http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/screen-agency-chief-tenders-her-farewells/story-e6frg8n6-1226662064875

Congratulation Susi!

They are accepting submissions for the festival from June 15-September 15.  You will find the submission overview below and all the information on how to submit a film here.

They are looking for documentaries, features, and shorts that:

* Reveal the diverse narratives of women leaders from all walks of life-narratives of ambition, courage, strength and resilience.

* Showcase women leaders who help us interpret the reality of the modern world-captivating stories of truth, determination, innovation and vision.

* Highlight the talents of emerging artists - capturing a new generation's take on what truly makes exemplary women leaders.

Important Information To Keep in Mind:

* All films must feature a female in a leadership position at the center of the story.

* Films may be directed by a person or people of any gender.

***** Films that are directed by women but do not focus on female leadership will not be considered.*****

The Athena Film Festival is committed to ensuring that filmmakers across the globe have the opportunity to become involved in this great event.  They would greatly appreciate it if WIFT members could spread the word to others who you think would be interested in this opportunity.

Please email: athenafilmfestival@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Women and Girls Lead presents the online global premiere of Through Her Lens, a collection of dramatic short films exploring international stories and content about women and made by women. Premiering exclusively on womenandgirlslead.org June 12th, (that's June 13 NZ time) Through Her Lens explores social issues facing women and girls worldwide through a character driven-narrative.  WATCH THE TRAILER »

Join the Through Her Lens filmmakers plus Melissa Houghton, Executive Director of Women in Film & Video, and Rachel Payne, CEO of Fem Inc., in a conversation about women and filmmaking internationally. Login to the special global online premiere screening at bit.ly/herlens.  Descriptions of films are below.

Not Another Word
Written & directed by Cherien Dabis

Inside a Middle Eastern home, three generations of women in a family conflict over their plans for the future of granddaughter Lama, who refuses to get married.

Good Country People
Written & directed by Tanya Hamilton

Spanish Town, Jamaica, is one of the island's oldest and poorest rural communities. It's also a war zone, where ordinary residents are pawns in a chess game between politicians and gangsters. Amidst this backdrop, Blossom Edwards must take over for her uncle as the family's primary breadwinner by driving his taxi cab, exposing her to danger brought on by the impending election.

Half of Her

Written & directed by Paola Mendoza

Life on a fourth floor tenement building in New York City's Chinatown is invasively communal. Chinese immigrants live in a loft that has been divided into blocks of cubicles barely wider than a mattress. Here a very pregnant Mei struggles alone to safely give birth to her child. But when the father returns home to discover that the baby has been born a girl, he tries to force Mei to abandon her.

Women and Girls Lead is an innovative public media initiative designed to focus, educate, and connect women, girls, and their allies across the globe to address the challenges of the 21^st
century.   Learn more »

We have double passes to giveaway for two great new movies: The Hunt and The Other Son screening nationally from this Thursday 13 June.

So, the first five emails received at office@wift.org.nz with The Hunt in the subject line will win and the 9th, 15th and 21st emails received at office@wift.org.nz with The Other Son in the subject line will also enjoy a free night out at the movies.

See below for story details about both films and thanks to Trigger Marketing and Publicity for the tickets.

The Hunt

The Hunt is a disturbing depiction of how a lie becomes the truth when gossip, doubt and malice are allowed to flourish and ignite a witch-hunt that soon threatens to destroy an innocent man's life.

Mads Mikkelsen delivers a superb, award-winning performance as Lucas, a former school teacher who has been forced to start over having overcome a tough divorce and the loss of his job. Just as things are starting to go his way, his life is shattered. A untruthful remark throws the small community into a collective state of hysteria. The lie is spreading and Lucas is forced to fight a lonely fight for his life and dignity.

Co-founder of the Dogme movement and director of the award-winning international hit FESTEN (THE CELEBRATION), Thomas Vinterberg delivers yet another powerful drama that is sure to leave its mark. Vinterberg wrote the screenplay together with fellow writer-director Tobias Lindholm. THE HUNT re-establishes their successful collaboration which began on the critically acclaimed SUBMARINO which premiered in competition at the 2010 Berlin Film Festival. Among others, SUBMARINO received the prestigious Nordic Council Film Award.

The Other Son

As Joseph (Jules Sitruk) is preparing to join the Israeli army for his national service, he discovers he is not his parents' biological son, and that he was inadvertantly switched at birth with Yassin, the son of a Palestinian family from the West Bank. This revelation turns the lives of these two families upside-down, forcing them to reassess their respective identities, their values and their beliefs.

Tusi Tamasese: 'The Orator' - from script to screen

Saturday 15 June 2013

6.00 - 6.45 pm (NZST)

Tusi Tamasese, Samoan born award winning writer and film director talks to Kath Akuhata-Brown about his work.

The focus of the webcast will be on:

- The writer's journey
- Indigenous storytelling
- Advice to emerging filmmakers / writers.

