A Writers Intensive for Episodic Series Development

Asuka Sylvie is a writer/director from New Zealand of Japanese and Scottish heritage. She studied at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Film and Television.

Her short films LAST SUMMER (2017), LAKE (2014) and PINION (2010) have screened at numerous international festivals including official selection at Melbourne, Palm Springs, Shanghai and New Zealand. Her latest work includes her segment, ‘Mikasa’, part of anthology feature KAINGA which premiered at NZIFF 2022. She is currently in development for her science fiction TV drama series THAW.

Briar is a filmmaker of Ngāti Hau and Ngāpuhi descent and a writer of plays, screenplays and short fiction. Her plays include Ngā Pou Wāhine, When Sun and Moon Collide and Purapurawhetū. Briar was one of eight Māori women filmmakers who created the acclaimed feature film omnibus WARU. She was a writer and co-director of RŪRANGI S2 and screenwriter, co-director and actor in the feature film, COUSINS - an adaptation of the novel by Patrica Grace. In 2019 she received an ONZM for her services to theatre, television and screen.

Briar is an Arts Foundation Laureate, a recipient of the Merata Mita Fellowship and was made a member of the Directors Branch of the Academy in 2022.

Jessica Hansell (Ngāpuhi/Samoa) is a writer, multimedia artist and musician from Auckland, known by rap nickname Coco Solid. Creator of cult Māori cartoon AROHA BRIDGE, her screenwriting credits range from WELLINGTON PARANORMAL to indigenous soap AHIKĀROA. She is a long-time member of Taika Waititi's Piki Films, producers of her forthcoming science-fiction series JUPITER PARK.

As Coco Solid, Parallel Dance Ensemble, Badd Energy and Fanau Spa, she has gained an international music following and heads artist-led record label and production house Kuini Qontrol. She is co-director of the Onehunga community space Wheke Fortress. In 2018, Hansell was a Fulbright Creative New Zealand Pacific writer in residence, studying gentrification in the Pacific at the University of Hawai'i, where she started writing How To Loiter In A Turf War. In 2019 Coco was named an Arts Laureate by The Arts Foundation.

Across mediums she strives to prioritise Oceanic narratives, wāhine, LGBTQIA+ expression and underground creatives of colour.

Dianne’s latest project is the six-part TV drama, AFTER THE PARTY (dir. Peter Salmon), which she created in collaboration with lead actor, Robyn Malcolm. It screened on TVNZ in late 2023 and is available to view on TVNZ+.

Her previous work includes the feature film,  BEYOND THE KNOWN WORLD, (dir. Pan Nalin) which was filmed in India and released in New Zealand in April 2016. Her first film, APRON STRINGS (2008) (dir. Sima Urale, co-writer Shuchi Kothari) opened the NZ International Film Festival and screened in numerous film festivals around the world, including Toronto.

Dianne also works as a script advisor and has mentored writers in the Show Me Shorts and Fresh Shorts development programmes. In 2023 she was invited to tutor at the FilmNomad Screenwriting Workshop in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Max is a writer, director and Emmy-winning showrunner from New Zealand - but because life is strange and people are multifaceted, he's still probably best known for being PitCrew on Rupaul’s Drag Race Down Under. As a screenwriter, his work spans writers' rooms, scriptwriting, and editing. Max was co-showrunner and series director on LGBTQ+ drama RŪRANGI (picked up by Hulu) which won an International Emmy for best short form series and earned him Best Director at the New Zealand TV Awards.

Born and raised in Aotearoa New Zealand, Max speaks German (thanks to an ongoing dance with Berlin since his 20s), often rocks a kilt in a nod to his Scottish dad, and is a proud donor father to two children who live with their mums in Melbourne. Max’s two great loves are his partner, Lex, and their sock-eating Golden Retriever, Rufus.

Max is represented by Ian Benson and Gina Andrews at The Agency, London.

