DETAILS OF SINA WALKERS - "A RUNNER"

(Brian Kilkelly plays Colin Molloy, the main character in "A Runner".)


(Some of the toga party getting ready.)

(Matt Tane and Nigel Waters play the other 2 cabbies "Bullsy" and "Rob". Nigel also wrote "A Runner"!)

A Runner

An aging cabby defies all expectations in the struggle to reclaim his dignity.


A Runner
Written by Nigel Waters
Directed by Sina Walker
Starring Brian Kilkelly
“As yet another customer does a runner, and alarmed at the prospect of fading away in a retirement village; an aging cabby defies all expectations in the struggle to reclaim his dignity.”

“A Runner” is one of the short films made under the auspices of Short Film Otago. It is totally written and produced in Dunedin, and features all Dunedin actors.
Because “A Runner” is all about a taxi driver, the crew had to create three cabs from the fictional “Taxiland” company. However, they were so realistic, members of the cast and crew were stopped several times over the course of shooting by people wanting to hire a cab.
90% of the filming was done at night, which meant spending a lot of time on Dunedin streets after dark. The crew witnessed one police chase, quite a number of drunken passers-by wanting to feature in the film, a drunk loudly abusing a taxi-driver (a case of life imitating art), and pretty much every boy racer in Dunedin.
Friends and family were called in to help out in all sorts of ways, from lending a car trailer to dressing in togas to holding onto large lights during gale-force winds to being stunt drivers.
“A Runner” has been made on a shoe-string, and this was only possible because of the incredibly keen and dedicated cast and crew, who gave their time and energy voluntarily.
We hope you enjoy it.

Writer: Nigel Waters

Nigel was born and raised in Invercargill, moving to Dunedin in the mid-eighties. He has lived in Port Chalmers for the past several years. After having the opportunity to experiment quite freely at Allen Hall Theatre at the University of Otago, he has made a living combining various jobs, including being a postie, a stonemason and now a primary teacher, with working in local theatre for the past twenty years. Apart from a couple of short plays written in the early-nineties, in recent years Nigel started taking a more serious interest in writing. His first full-length length play Hymn was performed at Silo Theatre, Auckland, in 2001 and at the Playhouse Theatre, Dunedin, in 2003. His second The Whole Sun has had professional readings at the Fortune Theatre in 2006 and the Court Theatre, Christchurch in 2007. Short Film Otago’s initiative enticed a first attempt at screenwriting – A Runner.

Actor: Brian Kilkelly

Brian has appeared in 'As You Like It' and 'Children of the Poor' at the Globe and at Wellington's Fringe Festival. He has also played Capulet in 'Romeo and Juliet". Brian was in the highly successful 'Jerusalem Jerusalem' which played to capacity houses at Dunedin's Globe and Fortune Theatres and Wellington’s Circa Theatre before travelling with that play to Edinburgh, Belfast and Cheltenham in the United Kingdom.
Brian played in Equus at the Fortune Theatre and in more recent times has appeared in 'Man for All Seasons', 'Daughters of Heaven', 'The Seagull', 'Glide Time' and 'Proof' at Dunedin's Globe Theatre. He played Mr Frank in 'The Diary of Anne Frank' at Dunedin's Playhouse Theatre and most recently played the part of Charles Dean in a new play about Minnie Dean.

Brian made his film debut in the acclaimed 'Out of the Blue'.

Director: Sina walker
Dunedin based Sina Walker is a writer, director and sometimes editor. She currently works as a post director and associate producer for documentary producers NHNZ.
'A Runner' by Dunedin writer Nigel Waters is her second digital short made with SFO. Her last digital short 'Paradise' has been selected as one of 6 shorts in the 'Homegrown Drama on Video' programme for the NZ International Film Festival.
Paradise will also screen on Thursday.
Her current independent projects include writing a script about James MacKenzie and a producing a series of short documentaries about quirky Dunedinites.

DETAILS OF IAN LAWTON & HIS FILM - "SHUT THE FUCK UP"

Director Ian Lawton


Still from Shut The Fuck Up.