The webcast will be available to watch and listen online here. The audience will be able to ask questions, engage with the speakers and talk to one another throughout the session.

Commonwealth Writers and B3 Media are working together to deliver this webcast, with special thanks to the Institute of Communication Design, College of Creative Arts, Massey University, Wellington, NZ.

Find out more information and register to take part:

Online: www.commonwealthwriters.org/pacificvoices

By email: j.byrde@commonwealth.int

Sign up now, as spaces are limited.

This webcast builds on the Commonwealth Shorts project. This was a partnership between Commonwealth Writers, B3 Media and the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association / Worldview to give emerging writers / directors the opportunity to make a film which highlighted issues affecting them and their communities. The project culminated in a production lab for five international film makers, plus eight emerging film makers from the wider Pacific region held in Auckland, New Zealand in February 2013.

'Art in Public Places' is out now and public feedback is invited until Monday 17 June, 5pm

Auckland Council's Draft "Public Art Policy - Art in public places", sets out a strategic framework to guide Auckland city's involvement in public art.

The policy document "Art in public places" (available here) is in two major sections.  The first section (pages 1-13) is a summary of the policy and provides pictorial examples of the diversity of public art forms and art approaches encompassed by the policy.  The second section (pages 15-34) is the policy in full. A contents page for the second part of the document is on page 14.

You may give your feedback via an online survey on Auckland Council's role in public art here, alternatively you can email your feedback to Rob Garrett, Public Art Policy Project Manager,Rob.Garrett@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

The closing date for feedback is Monday 17 June 2013, 5pm.

When: August 10/11, 2013

8am-5pm (Sat) / 9:30am-5:30pm (Sun)

Where: University of Auckland, Owen Glenn Building, Auckland

Ticket Prices: Early Bird $275 / Early Bird Industry $225 / Student $175

Full Price $325 / Full Price Industry $275 / Student $175

Like the Symposium on facebook and be in to win a free ticket. In 2013 the conference is promising to explore the big themes, big characters and big stories that still matter - no matter what size the screen.

Categories this year include:

• Best Feature Film Script
• Best TV Episode Comedy Script
• Best TV Episode Drama Script
• Best TV One-off Drama Script
• Best Factual Script (Film or television documentary)
• New Writer Award (For a debut by a scriptwriter that is entered into one of the above categories)
• Best Short Film Script
• Best Play
• Best Radio Play

"The idea of an event recognizing the excellence in writing that is originated by writers and the Guild is fantastic, and has a lot of support as it is different from a big awards event that covers a huge and diverse range of television and film. It is really special to have an Awards about the craft of writing, I was so rapt when the Guild created it. It's a great event where writers recognize writers."

Michael Bennett, 2011 SWANZ Winner for Best Feature Film Script.

"We believe that our stories should be shared and should be celebrated. These awards and the evening event do just that for the best in the country."

Steven Gannaway, Executive Director, NZWG.

For a nomination form please find attached or download here:  SWANZNomForm2013

For more information email: steven@nzwritersguild.org.nz

Black and White is the New Black

Introducing two very different films that make splendid use of monochrome.

Blancanieves

Camera Operator - Broadcasting Auckland

New Zealand Racing Board (NZRB) is a truly diverse business. We're a totally Kiwi operation and what we do touches the lives of a vast number of people the length and breadth of the country. Operating more than 650 TAB retail outlets and several call centres, as well as our own national television and radio channels, we're an integral part of cities, towns, and communities nationwide.

SKY Television On Air Services is looking for an On Air Controller to join our highly professional team in our state of the art transmission facilities, where you could be working in one of our Multi Channel Presentation Suites in control of a range of channels across a number of platforms.

Media Operator Sky TV

We are seeking an enthusiastic reliable person to form part of our friendly team of professionals in Broadcast and Media, undertaking duties within the Media Operations Department.

Media Operations runs 24 hours, seven days a week from our Broadcast Facilities in Mt Wellington and Albany.Your main duties will include recording, ingesting, conforming, dubbing or replaying broadcast media (linear or non linear) from any source to any destination within the department whilst upholding SKY's operational technical standards and procedures at all times. Quality assessment of every piece of media ingested or recorded to ensure compliance with SKY technical and content standards.

An understanding of media creation and manipulation will be of benefit and training will beprovided on our server systems and media management tools. Once an appropriate level of experience has been gained you will also have the opportunity to train and operate in a solo capacity providing support in Studio and Outside Broadcast Productions including highlight package editing.

The successful applicant will be a self motivated, fast learner, resourceful, responsible andhave excellent communication skills. Ideally you will have completed an accredited tertiarycourse of study on television production/media studies and have completed at least one-year full time work within a television broadcast or post production environment

If you have the skills and experience we are looking for, please applyat www.skytv.co.nz

Content Producer

HELP TVNZ SHAPE THE FUTURE

The TVNZ Digital Media team are looking for a Content Producer who is as excited about taking TVNZ's content to new levels as we are.

