News
Entries for 2012 round of short film scripts closing soon
Calling all writers! There are just two weeks to go before entries close for Short Film Otago’s 2012 production round.
Scripts must be received by Friday 28 October 2011. Details on how to submit can be found on the Short Film Otago website www.sfo.org.nz.
Entries are open to anyone living in, or with a strong connection to, the Otago region and can be anything from fully finished scripts to one-page outlines – or works in-between. The scripts themselves must be strong, original stories that are visually interesting and have an ideal length of 10 to 15 minutes.
This year Short Film Otago will run a “blind” assessment process to determine which scripts will proceed to production. A Selection Committee (appointed by the SFO Board) will be provided with copies of all scripts with an identifying number attached and no details of the author/s.
The Selection Committee will make recommendations to the full Board on which scripts will proceed to production. Usually two or three are selected each year.
Each production is assigned an experienced Executive Producer, with a solid industry background, who may continue to work on the script with the writer.
A team is assembled for each production. A call will go out for crew through the SFO website, and through other industry sites/email groups.
Short Film Otago – a registered charitable trust – is funded by the Otago Community Trust and supported by NHNZ, and aims to invigorate screenwriting in the region, generating quality writing, and overseeing full production of two or three of the best scripts each year.
Since its inception four years ago, Short Film Otago has produced eight films – as well as a series of teaching resources for secondary students about script writing to encourage a new generation of writers in the region.
In past years, two of its films Paradise and Eden have also been selected for the New Zealand International Film Festival, while Eden was also selected for the ION International Film Festival in 2009 and the Africa International Film Festival in 2010.
More information about the initiative is available on the website or by email on contact@sfo.org.nz.
For any further information about Short Film Otago please contact Doug Lilly 027 520 8851
Dunedin Short Film Excels - 10 Feb 2011
Eden produced by Short Film Otago has received another endorsement to add to its growing list of successes.
Written and directed by Rebecca Tansley, and filmed by Mike Single in 2009, Eden has already been selected for screening at the ION International Film Festival 2009, the New Zealand International Film Festival 2010, and the Africa International Film Festival 2010.
Now it’s been selected by the Auckland Council to screen as part of the Movies in the Park, Auckland Festival programme on Saturday 12 March from 8pm in the Auckland Festival's festival garden in Aotea square.
Eden is one of 8 films (6 of which can now be viewed online at www.sfo.org.nz) produced by Short Film Otago, which is a registered charitable trust, funded by the Otago Community Trust.
The mission is to generate well-written and edited scripts, and then over-see full production on two or three of the best scripts each year.
Filmed in a remote vineyard in Central Otago, Eden portrays the bond that forms between a young Scottish man escaping a difficult past and a mysterious African refugee.