Director bio:

Name: Ian Lawton

Coming from a background in animation for television and short film, Ian currently works as a freelance producer, director and editor for television. His knowledge of animation filmmaking techniques has been an invaluable asset to his work in postproduction.

His eclectic workload covers anything from drawn animation, commercials directing, radio advertising, documentary to short film, as well as corporate video and also music videos. As a screenwriter, his work has been short-listed on several occasions; has doctored scripts for advertising, copywriting & movie trailers. His work as a director has also been screened in many International Film Festivals.

• A member of the Irish Screenwriters & Playwrights Guild.

• Alumnus of Francis Ford Coppola's Zoetrope Screenwriting course.

• Has had tenure at producing promotional content for television broadcast, one of which earned a prestigious Shark Award for his campaign for the US TV series: Friends for Channel 6 in 2007.

• Holds an honors degree in Film from IADT and also a graduate of DLCAD



In a previous life Ian was an animator, worked on many tv shows, shorts and commercials. He won a couple of awards for his trouble, yet still spending his free time making music videos for mates bands, eventually becoming more fluent in the world of live-action and has since went on to direct commercials, promo’s, corporate videos and even more music videos (some of which earned awards for his trouble), anything at all really to earn his chops as a director.
Ian, sick of jumping through hoops for the funding of his films, invested in some gear, collaborated with actor friend and "soap celebrity" Tom O’Leary and shot "Shut the Fuck Up" early one morning in Bray with no crew and no money.
Ian got the idea for the short while on location in Bray shooting yet another f**king music video, seeing the lone phone booth by the car park, he was inspired.
Enthused by the result, Tom and Ian decided to dust off an old script, (previously short listed but ultimately refused funding) put together a small crew and spent three days with cheap German processed food and shot The Other Marty, which is currently in post-production. The food still hasn’t gone off.

Trailer For Shut The Fuck Up and IMDB Entry

Check back this time tomorrow for next profile.

Cheers

Robert

Programme of Movies for 6th August Screening at Paradiso

Hi Folks , below are the films to be screened at the next WFT movie night .
Over the next week or so, I will post up some details on each film - 1 film/1 post per day.
Please pop by each evening for a new update.

Also , I hope you folks are thinking about your movie ideas for GONE IN 60 SECONDS !

I hope to see you all next week .

( Click On The Below Picture For A Larger Image)


Short Film Otago funded films

Fishy Tales
NZ 2009. Director: Darren Simmonds: 11 mins
A comic cat and mouse tale about Granddad and Riwi as they attempt to outwit Kent, an overzealous Fisheries officer.

The Somniloquist
NZ 2009. Director: Stephen Downes : 14 mins
Somniloquism:the affliction of talking in one's sleep

Eden
NZ 2009. Director: Rebecca Tansley : 14 mins
The story of two itinerants, each damaged by a troubled past, who re-learn how to trust again.

A Runner
NZ 2009. Director: Sina Walker : 14 mins
An aging cabby defies all expectations in the struggle to reclaim his dignity.

Also screening

Paradise
NZ 2008. Director: Sina Walker : 10 mins
A rite-of-passage tale about a young boy on the opening day of the duck shooting season.

This film made last year with SFO funding is also playing as part of the 'Homegrown' short film selection in this year's NZ International Film Festival.

And to give the night a bit of international flavour we have two foreign films to add to the programme .


Mi Mujer (English title: My Woman)
Argentina 2009. Director: Maria Arnoletto : 14 mins :(Spanish Language with English subtitles).
"How the level of love rises among people at wakes."

And from Ireland,

Shut The Fuck Up
Ireland 2009. Director: Ian Lawton : 3 and a half mins
A kidnapping goes a bit wrong...

Now , if you're good,we will also screen the first film, in what is sure to be a cult new series of films *, featuring Heinous Enis

Pick Up
Somewhere 2009. Director: Robert Holt : 7 mins
..Stranger Danger! , Stranger Danger!..
( * may not actually become a cult new series of films - but we can hope!)