Tusiata Avia is a poet, writer and performer. She has published 5 books of poetry, children’s books, short film, radio documentary and plays. Her iconic play Wild Dogs Under My Skirt showed Off-Broadway in 2020, winning the Fringe Encore Outstanding Production of the Year. Her latest play, The Savage Coloniser Show is very unpopular with David Seymour and the ACT party.

Tusiata was awarded a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to poetry and the arts and an Arts Foundation Laureate in 2020; Distinguished Alumni at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University, 2023 and the 2024 Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement in Poetry. Tusiata comes fairly fresh to screen: her first short, SINA AND TUNA, is part of anthology TEINE SĀ: THE ANCIENT ONES.

She has just finished another short for the anthology, SAVAGE LOVE – both produced by Lisa Taouma. Tusiata has also written for animated series: THE ADVENTURES OF TINKA LALALA and SURFING FOR SINA.

Producer Emma Mortimer is based in Tāmaki Makaurau. She has several features in development, including Martin Sagadin’s MARIA, TAKE A BOW, with producer Alex Reed (Bloom Pictures), and Asuka Sylvie’s REBUILDING JULIA. Emma and Asuka are also collaborating on a Toi Whakaari short film LOST AT SEA, and THAW, a science fiction drama series in development with NZOA and Sky Originals.

Emma’s recent credits include THAT WORKMAN’S ARM (dir: Simon London; NZIFF 2023; Clermont-Ferrand 2022) and THE CALF (dir: Simon London, Matthew Sunderland; Odense International Film Festival 2022). She has produced music videos for Tami Neilson’s Kingmaker (dir: Alyx Duncan), and Wax Chattels’ Career (dir: Dylan Pharazyn; NZOA Best Music Video and Editor, Show Me Shorts 2020). In 2022 Emma was selected for Film Up.

Victor Rodger ONZM is an award-winning writer and producer of Samoan (Iva) and Scottish (Dundee) descent. His plays include the internationally acclaimed Black Faggot while his television work includes THIS IS PIKI (with Briar Grace Smith), SHORTLAND STREET, and TEINE SĀ: THE ANCIENT ONES. Through his theatre entity, FCC, he has produced several plays including Tusiata Avia’s Wild Dogs Under My Skirt and The Savage Coloniser Show.

Litia Tuiburelevu (Fijian, Tongan, Pākehā), is a writer, director, and researcher born and raised in Tāmaki Makaurau. As a former lawyer, Litia did legal work on several television shows before directing the award-winning docu-series STILL HERE for Re: news. She has gone on to direct a second season of STILL HERE, as well as direct work for RNZ Music, The Spinoff, Tik-Tok, and The Pantograph Punch.

Litia is in pre-production for her debut short film, BOY EATS GOD, funded by the New Zealand Film Commission's Fresh Shorts programme. She hopes to create narrative work that consistently centres nuanced portrayals of Pacific women, with a particular interest in the Pacific gothic.

She draws from myriad sources including Oceanic mythology/folklore, her friends and family, and contemporary social issues.

My name is Manuha’apai Vaeatangitau or Manu Vaea. I currently live in Tāmaki Makaurau and am a practising interdisciplinary artist. My work often responds to themes of cultural transformation, seeking to assert queer Pacific identities into social and cultural visibility. My practice ranges across mediums of illustration, poetry, performance, and music. I am the 2023 Aniva Residency recipient and am a first-time actor playing the role of Pua in the Prime TV/Neon show NOT EVEN.

Fuimaono-Tuimafuiva Falesataua Joshua Iosefo (Mush) is a Pasifika queer multi-disciplinary artist from the villages of Salani, Lalomanu, Palauli and Apolima in Samoa as well as Alofi and Liku in Niue. Born and raised in South Auckland, Joshua is the co-founder of the community theatre group Odd Family Arts Collective Charitable Trust and also runs an independent art practice, Mush’s Shop of Magicks based at Wheke Fortress.

