Film Auckland Investment in Future Skills - Capability Funds Granted
Film Auckland announces grants from Round 3 of its Film Industry Capability Fund. The grants are awarded to a range of established industry practitioners develop their skills and services, contributing to the ability of the film industry in Auckland to meet the requirements of major international films using Auckland as a location. It is part of Film Auckland's strategy to stimulate production and bring the economic benefits of filmmaking to the region.
Round 3 grants total $37,000 and recipients include:
Sound recordist and engineer Stephen Buckland to research frequency problems encountered in the Auckland region with radio microphones to determine the best practice to optimise usage.
Script supervisor Kathleen Thomas to participate in the Script Editing Workshop at the prestigious Binger FilmLab in Amsterdam. Thomas has just completed this course and says, "The course was truly enriching and it gives me the confidence to advise on script development with knowledge and experience."
NZ Film and Video Technicians Guild to run a contracts workshop for its members to enable screen production technicians to better understand and negotiate contracts.
Film Auckland executive manager Michael Brook says "The assessment panel is delighted to award these grants as they cover such diverse areas and will result in expanding the capability of the film production industry in Auckland to service big projects coming into the region."
Funding for the Capability Fund comes from the infrastructure investment awarded to Film Auckland by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise as part of the Auckland Screen Production Industry Major Regional Initiative.
Full List of Round 3 Recipients:
Kathleen Thomas - to attend the Binger FilmLab in Amsterdam
Screen Directors Guild of New Zealand - to attend a Guilds conference in Ireland
New Zealand Film & Video Technicians Guild - to run a contracts workshop
Chloe Smith, Walt Disney Productions NZ - to train a costume illustrator
Pete Rive, Launchsite - to attend virtual reality training in Belgium
Andrew McClaren, Frontier Films - to attend a Google SketchPro course
Jonathan Dowling and Andrew Beattie, Essential Films new enterprise plan
Stephen Buckland, Sound Techniques - to research radio mic frequency issues
Julia Parnell, Butobase - to attend a producers workshop in the US
Previous rounds of Capability Fund grants have been awarded for diverse purposes, for example: WIFT board member Mairi Gunn to attend the WIFTI International Summit 2007 in Toronto; producer Alex Cole-Baker to attend professional development workshops in Australia and Scene Safe to run screen-related first aid courses including on-set safety.
Film Auckland markets Auckland as a film production and post-production location to international film and television producers, providing contact with local facilities, services and personnel, as well as facilitating liaison with relevant local body and government organizations and developing industry infrastructure. Established and governed by a board of film industry practitioners, Film Auckland is operated by executive manager Michael Brook.
Contact: Michael Brook, executive manager michael@filmauckland.com ph 979 7052
Sue May, publicist suemay@xtra.co.nz ph 0274 739 318
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