Films , Film Makers and Making Films!

Still from A RUNNER


Hi folks,

Hope you are all well .

I've just finished the first draft of the script for the sequel to Pick Up. It's called Heinous. It's taken on a bit of a more sinister direction than the first instalment,but I just let it take me there.I'll give it a bit of a polish, and hopefully we can get the Pick Up crew back together sometime in the near future and shoot it .

So , like I mentioned in the previous post,on the 6th of August WFT will be having a screening night.Look on it as Wanaka's own mini version of the International Film Festival.Well actually the headliners will be the four films made with funding from Short Film Otago.So they are pretty local actually.

These are, Darren Simmonds Fishy Tales,Sina Walkers A Runner,Rebecca Tansleys Eden and Stephen Downes The Somniloquist, (more details on these films soon). There will,however,be some international flavour ,with the inclusion of a short from Irish filmmaker Ian Lawton called Shut The Fuck Up (more details soon) and ,hopefully,WFT friend Maria Arnoletto will allow us to screen her Argentinean short,Mi Mujer, (again,more details to come).
We hope to have one or two other little things to show also.

We will also take the opportunity,on that night ,to announce the details of the "Gone In 60 Seconds" film making jamboree .

Basically, though, this is going to be an opportunity for anyone who has ever wanted to to make a movie and see it on the big screen at the cinema,to do so.

Imagine,you will legitimately be able to announce to your friend ,"Yes , I am going to my film premiere tonight".

And all you have to do is make a 60 second movie on any subject you like , on any equipment you can get your hands on and you will have roughly a month to do so.

Then,after I have a chance to organise and collate the material,there will be a gala premiere night at the Paradiso cinema,where you can come and watch your movie (along with everyone elses) on the big screen and you get to vote on the best movies , not some judging panel.

Okay, so that's it for now.
Stay tuned for more details and start thinking about your movie idea .

Cheers all,

Robert

Brett Gaylor on RIP : A Remix Manifesto National Radio Interview

Interesting radio Interview with Brett Gaylor , film maker behind RIP : A Remix Manifesto .
WFT hopes to screen this movie very soon.

AUDIO



Trailer for RIP

Next Screening Night

Hi folks ,
Okay , some updates for you .

WFT board met up last week to chat about stuff .

First up, keep 6 pm , August 6th free . WFT will screen a short film programme at Paradiso that Thursday evening .

This should be a nice event with a Q&A session afterwards (some of the film makers will be present) .

The screenings should run about an hour and a half and we will then convene in the Paradiso cafe for some chatting etc.

In addition to the screening , this night will also be the official announcement of the "GONE IN 60 SECONDS" film making
jamboree .

All details of "GONE IN 60 SECONDS" will be announced and any questions you may have about this will be answered then.

There will be a small cover charge of $5 on the night to cover costs .

Please bring along anyone you think may be interested .

Keep an eye on the Messenger closer to the date for a reminder .

Please feel free to comment over there on the left .

Don't forget to sign your comments to be in to win a prize .

In the meantime , I recommend you watch some classic movies this week .I mean films that are your own personal classics .

This week I will be watching from my personal collection the following...(trailers may not be safe for work)

River's Edge

The Breakfast Club

Ghosts of the Civil Dead

and Henry : Portrait of A Serial Killer

(These take me back to late 80's / early 90's)

A good Q&A on the Red One Camera.

May E Machine

Check out WFT friend May E Machine for all your film related engineering needs

Some photos from the "Pick Up" shoot.

Please excuse the low quality and subliminal flash frames , I need a new mac!.

New Look For Now!

Hi all , I had to make some adjustments to the blog so that I could post larger videos and so the comments (now over there on the left) would fit in the template .

Change can be tough to adjust to , so if you are feeling a little odd due to the different look , here is a calming picture to relax you .

