Feature Film Production Investment
At the June 2023 Board Meeting, the NZFC Board approved conditional offers of funding to two new feature films.
The Rule of Jenny Pen (Feature Drama)
Logline: Confined to a secluded rest home, an ailing judge must stop an elderly psychopath who employs a child's puppet to abuse the home's residents with deadly consequences.
Producers: Catherine Fitzgerald, Orlando Stewart
Director: James Ashcroft
Writers: Eli Kent, James Ashcroft
Kiri and Lou Make Friends (Stop Motion Animation)
Logline: A true story from prehistoric times! Based on actual fossil records! Lovable prehistoric creatures Kiri and Lou are thrown into a survival adventure in this family musical about empathy and kindness.
Producer: Fiona Copland
Writer/Director: Harry Sinclair
Extended Screen Production Recovery Fund
The NZFC approved grant funding to four new applications:
Blessing (Short Film) $5,854
Producers: Sarah Cook, Jimena Murray
Director: Jane Shearer
Lead Writer: Jane Shearer, Steve Ayson
Boy Eats God (Short Film) $8,250
Producers: Maria Tanner
Writer/Director: Litia Tuiburelevu
I See You (Short Film) $9,730
Producers: Caroline Hutchison
Writer/Director: Briar March
Moving Houses Series 2 (Series Doc) $71,094
Producers: Sam Blackley, Neil Stichbury
Director: Roz Mason, Emily Qereqeretabua
Lead Writer: Bettina Hollings
The fund remains open for applications for direct costs due to COVID-19 events affecting productions before June 2023.
Premium Contingency Fund
The COVID-19 Subcommittee approved conditional equity to two applications:
A Mistake (Feature Drama)
Producer: Matthew Metcalfe
Writer/Director: Christine Jeffs
Dark City - The Cleaner (Series Drama)
Producers: John Barnett, Chloe Smith
Director: Rick Jacobson
Writer: Paul Cleave
Feature Film Finishing Grant
Four applications to the Feature Film Finishing Grant have been approved and feature in the 2023 Whānau Mārama New Zealand International Film Festival programme:
The Paragon $59,500
Logline: The victim of a hit-and-run learns how to be psychic to find the car that hit him and take revenge on the driver.
Writer/Director/Producer: Michael Duignan
Red Mole: A Romance $58,900
Logline: Red Mole: A Romance traces the origins, performances, personalities and fate of the 1970s radical theatre troupe Red Mole and is both an underexplored history and a poignant personal story.
Writer/Director/Producer: Annie Goldson
Home Kills $59,000
Logline: It’s desperate times for a small rural home kills and butchery service, as big business begins to threaten their livelihood. The owners fall into offering a new service - killing people, to make ends meet.
Writer/Director/Producer: Haydn Butler
Grant Sheehan: Light, Ghosts & Dreams $57,442
Logline: A film on the life and art of avant-garde New Zealand photographer and publisher Grant Sheehan and his creative Artificial Intelligence (AI) explorations.
Writer/Director/Producer: Robin Greenberg
The fund remains open for independently financed films who meet the criteria including for distribution and reaching audiences.
Early Development & Documentary Development Funding
Elephant Kiss (Drama) $25,000
Logline: Sisters Jess and Rosa take their beloved dog Maxx on a quest to find the magical elephant Mythra that can cure animals, but to succeed they need the help of best friends Denny and Natalie.
Producer: Lloyd Meiklejohn
Writer: Kristi Barnett
Director: Rouzie Hassanova
Foreign Body (Drama) $22,575
Logline: A foreign gap-year student moves in with a New Zealand family to experience their ‘culture’, but quickly discovers the psychologically damaged and dangerous truth behind their polite smiles and warm hospitality.
Producer: Jonathan Potton
Writer/Director: Tom Sainsbury
God Bless You, Mr Kopu (Drama) $25,000
Logline: A meek and desperate Tongan man finds himself losing touch with reality after partnering with a successful but nefarious white salesman who uses short-term hypnosis to swindle people of their cash.
Producer: Emma Slade, Roxi Bull
Writer/Director Alex Liu
Manu Masters (Drama) $25,000
Logline: A teenage wannabe “Manu” champion sets his sights on winning and along the way finds the father figure he didn’t know he was looking for.
