He Kauahi Catalyst

He Kauahi Catalyst aims to support New Zealand filmmakers to progress their talents to the next stage and make exceptional narrative short films that will ignite the flame and be the catalyst for change in their career.

Round open: Friday May 30th, 2025

Round closes:  Monday June 23rd, 2025 – at 1PM

Further application rounds will open: second and third quarter of the NZFC financial year. Dates: TBC.

The key objectives of He Kauahi Catalyst are:

• Invest in talent - by supporting the progression of New Zealand writers, directors, and producers through creating exceptional short films.  
• Critical – the potential for film festival success: a provocative or cathartic cinema experience, reliant on a unique voice, cultural specificity and artistic excellence.
• Innovation – the potential to forge new pathways in film technologies, film methodologies, audience experiences and/or filmmaker talent.

What we fund

• Narrative drama and animation short films
• Up to $90,000 is available for the production of the short film

Who can apply

• you are a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident; and
• you are the owner of the rights in your short film project; and
• you are:
  • a writer, director and/or producer who has 80-minutes of cumulative produced scripted content, or has had a short film accepted into one of these listed international festivals: the NZ International Film Festival, Māoriland, Rotorua Indigenous Film Festival or Show Me Shorts; or
  • an experienced practitioner who can provide evidence of significant success in a related narrative discipline (e.g. published novelist, esteemed playwright); and
• your short film project:
  • is a narrative short film or animated short film;
  • is not in an episode or documentary format; and
  • has significant New Zealand content. Please read the New Zealand content information sheet for more detail.  

Any individual writer, director or producer may only be attached to one application per funding round.

How to apply

Read the Guidelines Document before registering for an account to apply online at https://funding.nzfilm.co.nz/. 

You can invite team members who also have an account to collaborate on the application.

Apply now