New Zealand Mountain Film Festival

Hi all ,
A quick reminder that NZ Mountain Film Festival begins tomorrow , the 3rd , and runs until Tuesday 7th July.
Venue is the Lake Wanaka Centre, 89 Ardmore Street , Wanaka.

What to expect? well , to quote the official website

Activities scheduled include

Viewing of the 51 film finalist
Awards night with films, winning film previews and live Music
NZ & International Guest speakers
Workshops
Auction to get Quentin Smith back on skis
Free Adventure gear trade show
Art exhibition
Ice Sculpturing Demonstration
Heaps of giveaways
And of course, lots of general socialising

The programme for the festival can be downloaded from HERE , which will also link you to the main website .

Ticket prices are very reasonable and you should find some time to fit in a viewing .

Oh , and incase you haven't looked outside...it's snowing right now! yay !

chat later.

Robert

You Shoot , He Scores!

WFT friend Barratt is currently experimenting with writing movie scores.
If anyone has something they would like scored or just to chat some ideas , then
give Barratt a shout . (His email address is in the address field of your WFT mailing list email.- you'll know his when you see it ).

I'm going to work on a skills directory for a future mail out / posting .
If anyone would like to be listed with a particular skill/offering etc. let me know .

Basically , a database of cast/crew etc and their contacts .

Inclusion or exclusion at your request .
Get on it .

Michael Jackson stuff you won't have seen this week.

The Treatment with Elvis Mitchell

Hi all,
I thought I'd take a moment to alert you to a great film related audio programme .

I don't know about you , but I often get annoyed when I read a review or listen to an interview with a filmmaker because i find that , usually , the interviewer hasn't really bothered to do proper , in depth , research .
It frustrates me when the same old boring questions are asked by someone who doesn't really know a lot about the subject/artist they are dealing with .
I'm sure it must be boring for the interviewee also .
This is why I was so delighted to stumble across Elvis Mitchell and his film programme , "The Treatment".
I found this as a podcast on iTunes , but it is also a radio show on KCRW, Southern California's leading National Public Radio affiliate and available in a number of online formats from that link above .

Elvis is an interviewer who knows his subject well .
He is comes across as a gentle and intelligent interviewer . His guests ( writers/directors/producers/ etc.) seem to really enjoy their time with him on the show and it's not hard to see why .
He seems to know every obscure film or filmmaker referenced by his guests and is able to discern even the most vague influence on any given film .

Anyway , enough speaking . I'll let Elvis speak for himself .So do yourself a favour and check out the podcast (just search for it in iTunes or follow the web link above) , be sure to check out some previous guests as they all prove interesting .

NZFC picks up "Charlotte"

Great things can come from a weekend shoot!

Read about 48hrs film being picked up by New Zealand Film Commission HERE

Workshop

Hi folks ,

The previously mentioned Billy Stoneking Marshall Workshop is on , but , in Dunedin .
contact details below.

".......If you'd like to participate in an inspiring one-day film drama workshop with legendary screen guru, Billy Marshall Stoneking, please contact

Dell McLeod at delicat.mail@gmail.com or ring
+64 (0)3 479 4274

MUST BOOK TODAY!!! Tell your colleagues & friends!!!..."

Please note , we are currently in the process of organising other speakers/workshops to happen here in Wanaka in the future .
Stay tuned .

R

Grand Final Winner of 48hrs

Huge congratulations to The Linemen for their well deserved win with their beautiful animated short , "Charlotte".
This film won the Dunedin City Final prior to the Grand Final win and I said it before and I'll repeat it now , We were very privileged to find our own WFT team in the company of a film of this standard at the city finals .
Much respect to all involved .
That's 48hrs over with for another year .
Best get cracking on another filmmaking excuse .

cheers

Robert

Looking for authentic costumes

Hi all ,
I'm working on a script at the moment for a short film and I will need some assistance with some costumes .
I am looking for 2 authentic looking costumes for a couple of Native American characters , women , in their 20's .

I will also need to dress a older cowboy character , again, as authentic as possible , old weathered geezer , who's been riding the range for a few months. I'm thinking , well dressed but dusty and dirty .