Joshua studied Communication Studies at AUT majoring in Television and Screen Production and completed their Masters in Philosophy (First Class Honours) where they examined intergenerational Pasifika queerness and the vā fetū - the space between stars. Joshua’s work examines the intersections of astrology, tarot, Samoan indigenous reference, and alchemy exploring themes such as family and belonging, queerness, mental health, healing, and indigenous futurisms. Joshua hopes that their work past present and future can reclaim, remix, and restore the timeless language of love and the cosmic power of connection.

Robyn Malcolm is a celebrated multi-award-winning New Zealand actress renowned for her iconic portrayal of Cheryl West in OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE. She is currently working on Tony Ayre’s series drama THE SURVIVORS in Tasmania, and recently finished filming on feature PIKE with Melanie Lynskey. Robyn starred alongside Peter Mullan in TVNZ/ITV’s AFTER THE PARTY, which she co-created with screenwriter Dianne Taylor.

Her diverse screen presence extends to Warner Bros/Discovery’s FAR NORTH with Temuera Morrison, Apple TV’s BLACK BIRD with Taron Egerton and the late Ray Liotta. She has made significant contributions to Australian television through appearances in series such as RAKE, UPPER MIDDLE BOGAN, WANTED and HARROW. She has also graced notable films like Peter Jackson's THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS, THE LOVELY BONES and Jane Campion’s TOP OF THE LAKE.

Matasila Freshwater (Solomon Islands/Pākehā) is a writer and director across animation and live-action, telling stories about cultural complexities and weirdos. Matasila wrote and directed the fishing vignette of award-winning feature, WAI (2019), which premiered at Berlinale and screened at SXSW; her short HIAMA (2021) was selected for Palm Springs Short Fest, received the Sun Jury Prize at ImagineNATIVE and won Best World Short at UrbanFest. Her first film SHMEAT (2016) was a finalist in NZIFF’s Best Shorts and competed at the Sitges International Fantasy Film Festival.

Matasila holds an MA in Scriptwriting from Victoria University with her feature film, ROUNDABOUT - selected for Script to Screens’ 2020 Film Up and in development, funded by the NZFC. In 2019 she was awarded the NZFC Annual Gender Scholarship special grant, won SPADA New Filmmaker of the Year, and in 2020 became an inaugural Arts Foundation Springboard recipient.

Karin is a descendant of ancestors from the island of Aitutaki and British settlers in Aotearoa. She began her career as a reporter at the Cook Islands News in Rarotonga, going on to work for broadcast networks in New Zealand and the USA. She founded Multimedia Productions to support global indigenous storytelling, working with First Nations communities in Canada, Alaska and the Pacific on grassroots community projects. Her independent films have screened at festivals around the world.

Karin now works with Pasifika storytellers to bring authentic projects to stage and screen. Credits include Teine Sā, a Pacific horror/anthology series for Sky NZ Originals, and the sketch comedy series, SIS, screening on Comedy Central, Prime and Neon. Karin serves on the Boards of Script to Screen and SPADA, the NZ producers’ guild. She is avocal advocate for diversity and inclusion in the screen industry.

Angeline Loo is a writer and director based in Aotearoa. Of Chinese Malaysian heritage, her recent mahi explores the collision of humanity, culture and technology.

Angeline was a writer/director of a vignette in the anthology feature KĀINGA and has written and co-produced a sci-fi thriller episode for MOTHERHOOD, an upcoming TVNZ series. She co-wrote the feature film MY WEDDING AND OTHER SECRETS which won best script at the NZ Film Awards. In development with co-writer Alvie McKree, her feature script HUNGRY GHOSTS is the recipient of a Seed Advanced Grant.

Angeline is drawn to write about the diversity of lived experiences and the common threads that bind us together. She is especially inspired to explore the experiences of those who have immigrated to a colonised land and hopes to create conversations about what it means to be tauiwi in Aotearoa.

Amanda Jane Robinson is a filmmaker based in Tāmaki Makaurau. In 2020 she founded Vetiver Pictures specialising in film production, artist collaborations and cinema programming.

