The NZ Film Commission has offered three teams of filmmakers the opportunity to produce their low budget films through the Escalator low budget feature film initiative 2011…

The New Zealand Film Commission is pleased to announce and congratulate the twelve film maker teams selected to attend the 2011 Escalator Low Budget Feature Film boot camp in May…

Pre-production has commenced on Existence, the second feature film funded through the NZFC’s low budget Escalator initiative, launched last year.
 
Co-written by the film’s director Juliet Bergh and DOP Jessica Charlton, Existence brings together some of the best acting talent in New Zealand including Loren Taylor (Eagle vs Shark), Peter McCauley (After the Waterfall and Perfect Creature), Gareth Reeves (Tracker) and Matthew Sunderland (Out of the Blue, The Devils Rock)­ with Peter McKenzie, Thomasin McKenzie and Aaron Jackson…

The NZFC is pleased to make the call for low budget feature film applications for Escalator 2011.
The deadline for applications is Monday 28 February 2011, at 5pm.

A year-long dream was fulfilled for a group of local film makers on Sunday when their miniature explosion was staged at Trentham Army Base for their upcoming action short film Hot Rob. “If any one of the people along the way hadn’t agreed to help us, none of this could have happened,” says director/co-writer/co-producer Andy Campion. “It’s why Wellington is such an amazing place to make films. Some of the world’s best went out of their way and invested a lot of time so that this film could be a reality.”

Minister of Arts, Culture and Heritage, Hon Chris Finlayson, will be the guest speaker at the 10th birthday celebrations of The New Zealand Film and Television School in Wellington this Saturday.
The Film School was established in Wellington in 2000 by a group of senior Wellington filmmakers including Robin Laing, Alun Bollinger and John Reid, concerned with the lack of practical training for those entering the film industry.

The four successful Escalator low budget feature film teams greenlit for production were announced this evening via live stream from Wellington and Auckland. Each team has been offered production finance of up to NZ$250,000.
The four greenlit films are…

The four successful Escalator low budget feature film teams green lit for production will be announced at 6pm on Monday 1st November by NZFC CEO Graeme Mason via live stream from Wellington and Auckland. Each team will be offered production finance of up to NZ$250,000

Escalator is an NZFC initiative to encourage short-film makers to step up to micro-budget, fast-turnaround features.

Details of the scheme were revealed yesterday at a launch in Auckland (Monday, Academy Cinema), and will be followed up with events in Wellington (Thursday, Paramount Cinema) and Dunedin (Saturday, Otago Museum).