OPPORTUNITIES FOR SCREENPLAYS AND ADAPTATIONS

The NZFC has partnered with the Black List to introduce the Black List New Zealand Project (BLNZP).

This is a one-off fund, designed to foster the creative relationship between writers and producers, and stimulate international opportunities for New Zealand feature films.

Submissions close 19 March.

See more here

The New Zealand Film Commission Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga (NZFC) is committed to ensuring New Zealand has a successful screen industry. We are here to help people in the industry make films that are high impact, authentic and culturally significant. We want to support a diverse range of narrative feature films that will attract audiences here and overseas and further the careers of the filmmakers and the production companies behind them.

The NZFC has partnered with the Black List™ to introduce the Black List New Zealand Project (BLNZP). This is a one-off fund, designed to foster the creative relationship between writers and producers and stimulate international opportunities for New Zealand feature films. Additionally, the NZFC hopes to cast a wide net for screenwriting talent and connect with projects at various stages of development. BLNZP will support the development of six quality, unique and exciting feature film scripts, with the potential of attracting the US and global market.

The Black List will review all scripts submitted to the BLNZP and compile a shortlist of 20 scripts based on the assessment criteria outlined in these guidelines. A panel consisting of NZFC staff and a Black List representative (the BLNZP Panel) will then select six successful projects from the shortlist. The six selected projects will take part in a professional development workshop and mentorship series with the Black List and receive up to NZ$25,000 in NZFC Development Financing to complete the next draft of their script.

Every script submitted to BLNZP will receive assessment notes from the Black List.

The aims of the BLNZP are to:
• Foster key creative relationships between writers and producers.
• Support the professional development of New Zealand filmmakers by giving them an understanding of the US market through working with creative mentors and screen industry executives.
• Give New Zealand screenwriters access to high value script assessments of an international standard, offering tangible
and constructive feedback.
• Enable six filmmaker teams to create the next draft of their scripts with NZFC Development Financing of up to NZ$25,000. BLNZP will accept applications from writer/producer teams, or individual writers. Please see Who Can Apply in these guidelines for further details.

Your application must be completed online through the NZFC application portal. The NZFC application portal will open on the 19th January 2021 and close at 1pm on 19th March 2021.

No late applications will be accepted. Final decisions will be announced in May 2021.