Amanda has produced a number of short films, documentaries and music videos and is currently developing several short and feature projects with the New Zealand Film Commission.

Amanda currently works as the Marketing and Audience Development Lead for Whānau Mārama: New Zealand International Film Festival. She has previously held positions at various screen sector organisations.

In 2023 she completed Share the Knowledge Picture Course on the art and science of marketing and distribution. In 2021 she participated in the inaugural Film Futura programme from No Evil Eye Cinema, an alternative satellite film school that takes a decolonising approach to the past, present and future of film history and practice. In 2020 she attended Script to Screen residential feature film workshop Story Camp.

Becky Manawatu is a West Coast author and journalist. Her debut novel Auē, won the 2020 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize, the MitoQ Best First Book Award and the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel. Now, almost five years on, is regarded as a modern classic, with editions published around the world. The sequel Kataraina is to be published in October 2024.

Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu (Ngāpuhi/Te Rarawa) is an NZ based filmmaker of Māori and Pākehā descent. Josephine wrote TITTY and BASH for WARU (2017), which premiered at TIFF. In 2018, Josephine was awarded the Māori Screen Excellence Award from the NZFC, alongside her fellow WARU filmmakers. Her short film ANI (2019)  premiered at the Berlinale Film Festival and went on to screen at TIFF. Ani has since been acquisitioned by Fox Searchlight Shorts. ANI won Best Short Film by a Māori Director at Wairoa Film Festival, Best Film and Best Cinematography at Show Me Shorts. Her latest short film, WHEN WE WERE KIDS (2020) won best short at NZIFF, and Best Short at MWFF. Josephine is an alumni of the 2020 TIFF Filmmakers Lab and awarded the Canada Goose Fellowship. Her first feature film WE WERE DANGEROUS premiered at SXSW in 2024, where she won the Special Jury Prize for Filmmaking.

Ava is a kaituhi of Māori (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Pāoa) and Pāhekā descent, born and raised in Tāmaki Makaurau. Her work often focuses on themes around culture and identity.

She has participated in Script to Screen's South Shorts (2022), Te Pou Theatre's Kōanga Festival (2021) and has been a mātanga for Autaia Haka Theatre working with students on script development since 2021. 

Passionate about empowering Māoritanga, Ava also works as a Customer Manager for Māori Business at NZTE and has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology.

Nahyeon Lee is a Korean filmmaker and theatremaker based in Tāmaki Makaurau. Nahyeon wrote and directed one part of the feature film anthology KĀINGA (2022), entirely directed by Asian female filmmakers. Her work often explores the Asian diaspora experience and representation. Her debut play, The First Prime-Time Asian Sitcom (2022) presented by Silo Theatre, satirically examines the contradictions faced by Asian artists seeking opportunity and autonomy, focusing on the creation of a groundbreaking Asian-led comedy series in Aotearoa. Nahyeon's work also includes HOMECOMING POEMS (2021), a short film in collaboration with poet Nathan Joe, and she directing the music video for ‘아스라이 (Aseurai)’ by Tāmaki Makaurau-based dream-pop band, Phoebe Rings.

Esther is a writer/producer who has whakapa to Ngāti Awa, Savai'i, Upolu and Ha'apai. Shes grown up in Tāmaki Makaurau where she attended exclusively all girls Catholic schools and then moved to Kalgoorlie, Western Australia where she was traumatised by going to an Australian outback country school. She has a Bachelor of Screen Arts from Auckland University of Technology.

Esther is passionate about stories that show what she calls the 'little psycho' nature of women and the offbeat hilarious and morbid stories that women gossip about. 
Currently Esther is producing a short film with funding from the NZ Film Commission through the Kōpere Hou/Fresh Shorts program. One day, Esther hopes to be collaborating in UK television productions and hopes to write the Pāsifika versions of Fleabag and Super City. 
When she's not working you can find her baking Tāmaki Makarau's best walnut brownies, crocheting or watching the second season of Community for the 37th time.