Also all the gear to go with their horses ......and a couple of horses.

Well , i guess 1 brown or black horse and 1 piebald pony .

Please chip in if you have any suggestions.

Cheers

R

Musical Interlude

Our Friend Benjamin James Eastwood asked us to shoot some video for him recently , here is a bite .
(Some of you may know Bens music from The Beer Whisperers movie "Lovers Rock".

Remember folks ,
Ask a local musician for music for your films or youtube videos . Most would be happy to oblige I'm sure .

Enjoy

Pick Up

Drama & Writing Workshop

Hi everyone (welcome, new mailing list folk),

First a quick follow up on Wanaka's own 48hrs City Finalist "Pick Up" . Although Pick Up unfortunately didn't make it any further than the Dunedin City Finals , I have just received info that it was nominated a runner up for BEST USE OF LINE (the compulsory dialogue line "It doesn't fit!") and our own Maria Arnoletto was nominated runner up for BEST ACTRESS .

Congrats to all involved .

WFT friend Ian Bowmer has informed me that Billy Marshall Stoneking will be bringing his Drama & Writing Workshop to New Zealand in early July .

Here is some info from New Zealand Writers Guild:

"...a possibility has arisen to stage some local workshops with Australian-based drama and writing coach, Billy Marshall Stoneking. (here is his Wikipedia entry)

Some people will know Billy from his writers workshop a year or so back for Shortfilm Otago.

They were nothing if not inspirational, and for people with limited theatre or other dramatic training, an excellent opportunity to explore the difference between words on a page and the potency of words delivered well.
Billy has formerly been a tutor at the Oz Film & Television School.

He's coming over to the Oamaru Film Fest in July. There is the possibility of adding other regional workshops ..."

OK , I paraphrased that last line . I believe if there are a sufficient number of people interested , there will be a workshop in Dunedin , but if ,perhaps , there are enough interested parties here in Wanaka , then a local visit could be arranged .

Here is a link to the one of Mr. Marshall Stoneking's blogs , which should give you some info and an idea of what might be involved LINK or watch this youtube video (below) .

If you think you would be interested in attending such a workshop , please email me soon (thairocksuperstarATgmailDOTcom) with "INTERESTED IN WORKSHOP "in the subject box and I will pass the numbers on to Ian .



I imagine there would be a fee involved and I gather it might be in the region of $25 , but don't take that as gospel , please.

Thanks again, Ian, for that info .

VIDEO

"That was terrible" (only kidding)

Hi everyone ,

Hope you are all staying warm this long weekend.I know my toes are a little chilly .

Well , like I mentioned , a bunch of us headed down to Dunedin as finalists in the Dunedin leg of the 48hrs Film competition .
There were 12 films in total that made it this far and now was the time we were gonna see them on the big screen with a very sharply dressed audience .

Alas , Pick Up , our film didn't manage to win anything , but I have to say , we feel privileged to have been in the finals with some amazing movies .What was cool was that these films were not just cool 'cause they were made in 48hrs , but that they were cool full stop . Some of them would have definitely held their own amongst shorts that had no such time restrictions .

The winning film was "Charlotte" by Line Men - Big Twist Genre and the runner up was "Girl from Sweden, Maori from Dunedin" by Know Idea Productions - Politically Incorrect Genre

CHARLOTTE in my opinion was a deserved winner. An animated film that was simple , clean and very nicely put together .

I though that "Girl from Sweden, Maori from Dunedin" had a lot of great elements , not least of which was the great swedish character , she was very funny and well acted .

Another stand out film was "Nuclear Family" by team Rorschach . This film won quiet a few prizes but somehow didn't make it to the final 2 . No disrespect to the team behind Girl from Sweden, Maori from Dunedin , but , I think Nuclear Family deserved that runner up spot .
There is always the Peter Jackson wildcard draw , which can bring an otherwise unsuccessful team to the Grand Finals .
Watch this space to see if that happens.

