget sci fi in Auckland called "This Giant Papier Mache Boulder is Actually Really Heavy".  It came second in the Make My Movie competition last year and while they didn't get the money we are making it happen anyway!

I also run a small video production company with my classmate Duncan Pacey, we have made a range of things over the last year including a DVD for popular stand up comedian Urzila Carlson and promotional material for a tourist attraction in Rotorua.

Nicole Winer C24:
I have been 1st and 2nd AC on Jonathan King's feature 'Realiti'. Vid Split/2nd AC on a short film called 'Letter for Hope' and next week I am DPing Co-pro shoot with Jonathan!

Kupa WarnerC23:
Since leaving the film School I have mostly contracted myself out as a videographer to Te Papa museum shooting all their fashion shows, advertising, music, and events. There is around 30 or so videos posted within their YouTube Chanel that I've done so far for Te papa and adjoining companies. I was able to employ other students to help me on these projects over the past year and has been ongoing until now, as I've applied and received a job in London with a production company as a cameraman/editor I have now passed on the reigns onto a fellow classmate to do all Te papas work. 
Although I do not leave until June my time is spent now saving money for the big move so I'm back in christchurch building homes till I get enough for my expenses in the UK. I still get time to do small projects, like a music video for a musician in Chch which I'm shooting over the coming weeks. It's low pay but it's what you got to do to get ahead in NZ.

I've also worked on 5 short films since graduation, an advert which briefly aired on tvnz for game masters, a few promos here and there, and a feature documentary. Although the doco didn't go anywhere it was fun to be apart of.

Iv also worked on 5 short films since graduation, an advert which briefly aired on tvnz for game masters, a few promos here and there, and a feature documentary. Although the doco didn't go anywhere it was fun to be apart of.

I was employed part time as a avid editing tutor/technician at Massey university for 6 months but clashed with other projects so finished up my contract in Feb.

My plans are to work for a year in London before joining the met film school in earling studios to get a BA(Hons) in film and digital cinematography. Hoping that it will open does to becoming a cinematographer.

Anyway that's what Iv been up to and going to do hope this helps

Duncan Pacey C22
Myself and Sam Spooner from C22 currently co-run a video production company, Two Big Tools Ltd, and we recently completed the live comedy DVD for Urzila Carlson (http://urzilacarlson.com/www.urzilacarlson.com/DVD.html) here in Auckland. 

Nikita Baines C22
At the moment  I am on Power rangers season 21 as video assist and have been with rangers since September 2012 prior to that done a few commercials 3 shorts and a feature . Mostly camera department . 

Oren Graham C22
I'm currently Gaffering a low budget feature and have just finished a week as an additional locations/lighting/grip assistant on Girl vs Boy series 2. I was an additional lighting/grip assistant on series 1 last year. I've also been on the Wellington unit of Two Little Boys as lighting/grip assist, a lighting technician on the feature films The Cure and How to Meet Girls from a Distance and the Gibson Group doco series Prison Families and was Casual Electrics on The Hobbit.

Amy Evelyn Vandewiel C24

- Lighting Assistant 'Giselle' Dec 2012
- The odd music video
- A short film I wrote/directed Feb 2013
- Grip/Gaff assistant 'Waking Up' Jan/Feb 2013
- VFX assistant - Kevin Riley March 2013
- Grip/Gaff assistant 'The Handkerchief' March 2013

Ben Hunt C24
Working on the lighting team under Grant Mckinnon for Hope and Wire, a TV3 series premiering September.

Jen Metcalfe C22
I've come from assistant and additional editing on Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement's new feature film and late last year went to the NZ Film Awards with the MOA nominated documentary, The Last Ocean, for which I was part of the editorial team with Jonno Woodford-Robinson and Richard Lord. I'm currently the secretary of the Wellington Branch of the NZ Technician's Guild and am about to embark on another crowd funding campaign, this time for the Emerging Artists' Trust - last year I successfully raised $20,000 for Anna Cottrell's documentary, "Running for their Lives". A few short films, theatre productions and costume designs have been sprinkled throughout that. Keeping busy!