Emily Perkins is a writer from Aotearoa New Zealand. Her most recent novel Lioness (Bloomsbury) is a finalist in the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. Other books include the Women’s Prize longlisted, The Forrests, Believer Book of the Year and NZ Book of the Year winner Novel About My Wife, and the short story collection Not Her Real Name.

For the stage, she has adapted Henrik Ibsen’s A Dolls House and written the original play The Made, both developed with Auckland Theatre Company.

Her screenwriting credits include co-writing the feature film adaptation of Eleanor Catton’s novel THE REHEARSAL with director Alison Maclean, and work on TVNZ’s AFTER THE PARTY.

Pulkit Arora is an Indian writer-director based in New Zealand. His debut short MILK TOFFEE premiered at Tribeca Film Festival. His follow-up ANU won the Audience Award and the Emerging Talent Award at NZIFF 2023, followed by screening at Melbourne International Film Festival and being acquired by MUBI for a 2024 release. As a screenwriter, he led development for two adaptations at Disney+ Hotstar and wrote for Netflix India anthology HOME STORIES.

Hailing from Tūranganui-A-Kiwa, Jazz now calls Tāmaki Makaurau home. Her recent production highlights include the acclaimed short film LAO LAO LAO LE, directed by Julie Zhu, which received three awards at the 2023 Show Me Shorts Film Festival. Additionally, she produced I AM NOT YOUR DUSKY MAIDEN, directed by Vea Mafile'o, and the NZ Music web series, NOISE CONTROL FOR STUFF. 

Currently, she's also collaborating as a co-producer for the forthcoming drama series, DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD, alongside Roo Reihana-Wilson and Jaya Beach-Robertson. This project received NZOA Diverse Development funding and secured a spot at the Script to Screen Series Bootcamp in 2023.

Brita McVeigh is an acting coach, story doctor, story consultant or script editor – depending on who you talk to. She has contributed to the development and production of more than 500 feature films, short films, episodic television and theatre projects in New Zealand, Australia the United States, Germany and the UK.

She began her consulting career working with Taika Waititi on his feature films EAGLE VS SHARK and BOY and now works with independent artists, established production companies and on projects on the development slates of FX, USA, Warner Brothers and Netflix. Brita previously worked extensively as an acting coach, and her workshops Acting For Humans have been attended by more than 1000 creative professionals across New Zealand and Australia.

Most recently Brita worked with the filmmakers at Jane Campion’s Netflix-funded film school, A Wave in the Ocean, and collaborated with Kath Shelper and Warwick Thornton on their 2023 Cannes Un Certain Regard feature THE NEW BOY.

Louise Fox’s career has traversed television, film, theatre and radio as an actor, writer, director and producer. Louise recently spent two years in-house at Matchbox/NBCu as a development producer, wrote on SIGNIFICANT OTHERS for ABC and Fremantle and PROSPER for Stan and Lionsgate. She has projects in development with the BBC, Synchronicity (Scotland), Easy Tiger (Aus), Motive Pictures (UK), Chapter One (UK), SBS, See-Saw and TAP.

Louise is the co-creator and showrunner of the 3 seasons of ABC’s GLITCH, awarded Best Drama at the 2015 AACTA Awards and Most Outstanding Drama at 2016 Logies, and still on Netflix. She has written on numerous award-winning drama series, including LOVE MY WAY (for which she won an AWGIE for best screenplay), the Star Wars live-action series, CAMELOT (Starz) and THE KETTERING INCIDENT (Porchlight Films). She wrote an episode for the acclaimed first season of ITV drama BROADCHURCH. Louise also wrote the acclaimed Australian feature, DEAD EUROPE (SeeSaw).