C4 will begin screening some selected 48hrs shorts in the next week or two, so tune in if you have that channel and watch.There will also be a YouTube Channel dedicated to 48hrs shorts , which I will post the link to once it is up to speed.

Pick Up will screen for WFT fans along with some other bits and pieces, soon .

Okay , so the next thing to do is to get this "Gone in 60 seconds" film making jamboree up and running .
I'm keen on getting people making movies , not necessarily "in competition" but what I am gonna put out there is this ..

...If there is anyone reading this that can offer any kind of prizes for a film making competition , however small , be it a physical prize , a cash prize or a goods and/or services prize , voucher etc . then please get in contact with me at thairocksuperstar(Then simply add @ and gmail followed by a DOT and a COM) then I would greatly appreciate it .

If you know anyone who can offer any prizes , then , also get in contact, please .

There will be audience voting and raffles and stuff too , so think on .

I will let you know dates etc soon.

This competition is open to anyone , so spread the word.

cheers everyone

take care

Robert.

Great Night at Wanaka Premiere

Hi everyone ,
I'm just home from the Wanaka premieres of both , Lovers Rock & Fishy Tales . Well I was pleasantly surprised by the number of people who had turned out on a chilly midweek evening . They were an enthusiastic crowd and it was splendid to see so many film fans in our small town .
I'll post recap over the weekend, but I would really like to encourage any readers who were in the audience to send me their reviews of any or both of the films screened for posting here on the site .

A bunch of us are off to Dunedin (again) tomorrow for the City Finals of the 48hrs film competition .
WFT's entry "Pick Up" made the cut , so we will be getting our glad rags on and representing the town.
So many movie shindigs , so little time!!

More screenings coming up at the Paradiso in the next couple of weeks . Stay tuned for details .

Thanks again to all readers and viewer for your valued participation .

Soon you will all hopefully be getting busy on making your own 60 second flick .
Start thinking about it now and I'll get more info out to you soon.

Night , night all .

Please post reviews / questions etc. either in the comments section or via email to thairocksuperstar(AT)gmail(DOT)com

Thanks and Bye.

Robert

Venue Change

Ok Folks ,

Venue for tomorrows screening has changed to The Mint Bar.

all other details remain unchanged.

Times etc

Happy Hour etc

See you all there

cheers

Robert

WFT 48hrs entry makes it to the City Finals

So Pick Up , one of the Wanaka entries to the 48hr film comp has made it through to the City Finals! . The Only film from it's heat to do so and the only Horror from Dunedin to do so.

City Finals Gala details

THURSDAY MAY 28th (yup , that's this thursday)

Doors Open 7pm
Advance Tickets from Wild Pair, 241 George St from Tuesday 12th May, $15
The Top 12 Shorts selected by the Judges will screen
Screening venue: GLENROY AUDITORIUM, Harrop St, Octagon.
Always very popular, book in advance. The finals are not free admission.

Congratulations to the team involved.
Glad rags picked out for the night?

Pick Up will screen in Wanaka as soon as the Grand Finals are over .

(watch this space , regarding Wednesdays premiere of Fishy Tales and Lovers Rock , Possible venue change to Mint Bar , details posted as soon as confirmed .

cheers

Robert

Free Premiere Screening On Wednesday 27 May

I am pleased to announce the Wanaka premiere of Darren Simmonds & Wanaka Film Trusts FISHY TALES at The Local Bar on Wednesday 27th May from 7.30ish (with happy hour from 7pm - 9pm) all welcome. First short LOVERS ROCK will screen at approx 8pm to be followed by Fishy Tales .This is a free screening for all interested , but please feel free to show your support for our kind hosts by purchasing a beverage or two at the bar...but drink sensibly and don't drink/drive etc.
See you all there .

Robert

Now Twittering (for films sake!)

Follow WFT twitters here (If you like).

That is all.

Getting Back Up To Speed

Hi all ,

It's been a long week .

Things coming up .