In this role you will support TV ONE, TV2, Kidzone 24 and Heartland programming across a variety of platforms.

You will need proven online publishing, marketing and journalistic skills, coupled with a passion for television and the interactive media landscape. You will have excellent communication skills with the ability to create and repurpose content that is clear, succinct and appealing to our audience.

You will work with many of our departments and personnel, including Marketing, Sales and our on-air producers. You will know how to use social platforms to engage with specific demographics, while promoting the ideas and values of TVNZ's channels.

A relevant tertiary qualification is a big plus. A detailed knowledge of digital and social media will back up your passion for TV and the future of how we use it.

Should you wish to apply for this position, please quote vacancy number 3694. Further information on this position can be found at www.tvnzcareers.co.nz

Client Coordinator TVNZ  (12 months Fixed-term contract)

Blacksand Production Services is the part of Blacksand that delivers Production and Post-Production facilities to TVNZ departments and external production companies. We work closely with a variety of clients to produce the compelling content that TVNZ thrives on: from NCA and Maori and Pacific Programmes, Blacksand Creative and Commercials to external productions like Shortland Street and The Food Truck. We deliver excellent technical expertise and great service.

Reporting to the Business Manager - Production, Client Coordinators manage bookings into the various facilities that we offer to internal and external clients and schedule people to fulfil the bookings. They work with directly with clients and our Client Service Managers to project manage productions from the time they enter our workflow to final invoicing on completion. They work closely with our Studio and Field and Post Production Operations Managers to manage staff workload and deliver the best available expertise to our clients.

Client Coordinators will need to be highly customer focussed with an emphasis on service and flexibility, they need to be solutions-oriented people who will be proactive and work positively as part of a team. The successful people will be critical to supporting the business goals of Blacksand Production Services and have the ability to build face to face relationships. No prior experience or technical knowledge is required as training will be given, a willingness to learn and a desire to deliver great service are essential.

Please note that this role is a fixed term role for one year to cover Parental Leave.

Should you wish to apply for this position, please quote vacancy number 3691. Further information on this position can be found at www.tvnzcareers.co.nz

Employment Law: The Obligations of Contractors and Producers

Wednesday 26 June

You are invited to a special evening at the Film School when this year's Robin Laing Scholarship winner will be introduced and presented with her award.  We shall also be presenting WIFT memberships to four other outstanding students.

After the presentation we shall screen the 2013 WIFTI Short Film Showcase - a selection of the best shorts from WIFTI member countries, Come and join us for an evening of great cinema, good wine, nibbles, and the company of five future filmmakers!

Venue:  the Film School, 86 Vivien Street

Date: Wednesday 19 June

Time: 6pm

Members free, non-members $15

RSVP to office@wiftnz.org.nz

Roseanne Liang and JJFong on creating a web series

Wednesday 26 June

Dear friends and colleagues.

With great sadness the Guild wishes to inform you that after a short illness our Executive Director Anna Cahill passed away on Saturday.

Anna has been Executive Director of the Screen Directors Guild of New Zealand for the last eight years. She took the Guild from strength to strength, establishing and building constructive relationships with our sister organisations here and overseas, engaging with broadcasters, politicians and funding bodies, all of whom respected her collegial pragmatism.

As a driving force behind New Zealand's Film and Television Awards, Anna successfully raised the Guild's public profile, pushing to improve the conditions, rates and creative voice of directors and editors, while always being a ready and sympathetic ear, good friend, and a supporter of members' projects.

Her death will be felt right across the screen industry. Anna believed in the social and cultural value of the television and film industry, and worked tirelessly to bring people and industry bodies together. She was a genuine industry champion, with a style and personality that easily won the love and respect of all she met.

Anna has very much been the heart and soul of our organisation in the years she has worked for and with us. We will dearly miss her generosity, spirit and intelligence, and most of all her friendship.

Our thoughts and sympathies are with her husband and children.

Please note that the Groucho Drinks event that was to be held on Thursday 13th June is postponed.

Kind regards,

The Screen Directors Guild of New Zealand.

Stacey Murdoch, Sima Urale, Kevin Armstrong, Dallas O'Neill, Fiona Mulder, Sarah Crowe, Tania Dean, Hui-Ping Wu, Brenda Leeuwenberg, Nicky Andrew, Rosie Remmerswaal, Nancy Lagdom, Belinda Pflaum, Philip Smith, Seanne Culhane, Khadeeja Dean, Sophie Lloyd, Kayleighsha Wharton, Emma Olsen, Margaret Purkis, Liz Kirkman-Jenkins, Keri Kaa, Margaret Slater, Isabella Galluzzo

Remember to encourage your colleagues and friends in the industry to come and join the WIFT family