Susan Soon He Stanton is a writer for theatre, film, and television from ‘Aiea, Hawai‘i. Susan has worked on all four seasons of HBO’s SUCCESSION, as a writer/producer, for which she has received multiple awards; EMMY, Writers Guild of America, and a Peabody Award. Her television work includes Amazon’s DEAD RINGERS and MODERN LOVE, BBC’s CONVERSATIONS WITH FRIENDS, and HBO’s THE BABY. In film, she received a Feature Film Development Grant from the Sloan Foundation. DRESS won the audience award at the Hawaii International Film Festival. Other films include BUSHWICK BEATS, SAME WILL, GOOD HOUSE, and DISPATCHED.

Her plays have been produced internationally and regionally across the United States, and include We, The Invisibles, Today is My Birthday, Moana Jr. (book) for Disney Theatrical Group, among others. Her new ending of Puccini's unfinished Turandot, will premiere in 2024 at Washington National Opera. BFA: NYU Tisch Dramatic Writing, MFA Yale School of Drama.

www.susansoonhestanton.com

Director/Producer Ainsley Gardiner is of Ngāti Awa, Te Whānau-a-Apanui, Ngāti  Pikiao and Whakatōhea tribal descent. She was one of 9 wåhine Måori filmmakers to write and direct the acclaimed feature film WARU, selected for Toronto Film Festival in 2017. Her second feature, COUSINS, co-directed with the film’s screenwriter, Briar Grace-Smith, was the top grossing NZ feature in 2020. She co-directed NOT EVEN, a 6 part TV comedy for Neon, and TVNZ web series, HUI HOPPERS. Ainsley has produced shorts, feature films, documentaries and television. After collaborating with Taika Waititi on his short films TWO CARS, ONE NIGHT and TAMA TU, she went on to produce his feature films, EAGLE VS. SHARK (20025) and No. 1 Box Office hit, BOY (2009). She produced 2018’s comedy hit, THE BREAKER UPPERERS which premiered at SXSW and sold to Netflix. Ainsley sat on the Māori development arm of the NZ Film Commission, Te Paepae Ataata, and is an Advisory Board member of Script to Screen’s Story Camp Aotearoa. In 2018 she was awarded the Mana Wåhine award at the Wairoa Film Festival and was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MBE) for her services to film.

Alice Snedden is a writer, comedian and improviser from Auckland. A 2017 Billy T nominee, she has been the head writer of multi-series TV3 shows, JONO AND BEN, FUNNY GIRLS and GOLDEN BOY, is a writer/co-director on STARSTRUCK (BBC/HBO MAX) and host of Alice Snedden’s Bad News (The Spinoff) and podcast Boners of the Heart.

Anapela Polata’ivao was born in Samoa. Her ancestral roots stem from the villages of Vailoa, Vaiusu, Fagae’e and Safue. Raised in South Auckland, Anapela spent her high school summers with The Maidment Youth Theatre before graduading from Toi Whakaari NZ Drama School in 2000. Anapela won Best Actress in the 2018 Wellington Theatre Awards for her role in Tusiata Avia’s Wild Dogs Under My Skirt, which she also directed. In 2020 she made history as the first Samoan woman to have directed a show off-Broadway when Wild Dogs made its New York debut and was subsequently named winner of the Fringe Encore Series at the SoHo Playhouse. Screen highlights include feature films The Justice of Bunny King, One Thousand Ropes, The Changeover and series such as Filthy Rich, Duckrockers & The Panthers. Most recently Anapela starred in the Australian series The Messenger, Season 2 of Taika Waititi’s Our Flag Means Death for HBO Max, and feature film Tinā directed by Miki Magasiva, where she played the lead role of Mareta.

Benjamin Law is an AWGIE Award-winning screenwriter, writer and broadcaster. He is executive producer, co-creator and co-writer of Netflix comedy-drama WELLMANIA (2023), playwright of Melbourne Theatre Company’s sold-out Torch the Place (2020), and creator and co-writer award-winning SBS/Hulu/Comedy Central Asia TV series THE FAMILY LAW (2016–2019).

Ben is the author of The Family Law (2010), Gaysia (2013), the Quarterly Essay Moral Panic 101 (2017) and editor of Growing Up Queer in Australia (2019). He has written for The Guardian, Monocle and Australian Financial Review, and is a literary scout for Hachette Australia. Benjamin has a PhD in creative writing and cultural studies from QUT. He lives and works on Gadigal Country, part of the Eora Nation (Sydney).