Producer: Libby Hakaraia
Writer/Director: Te Wairangi Ratana
Mother Help (Drama) $25,000
Logline: A struggling new mother has her life derailed when she inadvertently hires a Mother’s Help who isn't who she says she is, and a dream becomes a nightmare.
Producer: Catherine Fitzgerald
Writer: Catriona Troop
Pati(wt) (Doco) $20,000
Logline: The story of how two Samoan brothers sang their way from South Auckland to the world’s greatest opera stages – and into audiences’ hearts.
Producer/Director: Rebecca Tansley
Te Puhi (Drama) $10,000
Logline: Aotearoa, New Zealand 1962. Te Puhi (18) is crowned Miss New Zealand claiming international fame overnight for being the first Māori to do so. Torn between whānau (family) and dreams of winning the Miss World title in London, Te Puhi goes on a journey of self-discovery and love.
Producer: Sharlene George
Writer/Director: Cian Elise-White
The 36th Negative (Drama) $25,000
Logline: A renowned American photographer travels to New Zealand to document an undiscovered Māori tribe and finds herself in a life-changing journey, encountering a mysterious man who leads her to a stronghold, revealing dark secrets and forcing her to confront the past, the present and the future.
Producer: Deborah Cope
Writers: Kelly Kilgour, Shahir Daud
Director: Shahir Daud
The Lie of the Land (Drama) $25,000
Logline: In the isolated and unforgiving high country of Otago, two dutiful farmer’s wives break free from the life expected of them, when they risk everything to be together.
Producer: Phillip Smith
Writer: Sara Wiseman
Director: Caroline Bell Booth
The Rise of Phoenix Starr (Drama) $16,200
Logline: 1985: A queer gender-diverse tween with big dreams to change the world runs away from her grief and small-town life, but when brutal thugs threaten her family, it forces her to reconsider her priorities.
Producer: Leela Menon
Writer/Director: KC Childs
The current round of Early Development and Documentary Development Funding is due to be announced on 24 July.
The next deadline for applications is 1pm Monday 7 August.
Advanced Development Funding
The 2023/2024 Advanced Development Round is currently open for applications at any time.
One application to Advanced Development Funding has been approved:
Two Days to Sunrise
Producer: Pip Lingard
Writer: Pavel Kvatch, Joe Ryan
Director: Pavel Kvatch
Seed and Seed Advanced Grants
Seed recipients
Soft – Pulkit Arora
The Longest Drink in Town – Tracey Slaughter & Liam Hinton
Blessed are the Sinners – Celestina Sumby
Redemption Songs – Nathan Morris
The Rider – Joseph Taylor
The Mostly True Story of Amy Bock – Jane Wilson
Seed Advanced recipients
Pohpoh wants to Die – Hweiling Ow
Tulpar – Rouzie Hassanova
Seed & Seed Advanced Grants
This round received 106 Seed and 32 Seed Advanced eligible applications. This is the highest number of Seed Advanced applications ever received, almost twice as many as the 2022 round of Seed.
Industry Organisation Core Support Funding
The NZFC completed running a contestable round for Industry Organisation Core Support Funding in June. We received 22 applications with a total request of approx. $2.6m. The NZFC have awarded one year Industry Organisation Core Support Funding to the following organisations for 2023/24.
Pan Sector Industry Organisations
New Zealand Writers Guild Inc | Puni Taatuhi o Aotearoa (NZWG) $85,000
Screen Producers and Directors Association (SPADA) $85,000
Directors and Editors Guild of Aotearoa New Zealand (DEGANZ) $85,000
Screen Industry Guild of Aotearoa New Zealand Incorporated (SIGANZ) $85,000
Script To Screen Te Tari Tuhi Kupu A Whaakahua $85,000
Equity New Zealand $50,000
Diversity Organisations
Women in Film and Television (NZ) Inc (WIFTNZ) $85,000
Pan-Asian Screen Collective (PASC) $85,000
Pacific Islands Screen Artists Incorporated (PISA) $65,000
Māori Organisations
Ngā Aho Whakaari (NAW) $120,000