Five young film-makers get NZ's 'big break'
22 Jan 2010
Five aspiring young film-makers from the US, South America, Australia and New Zealand are preparing to launch out on their first ‘big break’.
The lucky five are the finalists named today (22.01.10) in ‘Your Big Break’ - an international short film competition sponsored by Tourism New Zealand.
The competition, which called for a screenplay for a three-minute short film that captured the spirit of New Zealand, attracted 1100 entries from 30 countries around the world.
In Queenstown next week, the finalists will begin work on their winning submissions.
Hollywood stars
Tourism New Zealand has pulled in two major Hollywood stars, both Academy Award winners, to assist with ‘Your Big Break’.
Celebrated New Zealand film director Sir Peter Jackson will view the five finalists’ films, and select one overall winner.
Hollywood producer Barrie Osborne (The Lord of the Rings) will be in Queenstown to work with the young film-makers as they shoot and direct their films.
Osborne, who lives in New Zealand, was one of a panel of judges that named the five finalists.
The judging panel chose four finalists, and the fifth was selected by popular vote.
Many of the entries were "stellar", Barrie Osborne said. But the five finalists’ films had "displayed a combination of humour, imagination and passion that brought New Zealand’s spirit to life."
"I’m looking forward to working with all of these talented individuals," Osborne said.
'Your Big Break' finalists
The ‘Your Big Break’ finalists are: Kristi Simkins (USA), Aya Tanimora (Australia), Andrés Borghi (Argentina), and two New Zealanders Tim McLachlan and Rajneel Singh.
Australian Aya Tanimora, who is the ‘People’s Choice’ winner, is a Los Angeles resident.
All finalists are aspiring film-makers who’ve dabbled in multiple aspects of the entertainment industry.
Each finalist will have two days in Queenstown to shoot their short film capturing the essence of "the youngest country on earth".
They will then move to Wellington to complete post-production using the world-class facilities at Peter Jackson’s Park Road Post Production.
The five films will get a special premiere in Hollywood at the 25th Film Independent Spirit Awards on 5 March 2010. They will also appear on the ‘Your Big Break’ website.
Competition website
The ‘Your Big Break’ competition website attracted more than two million views during the six weeks 31.11.09 - 15.01.10. Over 250,000 visitors watched videos or read scripts during that time.
The results of the competition had far exceeded expectation, both in the number of entries and web-viewing figures, according to Tourism New Zealand chief executive Kevin Bowler.
The diversity of excellent entries demonstrated the passion people had for New Zealand, Bowler said.
"Many of the screenplays capture the spirit of New Zealand including the country’s extraordinary landscapes, people and culture; the judges had their work cut out for them selecting just four."
Entries can be viewed on the competition website.
Your Big Break website
Your Big Break on Facebook
Your Big Break on Twitter
More information:
NZ's 'Big Break' for aspiring film-makers
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