• Ra Vincent 2021 Te Aupounamu Māori Screen Excellence Award Recipient

    News
    Issue date: 24 Mar 2021

    Two-time Academy Award nominee Ra Vincent (Jojo Rabbit, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey) is this year’s recipient of Te Tumu Whakaata New Zealand Film Commission’s Te Aupounamu Māori Screen Excellence Award announced at the Māoriland Film Festival this...

  • Independent Chair of Te Puna Kairangi (The Premium Production Fund) Announced

    News
    Issue date: 23 Mar 2021

    A veteran of the New Zealand screen industry has been appointed the independent Chair of Te Puna Kairangi (The Premium Production Fund). Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC), Irirangi Te Motu New Zealand On Air (NZ On Air) and...

  • Production Underway for New Kiwi Film Going, Going

    News
    Issue date: 25 Feb 2021

    Written and directed by Loren Taylor, Going, Going's stellar cast includes Elizabeth Hawthorne, Victoria Haralbidou, Loren Taylor, Robyn Malcolm, Robbie Magasiva and Cohen Holloway. Production has commenced in Wellington, New Zealand this week for a new...

  • Live Webinar with NZFC – Thursday 25 March 2021

    News
    Issue date: 19 Mar 2021

    Join New Zealand Film Commission CEO Annabelle Sheehan along with the Joint Heads of Te Puna Kairangi- Premium Fund and Ara ki Te Puna Kairangi -  Premium Development Fund, Kay Ellmers and Polly Fryer. Molly Littlejohn will once again moderate the...

  • New Zealand Film Commission CEO To Depart NZFC

    News
    Issue date: 18 Mar 2021

    Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC) Chair, Dame Kerry Prendergast, announced today that CEO Annabelle Sheehan would step away from the role, after three years leading the agency, and return to Australia. Making the...

  • Ara ki Te Puna Kairangi - (The Premium Development Fund) Guidelines now Available

    News
    Issue date: 9 Mar 2021

    The guidelines for Ara ki Te Puna Kairangi (The Premium Development Fund) are now available. The portal will open to applications on 22 March 2021. You will find details of the fund, including guidelines and eligibility criteria here.

  • Live Webinar 16 December 2020

    News
    Issue date: 23 Dec 2020

    On Wednesday 16 December CEO Annabelle Sheehan, Head of Development and Production Leanne Saunders, Head of Marketing Jasmin McSweeney joined moderator Molly Littlejohn for a live webinar. The panel gave updates on the Screen Sector Recovery Funds...

  • Black List and New Zealand Film Commission Announce Partnership

    News
    Issue date: 19 Jan 2021

    The Black List and the New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC) are excited to announce the joint creation of a new fund and script development workshop, the Black List New Zealand Project (BLNZP). This is a one-off fund, designed to foster the creative...

  • Night Raiders - First Look Clip Released

    News
    Issue date: 27 Feb 2021

    Night Raiders, the Indigenous sci-fi thriller marks the feature film directorial debut from award-winning Saskatchewan-born Cree/Métis writer/director, Danis Goulet (Wakening, Barefoot), the film is a Canada / New Zealand co-production, an Indigenous...

  • Deadline Extended for Premium Productions for International Audiences Fund (Te Puna Kairangi Premium Fund)

    News
    Issue date: 15 Feb 2021

    Kia ora koutou, In light of the COVID-19 Alert Levels increase throughout New Zealand and in response to the industry, the Agencies (NZFC, NZ On Air and Te Māngai Pāho) have collectively decided to extend the Premium Productions for International...

  • An Innovative Approach to Leadership of Premium Productions for International Audiences Fund

    News
    Issue date: 26 Feb 2021

    Ka ao, ka ao, ka awatea! The three agencies collaborating to deliver the Te Puna Kairangi Premium Fund, the Premium Productions for International Audiences Fund have struck on an innovative leadership model for the Fund. Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga...