He is a board member of Story Factory, a committee member of the Jesse Cox Audio Fellowship and an ambassador for Plan Australia, the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation, the Victorian Pride Centre, Bridge for Asylum Seekers and the Pinnacle Foundation.

Henning is a Peabody winning, and primetime Emmy and BAFTA nominated producer who co-founded DETAiLFILM in 2007 and Zentropa Hamburg with Danish power house Zentropa in 2014.

In December 2016 Henning joined REAL FILM Berlin as managing director where his productions include Anna Winger's „Unorthodox“ and „Sleeping Dogs“ for Netflix, the ARD event feature „Three and a half hours“ directed by Ed Herzog and most recently Luzie Loose’s/John Karsten’s „Everyone is f*cking crazy“ for ARD, „Viktor bringt’s“ for Amazon and „KRANK“ for ZDFneo amongst others. 

Henning was Germany’s „Producer on the Move“ 2014 and one of Variety's "10 Producer's to watch" in 2017. He is an EAVE and Inside Pictures alumni and has served on the board of the European Film Academy from 2016-2020.

Sally Riley is known for an impressive body of productions and for supporting key talent at all stages of the creative process. After joining the ABC in 2010 as the inaugural Head of the Indigenous Department, she played a critical role in bringing programmes to audiences that are entertaining, thought-provoking and reflective of Australia’s national identity. Sally was Executive Producer on award-winning film MABO and acclaimed series REDFERN NOW, the first television drama commissioned, written, acted and produced by Indigenous Australians. From 2016-2023 she was ABC’s Head of Scripted Production, with commissions including STATELESS, FIRES, PREPPERS, CLEVERMAN, MYSTERY ROAD, TOTAL CONTROL, AFTERTASTE, BLACK COMEDY, JANET KING, WAKEFIELD and THE NEWSREADER. A Wiradjuri woman, Sally was awarded the Australian Public Service Medal in 2008 for her role in increasing participation of Indigenous Australians in the film and television industry, named one of Foreign Policy’s 100 Leading Global Thinkers for support of First Nations people in the entertainment industry in 2016, and in 2020 was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in recognition of her drive to champion diverse storytelling in Australia.

Tony Ayres is an award-winning Australian showrunner, writer and director, and a founding member of Matchbox Pictures. In 2018, Tony established his production company Tony Ayres Productions (TAP), developing and producing feature films and television for global audiences and international marketplaces. Tony’s feature films and TV shows have been nominated for more than 100 Australian and international awards, and he has won more than 60 of these awards, including an International Emmy, a BAFTA, a Golden Horse (the Asian Oscars), six AACTA awards, and six Logies. Tony was the creator/showrunner on THE SLAP, NOWHERE BOYS and global number one Netflix hit, CLICKBAIT. He co-created and was an Executive Producer on GLITCH, STATELESS and FIRES. He has executive produced acclaimed shows such as BARRACUDA, SEVEN TYPES OF AMBIGUITY, WANTED, CREAMERIE, THE DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND, OLD SCHOOL, UNDERGROUND: THE JULIAN ASSANGE STORY, THE STRAITS and FAMILY LAW. Tony directed feature films CUT SNAKE (2015), THE HOME SUNG STORIES (2007), and WALKING ON WATER (2002). His films premiered at A-list festivals, including Berlinale and Toronto Film Festival.

Alice Snedden is a writer, comedian and improviser from Auckland. A 2017 Billy T nominee, she has been the head writer of multi-series TV3 shows, JONO AND BEN, FUNNY GIRLS and GOLDEN BOY, is a writer/co-director on STARSTRUCK (BBC/HBO MAX) and host of Alice Snedden’s Bad News (The Spinoff) and podcast Boners of the Heart.

