Seed 2023
Judges Panel
Victor John Rodger ONZM is a New Zealand journalist, actor, and award-winning playwright of Samoan and Pākehā heritage. His work often deals with race and identity. In 2001, he won the Bruce Mason Playwriting Award. his plays include Ranterstantrum (2002) and My Name is Gary Cooper (2007), as well as the acclaimed Black Faggot. His television work includes Shortland Street and Teine Sa: The Ancient Ones.
Victor Rodger
Victor John Rodger ONZM is a New Zealand journalist, actor, and award-winning playwright of Samoan and Pākehā heritage. His work often deals with race and identity. In 2001, he won the Bruce Mason Playwriting Award. his plays include Ranterstantrum (2002) and My Name is Gary Cooper (2007), as well as the acclaimed Black Faggot. His television work includes Shortland Street and Teine Sa: The Ancient Ones.
Nicole is a writer and story developer for film and TV. She is known for her deep understanding of story and genre, and has developed projects internationally, working with a wide range of talent. Nicole has held roles as senior creative executive at international companies, including Screen Australia.Nicole is passionate about empowering diverse storytellers, and she has created a new story programme, Elements of Story, which demystifies story principles, breaks free of old models and puts the storyteller at its heart. She designs and presents story workshops and talent labs for international industry organisations, funding bodies and film festivals.
Nicole Dade
Nicole is a writer and story developer for film and TV. She is known for her deep understanding of story and genre, and has developed projects internationally, working with a wide range of talent. Nicole has held roles as senior creative executive at international companies, including Screen Australia.Nicole is passionate about empowering diverse storytellers, and she has created a new story programme, Elements of Story, which demystifies story principles, breaks free of old models and puts the storyteller at its heart. She designs and presents story workshops and talent labs for international industry organisations, funding bodies and film festivals.
Mukilan Thangamani is a Writer/Director who was born in India, raised in Botswana and New Zealand, and now lives in Australia. He credits this nomadic upbringing for motivating his love of cultural diversity and passion for wanting to see it reflected more in media. He's done assignment work for the New Zealand Film Commission, won multiple writing contests, and was also featured on The Tracking Board’s annual ‘Young & Hungry List’.
Mukilan Thangamani
Mukilan Thangamani is a Writer/Director who was born in India, raised in Botswana and New Zealand, and now lives in Australia. He credits this nomadic upbringing for motivating his love of cultural diversity and passion for wanting to see it reflected more in media. He's done assignment work for the New Zealand Film Commission, won multiple writing contests, and was also featured on The Tracking Board’s annual ‘Young & Hungry List’.
Michelle Ehlen is a non-binary queer filmmaker who has produced, written, directed, and acted in five award-winning features, including the first lesbian comedy trilogy (Butch Jamie, Heterosexual Jill, S&M Sally) and her newly released dramedy Maybe Someday. Her films have screened in over 100 festivals worldwide, won 22 awards, and have been distributed on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and Apple TV. Michelle is currently working on an upcoming documentary called Queering the Binary, a large-scale research project and docuseries exploring non-binary identities and experiences.
Michelle Ehlen
Michelle Ehlen is a non-binary queer filmmaker who has produced, written, directed, and acted in five award-winning features, including the first lesbian comedy trilogy (Butch Jamie, Heterosexual Jill, S&M Sally) and her newly released dramedy Maybe Someday. Her films have screened in over 100 festivals worldwide, won 22 awards, and have been distributed on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and Apple TV. Michelle is currently working on an upcoming documentary called Queering the Binary, a large-scale research project and docuseries exploring non-binary identities and experiences.
David Fa’auliuli Mamea has worked on film, television, theatre and radio projects in genres ranging from sci-fi to soap, comedy to horror, and documentary to drama. He has won the Adam Award for Best New Zealand Play, a New Zealand Writers Guild SWANZ Award for Best Play, and a New Zealand Radio Award for Best Dramatic Production. A Wellingtonian at heart, he lives in rural Northland with his Lovely Wife, son, cat, two dogs, two ponies, two kunekune pigs, seven sheep, and innumerable chickens, including a rooster called Ghost Dog.