  • Cornerstone Marches Into EFM with New Zealand Drama Whina

    News
    Issue date: 11 Feb 2021

    Cornerstone will launch worldwide sales, excluding ANZ, for writers and directors James Napier Robertson and Paula Whetu Jones’ Whina (pronounced fee-nah), out of the upcoming European Film Market. Rena Owen (The Last Witch Hunter, Star Wars: Revenge of...

  • Six Short Films Funded Through Fresh Shorts Initiative

    News
    Issue date: 11 Feb 2021

    Six filmmaking teams have been selected for funding through the 2020 round of Fresh Shorts and will each receive a grant of $15,000 to make their short film. The selected teams and their projects are: Arrival Writer/producer: Francesca Mackenzie...

  • Farewell Tony Hiles

    News
    Issue date: 9 Feb 2021

    The New Zealand Film Commission sadly acknowledges the passing of filmmaker Tony Hiles. Tony’s filmmaking career began in the mid-1960s when he documented US President Lyndon B Johnson’s visit to New Zealand on film.  He followed this with work in...

  • Premium Productions for International Audiences Fund (Te Puna Kairangi Premium Fund) is now open

    News
    Issue date: 17 Dec 2020

    The  Premium Productions for International Audiences Fund  (Te Puna Kairangi Premium Fund) is now open for applications. Please go here for more information including guidelines and a link to the NZFC's application portal.

  • New Zealand Film Commission Releases Annual Report for 2019-20

    News
    Issue date: 27 Jan 2021

    The New Zealand Film Commission’s Annual Report 2019-20  was tabled in Parliament on 27 January. Releasing the report NZFC Chair Kerry Prendergast said, “It has been a challenging year for the screen sector, and one that has tested and proved its...

  • WarnerMedia Acquires New Zealand film There is No I in Threesome as HBO Max Original

    News
    Issue date: 27 Jan 2021

    HBO Max debuted the trailer and key art today for the new Max Original documentary There is No I in Threesome.  The film begins streaming in the US ahead of Valentine’s Day on 11 February and will have its world premiere this weekend...

  • Vale Peter Vere-Jones

    News
    Issue date: 26 Jan 2021

    The New Zealand Film Commission acknowledges the passing of actor Peter Vere-Jones ONZM. In a long and varied career across six decades, Peter Vere-Jones’s career spanned theatre, film and television. Peter’s film career included the lead role in...

  • Farewell to Bill Sheat

    News
    Issue date: 20 Jan 2021

    The New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC) joins the New Zealand film, and wider arts community in sadly acknowledging the passing of Bill Sheat, the organisation’s inaugural Chair. Bill’s 60-plus year involvement with the arts started at Wellington’s...

  • Live Webinar – Wednesday 16 December

    News
    Issue date: 11 Dec 2020

    Join CEO Annabelle Sheehan, Head of Development and Production Leanne Saunders, Head of Marketing Jasmin McSweeney and Moderator Molly Littlejohn for a live webinar on Wednesday 16 December. The panel will update on the Screen Sector Recovery Funds...

  • Whakawhanake Te Ao Niko - Interactive Development Funding Announcement

    News
    Issue date: 10 Dec 2020

    We are pleased to announce the successful applicants for this year’s Whakawhanake Te Ao Niko - Interactive Development Fund. Whakawhanake Te Ao Niko - Interactive Development Fund supports concept development of original, narrative-focused, interactive...

  • NZFC's Big Screen Symposium Presentation 2020

    News
    Issue date: 21 Dec 2020

    Below is a transcript of the presentation the NZFC gave at the 2020 Big Screen Symposium held 4-5 December 2020. Annabelle Sheehan "Ko Annabelle Sheehan Toku ingoa. From Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga E rau rangatira o te motu Kātahi te tau poro taikaha nei...

  • Internship Opportunity

    News
    Issue date: 21 Dec 2020

    The New Zealand Film Commission invites new and emerging filmmakers to register their interest in paid professional internships on domestic and international drama series. The definition of new and emerging can be found in the NZFC's Talent...

  • International Showreel

    News
    Issue date: 22 Dec 2020

    To mark the end of a successful and challenging year, we are sharing our international reel showcasing some of New Zealand’s fine film, TV and PDV work. Enjoy! Music: Aotearoa – Minuit, Karanga Ra - Herbs Editor: Greg Jennings...

