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 [...]

ANNOUNCEMENT DATE
The moment of truth approaches. On January 19th, the judges – who include Barrie Osbourne – will convene to select their four picks. Rounding out the final five will be the Viewers’ Choice. Then, on January 22nd, the five finalists will be announced at www.your-big-break.com. For around five hundred of you, that will mean [...]

The five finalists have just been announced on the website …
… and you’re one of them.
Your phone’s ringing, but you can’t find it. You scramble through your stuff, searching … patting your pockets, frantic now … you answer just in time. Your hunch was right: the call is long-distance, from New Zealand. There isn’t much [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]