Wanaka  Premiere  of " Fishy Tales" 

We are hoping to have a confirmed date /time/location for the Wanaka premier of Darren Simmonds short film in the next day or so , but it looks likely to be mid week , next week .

It is hoped that The Beer Whisperers entry for this years 48hr film comp "Lovers Rock" ,  will be the opening act at this screening .

(Those guys did an amazing job , to make a fun and accomplished  short in such a limited time - unfortunately , due to technical difficulties , they didn't qualify for the competition, although they did get to screen the movie , to a great reception , at the Dunedin Heats last week .)

Details coming soon

Wanaka's other 48hrs entry ,  "Pick Up" ,- which did , luckily , qualify for comp , also screened in Dndn last week and , while a more straight style film than most  48hrs entries shown at the heat , got a good reaction also .

We will find out if it progresses to the City Finals on Tue 26th May . Fingers crossed!!

I just want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who got stuck in to these Wanaka productions . It is very heartening to see all these folk working together and sharing their abilities in the name of local movie production .

Some new alliances were undoubtedly forged during these productions and I look forward to seeing the results of these  over the coming year .

Lets keep the momentum going folks  .

WFT screenings coming up include shorts from over seas as well as more local fare , also , we hope to screen  feature length documentary    "RIP: A Remix Manifesto "

This is an open source  film , but we may ask for donations at this screening to support the filmmakers . 

Details soon.

Keep well , warm and safe folks.

Notes Of A Filmmaker

A quick shout out to Ian Lawton , filmmaker and oldest buddy of mine ( In fact , we made a short together ...I guess , over 20 yrs ago - which I can't really remember much of , and I'm sure was terrible , if it ever even got finished - Ian?.
He lives in Ireland . He makes films , and he has a blog
called Notes Of A Filmmaker which contains some cool links and valuable info on film making , but more than that , it's kinda like a production diary of a filmmakers ongoing projects .
Check it out , it's a nice slice .

Survived

Hi all .

48hrs

The weekend has passed and we all survived the 48hr film comp .
Pics and details soon .
Congratulations to all who participated in Wanaka teams .
Best of luck in the heats.

Fishy Tales


A last minute date change has Darren Simmonds FISHY TALES premiering in Dunedin tomorrow (13th May) .
Best of luck to Darren and all the team who worked on this short .
Wanaka screening details as soon as I have them .

Ok , folks , I'll end it there tonight and will follow up with a fuller post later in the week.
Keep well all.

Calm before the storm

Hi all ,

Thanks for stopping by .
Just a quick post to say that 48hr weekend is almost on us and therefore , there will probably be little in the way of a blog update till middle of next week .
Not only is the weekend filled with film making for some of us , but also WFT's first production , "Fishy Tales" will have it's premiere in Dunedin on Tuesday ,(some late night action in the sound studio over the last few nights has been noted!)
Best of luck to Darren and the Fishy Tales gang , hope the red carpet gets rolled out for this one .

I believe there will be a Wanaka premiere in the not so distant future also . Dates will be posted as soon as confirmed .

Film Festival News

The 7th Annual New Zealand Mountain Film Festival is on in Wanaka from July 3rd - 7th .
This is a great opportunity to see some outdoors/ adventure etc.themed films and lots of other cool stuff .
Check out the full details on the WEBSITE.

A last note to all the folk who have taken the time to email , letting us know a bit about themselves . Thank you for keeping this ball rolling .
It's appreciated.

A quick suggestion

As i hope there will be new visitors to this blog over time , may i propose that , in addition to cc to all other email addresses ,
that you post a copy of your email to the comments section in this blog , or just add the word PUBLISH in bold capitals at the end of your emails and I can then copy them and paste them into the main body of the blog .
You can , of course , do what you like with your emails but this way , everyone gets to read what you have to say .

On a side note , can you all please note that Emma's email address is listed in your emails as hotmail.co.nz - when it is of course hotmail.com .
If you could change that in your contacts , she will then also get your mail .
I have one email address from the first WFT screening night signup sheet that I can't read - I have tried a few different versions but keep getting a delivery failure .If anyone knows Antonio's (stop motion chap) email address , can they let him know the error and have him email me or leave a comment .