Anahera Gildea (Ngāti Tukorehe) is a poet, short story writer, essayist and ‘artivist’. Her work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies including Cordite, The Spinoff, Newsroom, Sport, Landfall, Takahe, and JAAM. Her first book Poroporoaki to the Lord My God: Weaving the Via Dolorosa was published by Seraph Press (2016) and her collection, Sedition was published by Taraheke (2022). She is the co-editor of Te Whē, a bilingual literary journal, is the co-chair of Te Hā o Ngā Pou Kaituhi Māori, and sits on the board of ReadNZ Te Pou Muramura. She has a Masters of Creative Writing from the International Institute of Modern Letters, as well as Graduate Diplomas in Psychology and Teaching, and is currently completing doctoral research at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington, developing a critical literary theory based on Māori intellectual traditions.

Brita McVeigh is an acting coach, story doctor, story consultant or script editor – depending on who you talk to. She has contributed to the development and production of more than 500 feature films, short films, episodic television and theatre projects in New Zealand, Australia the United States, Germany and the UK.

She began her consulting career working with Taika Waititi on his feature films EAGLE VS SHARK and BOY and now works with independent artists, established production companies and on projects on the development slates of FX, USA, Warner Brothers and Netflix. Brita previously worked extensively as an acting coach, and her workshops Acting For Humans have been attended by more than 1000 creative professionals across New Zealand and Australia.

Most recently Brita worked with the filmmakers at Jane Campion’s Netflix-funded film school, A Wave in the Ocean, and collaborated with Kath Shelper and Warwick Thornton on their 2023 Cannes Un Certain Regard feature THE NEW BOY.

Louise Fox’s career has traversed television, film, theatre and radio as an actor, writer, director and producer. Louise recently spent two years in-house at Matchbox/NBCu as a development producer, wrote on SIGNIFICANT OTHERS for ABC and Fremantle and PROSPER for Stan and Lionsgate.  She has projects in development with the BBC, Synchronicity (Scotland), Easy Tiger (Aus), Motive Pictures (UK), Chapter One (UK), SBS, See-Saw and TAP. Louise is the co-creator and showrunner of the 3 seasons of ABC’s GLITCH, awarded Best Drama at the 2015 AACTA Awards and Most Outstanding Drama at 2016 Logies, and still on Netflix.

She has written on numerous award-winning drama series, including LOVE MY WAY (for which she won an AWGIE for best screenplay), the Star Wars live-action series, CAMELOT (Starz) and THE KETTERING INCIDENT (Porchlight Films). She wrote an episode for the acclaimed first season of ITV drama BROADCHURCH. Louise also wrote the acclaimed Australian feature, DEAD EUROPE (SeeSaw).

Rosabel Tan is a writer, strategist and producer of Peranakan Chinese descent. She is the Director of Satellites — currently working on an archive of Asian diaspora artists and art-making in Aotearoa, as well as a visiting artist programme — and Programme Manager for The Next Page, a national training programme for early-career magazine editors. Rosabel is a founding editor of arts and culture journal The Pantograph Punch and was the inaugural Curator: Asia for the 2022 Auckland Writers Festival and a co-programmer for Verb Festival 2023.

Todd Karehana is a writer and director passionate about bold, innovative screen craft. He has nine years of experience across the New Zealand screen sector with organisations such as Pango Productions, Kura Productions and NZ On Air. Karehana graduated from The University of Auckland with a Master of Arts in Screen Production in 2016. He has held various story and writing roles on the Māori drama series AHIKĀROA, the children’s animated series THE EXCEPTIONAL SQUAD and the indigenous anthology film WE ARE STILL HERE.

In 2022, he directed YOUNG AND ON THE PAEPAE for TVNZ and the short documentary NIGHT RIDE for Loading Docs. He was also a Funding Advisor at New Zealand On Air. Recently, Karehana co-created the immersive audio drama series THE RIVER and is completing A Wave in the Ocean, a two-year intensive film program under Dame Jane Campion and Phillipa Campbell.