James Carrol
I'm currently working as a contract foley artist at Park Road Post. I've worked on a number of international feature films, a couple of local features, a few short films (mostly local), and some TV shows (mostly Australian and English).

Jacob Beulens C24
I'm studying Masters Screenwriting with Ken Duncum at the International Institute of Modern Letters this year. Working with Name UL (hip-hop artist) on a series of music videos.

Michael Nicholas C23
Since leaving film school I have acted in a number of short films; I also acted with Leigh Hart on his series Olympico which went out on Comedy Central. I have recently started doing some work for Sky Sport as a soundie.

Breiti Sharma C24
4 days shoot - " letter for hope" worked as Art dept assist director- Raquel sims  and DOP Matt Sharp
2 days shoot - " the handkerchief" worked as 2nd AC , Andreas as the 1st AC Director - Linda Niccol and Renaud Maire - DOP

More to come...

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Lights, Camera & Action for Latest Film School Graduates

New Zealand’s next wave of talented filmmakers graduated from the New Zealand Film and Television School with an exclusive ceremony at Paramount Cinema in Wellington, last Wednesday 5th of December.

The 24 graduating students from Crew 24 were among the 300 guests who attended the ceremony, among whom were friends, family, cast, crew and industry practitioners who supported the students through the demanding 36-week course.

There is some wonderful talent amongst Crew 24 and their enthusiasm and passion for filmmaking, coupled with the skills they take away from here, sets them up for an exciting career in film and television,” says Sashi Meanger, The Film School’s Executive Director.

For their final assignment, Film School students are required to make two short films showcasing the range of skills and expertise acquired from the likes of Head Tutor Sima Urale and visiting tutors such as Michelle Turner, John Harding, Lesley Burkes-Harding Thomas Robins and Rob Sarkies.

The two films created by Crew 24 premiered at the graduation to an audience made up of many of those involved in making Crew 24’s Film School portfolio.  Yuri, written by Jack Barrowman and directed by Quade Biddle, and set in a post-apocalyptic world, told the story of Yuri and his aged friend having their isolated world challenged by the arrival of a new-comer. The second film, Olivia, written by Fabian MacGregor and directed by Joseph Hambleton, is a heart-felt story of a teenager struggling with the deteriorating relationship which he has with his mother, in the face of his parents’ broken relationship as the result of the birth of his new sister.

Yuri and Olivia clearly illustrate the level at which Crew 24 can perform, and I'm sure the New Zealand film industry will come to know the calibre of these graduates as they enter a challenging and exciting industry”, added Mr Meanger.

• The Film School 'Crew Choice Award' for Significant Contribution to the Crew, as voted for by the Crew:
  • Joint recipients – John Silvester and Fraser Rudman
• 'The Film School Staff Award for Significant Contribution to the Crew' throughout the year:
  • Hayley Gastmeier
• 'The Film School Trust Board Award for Outstanding Student':
  • John Silvester

List of graduates:

Jack Barrowman; Quade Biddle; Jacob Beullens; Max Fouhy; Hayley Gastmeier; Bryden Gunn; Joseph Hambleton; Jordan Harding; Joel Hassan; Ben Hunt; Paul Irving; Fabian MacGregor; Freyja MacLeod; Gabriel Marsden; Mark Redmond; Laura Robinson; Fraser Rudman; John Silvester; Breiti Sharma; Tomasz Tamblyn; Amy Vandewiel; Julia Watkin; Andre Willis; Nicole Winer.

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NZ Film School graduate cleans up the Film Awards.

NZ Film School graduate Tusi Tamasese’s feature film debut – ‘The Orator’, and Producer Catherine Fitzgerald, win eight MOA awards at this year’s New Zealand Film Awards held at the Winter Gardens in Auckland.  Up against feature films ‘Two Little Boys’, ‘The Most Fun You Can Have Dying’, ‘The Devils Rock’, and ‘Netherwood’, Tamasese’s film took away most of the awards.