Thanks all.

REDRUM, REDRUM, REDRUM.

Hi all ,

Emma has kindly taken the time to drop me a line .
She asks for any recommendations on screenwriting software.

Here is my reply to her

"...I've usually used Final Draft , which I find good - it takes a bit of getting your head around , but once you do , it's worth it .
I believe it is considered the industry standard also .
It's not cheap , US$249 , but they offer a free download-able trial from their website .

If you have a Mac , Apples desktop publishing application, Pages , has , in it's latest version (Pages'09), a template for screenplays .
I haven't used it yet , as I've only just upgraded to '09 - but it looks good , easy to use and pretty self explanatory.
It costs NZ$179 but you would qualify for Apples education discount .

A mate of mine in Ireland recently mentioned Celtx which is (unlike the other two mentioned) a free open source suite of production software , which includes a
screenwriting application .
Again , I haven't used it , but free is good ....."

Please folks , add your comments and recommendations here for Emma , as , I'm sure some of you have used something I haven't mentioned .

Cheers for now .

48hrs registration closing in about an hour!!

Ok folks ,
If you haven't registered a team by now , well you're too late for this year .
In just over a week , those of us who registered (thanks Greg) , will be waiting to hear what our surprise genre/prop/line/character will be . Then , we won't sleep for a couple of days as we will be immersed in film making .

If you wanted to partake in the 48hr comp , but weren't able to register for some reason , I urge you to go ahead and make a movie that weekend anyway .With or without the 48hr criteria .

I'll talk more about the "Gone in 60 seconds" film making jam at a later date , but keep the concept in your mind and start thinking of possible ideas for a 1 min movie .

If that works out , and if people have fun , well , I have another fun idea up my sleeve to follow up with .Stay tuned.

I've added a new link to the links area on the right of the screen .
it's to , who, in their own words, "(makingof.com) is a behind-the-scenes Web portal that provides an intimate, fresh look into the process of making a movie by the insiders themselves. MakingOf’s mission is to champion the art and craft of entertainment creation.

It's an interesting new site .

I want to put together some movies for screening at the next meeting ( where we will have more time and space to chat and mingle ) , so if anyone has a project they want shown , drop me a line .

thairocksuperstar(AT)gmail(DOT)com

Be sure to try and find time to check out the Wild South Film Festival on at the PARADISO cinema over the next week or so . Screenings are reasonably priced and run from early in the day .

What's are some of your favourite movies?

Remember to leave a comment here so I know I'm not writing to my self . Don't make me sign up to Twitter!.

Welcome to WFT

By Robert Holt

Hi everyone ,
Welcome to the Wanaka Film Trust blog .
In time , we hope to have a website up and running , but this will suffice for now .

I'd just like to thank everyone who came out to the first public WFT meeting at the Paradiso Cinema on Thursday .
It was great to see a good turnout .
I must apologise for not getting to speak to everyone , but would hope that we will get the opportunity to do so in the near future.

Thanks to Darren Simmonds for speaking on the night . He's a much better public speaker than I am and I think , given the time constraints we were under he did an excellent job of introducing and explaining WFT .

Also special thanks to Callum and all the lovely Paradiso crew , for , not just providing a good venue for our meeting , but for having an awesome cinema . I urge you to spend plenty time there , both for movies and good grub , but also as a place to hang out and meet up with friends .

But mostly thanks to you guys .

Y'all seem like a talented bunch and I look forward to seeing examples of your work , both past and future.

Topher - you sounded good on the radio on Friday!

Maria - I checked out your website - really cool pics!

Ian - Thanks again for those links - I'll add a links section to this blog (if I can work out how).

Katharine - I hope you found your Cinderella .

I will email a link to this blog to you all but if I have misread anyones email address and they fail to get this
and you know them , could you please ask them to email me at the address in the email you recieve .

Please everyone , leave comments regularly so I know I'm not alone! .