David Fa’auliuli Mamea
David Fa’auliuli Mamea has worked on film, television, theatre and radio projects in genres ranging from sci-fi to soap, comedy to horror, and documentary to drama. He has won the Adam Award for Best New Zealand Play, a New Zealand Writers Guild SWANZ Award for Best Play, and a New Zealand Radio Award for Best Dramatic Production. A Wellingtonian at heart, he lives in rural Northland with his Lovely Wife, son, cat, two dogs, two ponies, two kunekune pigs, seven sheep, and innumerable chickens, including a rooster called Ghost Dog.
Karol Griffiths is a development consultant, producer, script editor, writing coach and mentor with 20+ years of industry experience. Career highlights include working with the Coen Brothers, Steven Spielberg, Seth Macfarlane, Pamela Fryman, Steven Levitan, James Burrows, August Wilson, Lynda La Plante and many of the major studios and Indie production companies. Karol’s book, The Art of Script Editing: A Practical Guide to Script Development, is used as a textbook for writing and film programs and Universities around the world.
Karol Griffiths
Karol Griffiths is a development consultant, producer, script editor, writing coach and mentor with 20+ years of industry experience. Career highlights include working with the Coen Brothers, Steven Spielberg, Seth Macfarlane, Pamela Fryman, Steven Levitan, James Burrows, August Wilson, Lynda La Plante and many of the major studios and Indie production companies. Karol’s book, The Art of Script Editing: A Practical Guide to Script Development, is used as a textbook for writing and film programs and Universities around the world.
Briar Grace-Smith, ONZM, is a filmmaker of Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Hau descent and is a writer of award-winning plays, screenplays, short fiction, and television scripts. Briar is the screen writer, Co-Director, and actor in Cousins – an adaptation of the novel by Patricia Grace, released in New Zealand (March 2021) and distributed by ARRAY in the US. She was an actor, Co-Showrunner, and Director of Rūrangi Series 2: Rising Lights. Briar is an inaugural recipient of the Arts Foundation Laureate Award. In 2019 she received the Merata Mita indigenous women Directors Fellowship. In 2022 she was made a member of the Directors branch of the Academy and was selected as a writer in residence at the University of Iowa’s Spring Writers Residency. Briar works as a mentor for Script to Screen's South Auckland Shorts, and Storycamp Aotearoa.
Briar Grace-Smith
Briar Grace-Smith, ONZM, is a filmmaker of Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Hau descent and is a writer of award-winning plays, screenplays, short fiction, and television scripts. Briar is the screen writer, Co-Director, and actor in Cousins – an adaptation of the novel by Patricia Grace, released in New Zealand (March 2021) and distributed by ARRAY in the US. She was an actor, Co-Showrunner, and Director of Rūrangi Series 2: Rising Lights. Briar is an inaugural recipient of the Arts Foundation Laureate Award. In 2019 she received the Merata Mita indigenous women Directors Fellowship. In 2022 she was made a member of the Directors branch of the Academy and was selected as a writer in residence at the University of Iowa’s Spring Writers Residency. Briar works as a mentor for Script to Screen's South Auckland Shorts, and Storycamp Aotearoa.
Seed & Seed Advanced Results Announcement Date:
May 5, 2023
Grant Recipients
Seed Recipients:
As Matariki nears, a grief-stricken young boy embarks on a journey to save an enigmatic young girls life. To succeed he must first find hope for his own.
Jayden Daniels
Ngā Whetū
As Matariki nears, a grief-stricken young boy embarks on a journey to save an enigmatic young girls life. To succeed he must first find hope for his own.
Haunted by his father's legacy and personal grief, aspiring singer Tāne must navigate family duty, loss, and love to find his voice and freedom in a heartfelt journey of forgiveness and self-discovery.
Daniel Max
Tāne
Haunted by his father's legacy and personal grief, aspiring singer Tāne must navigate family duty, loss, and love to find his voice and freedom in a heartfelt journey of forgiveness and self-discovery.
Confronted by the doll he secretly played with as a boy, an introverted bloke must redefine what it means to "be a man" in order to save her life, and change his own.
Jamie Lawrence
Daz
Confronted by the doll he secretly played with as a boy, an introverted bloke must redefine what it means to "be a man" in order to save her life, and change his own.
In a world where desire has taken the place of devotion and dopamine addiction has crushed the romance of dating, what chance do two anxious teens have when falling in love?
Aroha Silenzio
Mana Tapu
In a world where desire has taken the place of devotion and dopamine addiction has crushed the romance of dating, what chance do two anxious teens have when falling in love?
When a risk averse dreamer unexpectedly beats his wealthy high school rival in a council election, he now must deliver on his campaign prise, the grandest charity concert Hamilton has ever seen.