Prominent awards included, Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Sound awards. ‘The Orator’ has screened internationally at prestigious film festivals since its release in 2011, winning Audience Award in Brisbane, Special Mention at Venice, to the Art Cinema Award in Italy, and many more.

Tusi Tamasese is a graduate of the NZ Film School (2002), and was one of the guest speakers for this year’s graduating students.

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Cliff Curtis - By invitation

A huge thank you to Cliff Curtis for sharing his experiences and wisdom with students and guests of the Film School and Whitireia Performing Arts.

Thank you also to the Film Commission, Museum Hotel and Paramount Theatre for their generosity.

Sima Urale, Head Tutor facilitated an enlightening and interactive dialogue with Cliff Curtis for the benefit of students and guests.

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MR WRONG

Throughout the year, the Film Archive has presented a regular programme focusing on NZ women film makers in 
partnership with Women in Film and Television. Join us for the last event this year with this classic thriller by Gaylene Preston .

Director Gaylene Preston will introduce the film and be available for a Q&A at its conclusion.

Please join us from 6pm for networking, Gaylene will introduce the film at 6.45pm. The screening will commence at 7pm, followed by a Question and Answer session at 8.30pm. 


Mr Wrong
1985, 35mm, 88 minutes, PG–contains violence

A thoroughly spooky good time.

The story of a young woman who buys a haunted car, an old Jaguar, which she thinks is a bargain. Her first doubts occur when she is driving on a remote country road. She hears strangulated gasps coming from the back seat. But the seat is empty...

“Mr Wrong skillfully succeeds at both self-reflexivity and social comment. In addition, it’s a superbly entertaining thriller. Its tight and well-scripted plot exploits many of the cliches and conventions of the genre, while simultaneously turning an incisive and perceptive eye on the ideological substructure of those very conventions. Preston spotlights the inbuilt sexism of the genre and illuminates its uncomfortable preoccupations with power, sex and death, and some of the nastier links between that unholy trinity that permeates the dominant ethos" - (Jo Seton, "Meg and the Space Invaders - Mr Wrong as a Feminist Thriller", Illusions, no.2, winter 1986)

"In some of the best and brightest New Zealand documentaries, Gaylene Preston has exhibited a flair for demonstrating that things are not always as we commonly perceive them, so it’s not surprising that her first fiction feature may sound like a contradiction in terms; a thriller with very little in the way of explicit blood-letting or special effects. Heather Bolton is perfectly cast as Meg, a nice gal from the country who moves to the city and declares her autonomy by buying herself a lovely large Jag. Gradually she is forced to acknowledge that this car is making some most uncarlike noises and that it’s making her the object of the attentions of a thoroughly unpleasant young man who seems to materialise out of thin air. It would be more than unusually unfair to reveal much more of the engrossing plot which is divulged in true thriller/ghost story fashion and makes ample use of its many red herrings, each of which has a neat ideological kickback. Thriller expectations are juxtaposed and interplayed with the expectations and fears of everyday life with which Preston displays a genial, perceptive familiarity. As the mystery thickens, Mr Wrong builds up into a funny, nervy funk. What our heroine’s most scared of is paranoia and we’re given every reason to identify with her every inch of the way as she refuses to become anybody’s victim. Preston kids along the thriller conventions she clearly enjoys, springing twists in them and interrogating the genre for its inbuilt sexism all the while treating her audience to a thoroughly spooky good time. - Bill Gosden, New Zealand Film Festival, 1985

ENDS

For further information contact the Film Archive’s Publicist, Ellen Pullar, at ellenpullar@nzfa.org.nz or on (04) 384 7647 extension 823.

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Film School graduate wins Adobe video competition - off to Cockatoo Island Film Festival

Jared Gray, who graduated from the Film School in June (Crew 23), has been chosen as the winner of the Adobe and Cockatoo Island Film Festival “Transport Yourself” video competition, which was open to Australians and New Zealanders. This is a great accolade for this young videographer and film maker! 

