Script to Screen and Show Me Shorts have announced the names of six up-and-coming filmmakers who will participate in the second annual Short Film Lab on Saturday 29 October.
Selected from over 60 applicants from around New Zealand, The participants in the 2011 Short Film Lab are: Jodie Hillock, Adam Harvey, Rebecca Barnes, Troy Blackman, Kelly Hunt, and Nic Sampson.
During the course of the full-day lab hosted by the University of Auckland, the selected participants will work intensively to develop their ideas for new short films, with help from experienced industry practitioners who have excelled in short filmmaking, including producer/director Paul Swadel (Poppy, Infection, Accidents), screenwriter and academic Shuchi Kothari (Firaaq, Apron Strings, Coffee and Allah), and animator/director James Cunningham (Das Tub, Poppy, Infection).
A joint venture between Script to Screen and Show Me Shorts, the Short Film Lab builds on the success of the inaugural Short Film Lab in 2010, which assisted six short film makers, two of whom (Lauren Jackson and Renae Maihi) went on to secure funding from NZFC's Fresh Shorts scheme this year. This lab is inspired by labs run by major A-list film festivals such as Sundance and has been made possible thanks to support from the New Zealand Film Commission and the University of Auckland.
The selection panel for the lab consisted of Script to Screen's ED Matthew Horrocks, Show Me Short's Festival Director Gina Dellabarca, and film producer's Kristian Eek, Hineani Melbourne, and Alix Whitttaker. They found the overall quality of the applications outstanding which made the final selection an extremely difficult task.
"The selected participants all show great commitment to screen writing and will benefit from the workshop, helping to turn good ideas into good films". - Kristian Eek
"All of the concepts and idea's were exciting, not only the ones we selected but the shortlist as a whole, I encourage all of the applicants to keep writing!" - Hineani Melbourne
"I was impressed with the original story ideas and I feel like the diversity of the stories holds New Zealand in good stead to continue our output of award winning shorts into the future" - Gina Dellabarca