Kishan Raman
Rise Up
When a risk averse dreamer unexpectedly beats his wealthy high school rival in a council election, he now must deliver on his campaign prise, the grandest charity concert Hamilton has ever seen.
When a promising young academic is forced to return to her small hometown of Timaru, she must try to release herself and her grieving father from their shared sense of guilt and loss.
Ryan Ammar
The Bay Hill
When a promising young academic is forced to return to her small hometown of Timaru, she must try to release herself and her grieving father from their shared sense of guilt and loss.
Away from his home in India the first time, a teenage boy spends a month learning to be a man from his domineering elder brother in New Zealand. But will his tenderness survive the transition to man hood?
Pulkit Arora
Soft
Away from his home in India the first time, a teenage boy spends a month learning to be a man from his domineering elder brother in New Zealand. But will his tenderness survive the transition to man hood?
Two mothers clash on a small-town roadside, baring a history of domestic pain and lust, forcing five kids through their own crucible of violence, confusion, and adolescent desire.
Tracey Slaughter & Liam Hinton
The Longest Drink in Town
Two mothers clash on a small-town roadside, baring a history of domestic pain and lust, forcing five kids through their own crucible of violence, confusion, and adolescent desire.
When gender-bending David and his adopted siblings stray from God’s path, their Catholic mother doubles-down to save her children’s souls and meet the Pope at any cost. But David’s determined to dance or die trying.
Celestina Sumby
Blessed are the Sinners
When gender-bending David and his adopted siblings stray from God’s path, their Catholic mother doubles-down to save her children’s souls and meet the Pope at any cost. But David’s determined to dance or die trying.
Adopted into a Christian family during the satanic panic, Marc’s rockstar dreams are destroyed, when his crush Lita convinces him to steal the church van on a pilgrimage to his real mother, all hell breaks loose.
Nathan Morris
Redemption Songs
Adopted into a Christian family during the satanic panic, Marc’s rockstar dreams are destroyed, when his crush Lita convinces him to steal the church van on a pilgrimage to his real mother, all hell breaks loose.
A teenage woman flees her backwater village to become a daredevil rider on "The Wall of Death", but with international stardom within reach, tragedy strikes, forcing her home to the prospect of never riding again.
Joseph Taylor
The Rider
A teenage woman flees her backwater village to become a daredevil rider on "The Wall of Death", but with international stardom within reach, tragedy strikes, forcing her home to the prospect of never riding again.
Inspired by true events in early 20th-century New Zealand, swindler Amy Bock, haunted by her past and evading imprisonment, disguises herself as a man and becomes entangled in a web of love, lies, and deceit.
Jane Wilson
The Mostly True Story of Amy Bock
Inspired by true events in early 20th-century New Zealand, swindler Amy Bock, haunted by her past and evading imprisonment, disguises herself as a man and becomes entangled in a web of love, lies, and deceit.
Seed Advanced Recipients:
Intellectually disabled teenager Sarah and her popular twin sister Toni have grown apart, but when Toni is spectacularly "cancelled" by her school-friends, the sisters reconnect and learn to celebrate standing out from the crowd.
Invisible
Intellectually disabled teenager Sarah and her popular twin sister Toni have grown apart, but when Toni is spectacularly "cancelled" by her school-friends, the sisters reconnect and learn to celebrate standing out from the crowd.
When the hungry ghosts of Chinese superstition demand their due remembrance, an elderly woman fights accusations of dementia. Helped by her grandson and a Māori doctor with psychic abilities, she sets out to appease them.
Hungry Ghosts
When the hungry ghosts of Chinese superstition demand their due remembrance, an elderly woman fights accusations of dementia. Helped by her grandson and a Māori doctor with psychic abilities, she sets out to appease them.
When a grandmother turbo charges her bucket list after her husband’s funeral, her highly strung daughter desperately tries to rein her in from the world of drugs, casual sex, and social media stardom.
Pohpoh wants to Die
When a grandmother turbo charges her bucket list after her husband’s funeral, her highly strung daughter desperately tries to rein her in from the world of drugs, casual sex, and social media stardom.
11 year old Sefa Hasan is struggling to find her feet in Aotearoa New Zealand, but in order to fit in she needs to embrace her true self.
Tulpar
11 year old Sefa Hasan is struggling to find her feet in Aotearoa New Zealand, but in order to fit in she needs to embrace her true self.
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