Jared will be the official behind the scenes video producer for seven days, with backstage access to all  of the Cockatoo Island Film Festival events and interview opportunities with film producers and/or celebrities.

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Sima Urale appointed as new Head Tutor.

New Zealand Film and Television School casts one of New Zealand’s most celebrated filmmakers
Sima Urale has been appointed to the role of Head Tutor at The New Zealand Film and Television School, in Wellington City.

Urale returns to her hometown to take up this new role.  With more than twenty years’ experience in the film and theatre industry she will bring a wealth of practical and academic knowledge with her to the Film School.  She is a well-known and respected New Zealand filmmaker who has won national and international awards for her films that explore social and political issues.

We are delighted with Urale’s appointment said Sashi Meanger, Executive Director, The Film School.  “She brings a wealth of expertise to the school, we are excited to have secured someone of this calibre, as Head Tutor” he said.

Holding a Bachelor of Film and Television from the Victorian College of Art Film and Television and a graduate of Toi Whakaari, Urale has performed in various theatre productions throughout New Zealand and directed a number of television productions in documentary and drama, corporate videos, music videos, short films and commercials. 

Her feature film ‘Apron Strings’ opened the 2008 New Zealand Film Festival and had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.  In 2009 it won the Diversity Award at WIFIT international in Los Angeles and at the Qantas Awards, won the Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Cinematography and Production Design Awards.

Short films, ‘O Tamaiti’, ‘Still Life’, ‘Coffee and Allah’, produced by Urale , have won several awards as has her documentary ‘Velvet Dreams’, produced for TVNZ’s Work of Art series.  Her performance in the award winning play ‘Think of a Garden’ won her Best Actor in a Supporting Role at the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards. 

A Fulbright alumni, Urale has filmed projects internationally and travelled extensively as a guest filmmaker, from Russia, Poland to Canada as well as filming commercials from Malaysia to New York.   In the last two years as well as working in commercial production, she has been a Senior Lecturer in Film and Television at Unitec in Auckland sharing her passion to young up and coming filmmakers.

“I’m very excited to be starting with the Film School” said Urale.  “This school is one of New Zealand’s most highly regarded and specialised education institutions.  I feel honoured to have the opportunity to inspire the next generation of filmmakers and storytellers and to work alongside talented practioners and tutors that have contributed enormously to the success of the Film School” she said

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Becca Barnes to write a 12-part radio drama

Becca Barnes has just been signed up to write a 12-part radio drama series for Radio New Zealand.  Congrats to you Ms Barnes.

This comes very soon after the publication of First Act,a collection of (as it says) first acts of four screenplays by Whitireia graduates in screenwriting, all coincidentally (or not) Film School grads:  Becca, James Henley and Alwyn Dale all from c16, and Ness Simons from 21.    The collection is a tribute to the wonderful Graeme Tetley, who tutored both at Film School and at Whitireia, and has a foreword by Gaylene Preston, pictured here with our/their graduates on launch night. 

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The Orator up for an Academy Award

The New Zealand Film and Television School knows it can’t take all the credit for the success of its graduate Tusi Tamasese and his first feature film The Orator. After all, there is a great deal to be said for natural talent, and following Film School Tamasese attended the Masters screenwriting programme at Victoria University’s International Institute of Modern Letters. Nevertheless, the 2002 Film School graduate acknowledges the inspirational lecturer at the Wellington-based school who he says first recognised his scriptwriting abilities.

The awards picked up by The Orator at the prestigious Venice International Film Festival have created a real industry buzz, and the film has recently been submitted for consideration as Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards in February. Simon Morris gave the film an enthusiastic review on his Radio New Zealand ‘At the Movies’ show when he described the film as a knockout. ‘When a New Zealand film gets it right, it lifts our hearts more than any other film can hope to do,’ he said.

Head tutor at The Film School, John Reid, says that while its graduates are working in all areas of the industry, and many have gone on to make short films, documentaries and features, the success of The Orator and its writer/director makes Film School staff and tutors feel like very proud parents.