  • Screen Sector Gets $50M Boost to Tell New Zealand's Stories Globally

    News
    Issue date: 7 Dec 2020

    The Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Hon Carmel Sepuloni launched the Premium Productions for International Audiences Fund over the weekend, making $50 million available in a unique opportunity for the screen sector to tell New Zealand’s...

  • Sundance Premiere for Coming Home in the Dark

    News
    Issue date: 16 Dec 2020

    Coming Home in the Dark will have its World Premiere in the Midnight section of the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. Written by Eli Kent and James Ashcroft, and produced by Mike Minogue, Catherine Fitzgerald and Desray Armstrong, Coming Home in...

  • He Ara Development Funding Decisions December 2020

    News
    Issue date: 9 Dec 2020

    E rau rangatira mā o te Ao Kiriata,  tēnā koutou katoa, He Ara (Pathway) funding is intended to support Māori and/or Pacific Island filmmakers to further create a diverse range of quality New Zealand content using their own way of working....

  • NZFC Data Room Available Now

    News
    Issue date: 10 Dec 2020

    The New Zealand Film Commission is committed to transparency across its activities and has developed a Data Room designed to inform the industry and ensure information is readily available to anyone wishing to access it. The Data Room includes...

  • COVID Advisory #5 - Screen Recovery Package Update

    News
    Issue date: 13 Aug 2020

    The resurgence of COVID-19 in Auckland this week, shifting the Auckland region to Alert Level 3 and the rest of the country to Alert Level 2 until midnight Friday 14 August, has created uncertainty for all filmmakers living and working here. We...

  • 18 Teams Shortlisted for Kōpere Hou - Fresh Shorts 2020

    News
    Issue date: 24 Nov 2020

    New Zealand Film Commission and Script to Screen take great pleasure in announcing the 18 projects and teams who have been shortlisted for Kōpere Hou - Fresh Shorts 2020. A panel of external film industry assessors shortlisted 18 projects out...

  • Tim Roth to Star in New Local Feature Film Punch

    News
    Issue date: 11 Nov 2020

    Production has commenced in Auckland for Punch, a new local feature film starring British actor and Oscar-nominee Tim Roth (The Hateful Eight, Rob Roy, Pulp Fiction, Tin Star), alongside local actors Jordan Oosterhof (Cul de Sac) and Toi Whakaari...

  • Vale Bill Gosden

    News
    Issue date: 9 Nov 2020

    Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga The New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC) is mourning the loss of an industry stalwart, long-time New Zealand International Film Festival director, Bill Gosden, and pleased to confirm on behalf of his whānau that Bill’s memorial...

  • International Premiere for This Town at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival

    News
    Issue date: 4 Nov 2020

    This Town will have its international premiere at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, one of Northern Europe’s largest film festivals.  The film will screen In Competition in the ‘Rebels with a Cause’ section which features films from...

  • 28 October Live Webinar with NZFC, NZ On Air and Te Māngai Pāho

    News
    Issue date: 3 Nov 2020

    On Wednesday 28 October the NZFC, NZ On Air and Te Māngai Pāho held a live webinar to give an update on the Premium Production for International Audience Fund (PKA the $50M premium drama fund). The Fund is designed to support the production of...

  • Join Six60 for the Premiere of the Film Six60: Till the Lights Go Out

    News
    Issue date: 22 Oct 2020

    Fans will have the chance to buy exclusive tickets to join New Zealand’s biggest band at the Auckland and Dunedin premieres, before its nationwide release. To celebrate the release of the feature film Till the Lights Go Out, SIX60 are giving fans the...

  • Dawn Raid - The Untold Story That Inspired a Kiwi Generation Hits the Big Screen in 2021

    News
    Issue date: 28 Oct 2020

    387 Distribution is excited to release the first trailer for local feature film Dawn Raid ahead of its nationwide release on January 21, 2021. Directed by Oscar Kightley and from the producers of McLaren and The Dead Lands, Dawn Raid is the...