Our five Your Big Break finalists are going to face many challenges when they touch down in New Zealand. This could well be their first experience at the helm of a film with a full crew; they’ll have logistical decisions to ponder, major creative calls to make and deadlines to meet.
But there’s one thing I [...]

CHOICE PICKS ROUND-UP
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been singling out a few of my own personal favourite entries, both in my Spotlight posts on particular countries, and on Twitter.
As we head into the final two days of voting, here’s a round-up of all of them – hope you get a chance to check them [...]

We know that a movie, be it two minutes or two hours long, tells a story.
That’s all very well – but what is story? And what is it that makes some stories more successful than others?
Okay, you’re thinking – YBBC just bit off more than he can chew. Maybe more than anyone can chew. Some [...]

In the last Kiwi Classic entry, I checked out Jason Stutter’s overlooked classic, Tongan Ninja – made for a song but big on laughs and insane martial arts action, Pasifika-style.
Wellington-based Stutter got his break making a series of short films, all showcasing his unique sense of humour and flair for visual comedy and culminating in [...]

Thought it was about time I showed a little neighbourly spirit and headed across the Tasman Sea to Australia.
Clinton J. Isle’s script Homecoming is a recent upload, and a striking example of how economical thinking can not only keep your entry within the limits of the competition guidelines – but can also focus the power [...]

Thursday: KIWI CLASSIC: Eagle Vs. Shark
Anyone who saw Taika Waititi’s Oscar-nominated short film Two Cars, One Night (about to receive the feature-length treatment in his second feature, Boy, which bows at Sundance 2010) would perhaps have been blindsided by his first feature, Eagle Vs. Shark. It’s significant that its title – which refers to the [...]

Jonathan King’s Shorts
Jonathan King is the New Zealand director of the horror-comedy Black Sheep and the teen sci-fi adventure Under the Mountain. But before he moved into features, he directed over 100 music videos, often shooting and editing them single-handedly. He then made two short films, Still and Chogar. The first is a supernatural chiller [...]

Wednesday: NZ classic: Bad Taste
Over the next few weeks, I thought I’d profile a few New Zealand films – films that capture the spirit of 100% Pure New Zealand.
Its cheap and cheerful, no-holds-barred splatter effects might confine its audience to those with strong stomachs, but Peter Jackson’s first film, Bad Taste adheres in so many [...]