SHORT CUTS LAB

Project: The Dog, The Owl and The Rainbow

CO-WRITER, DIRECTOR & PRODUCER

Jo has been working in the creative industry for the past 30 years in film, television and design. She grew up listening to stories told by her father, a Kadazan from Sabah on the Island of Borneo. His stories about strong female warriors and the spirit guides that surround us inspired her to become a storyteller and use storytelling as a means to create social and environmental impact. She co-founded her film and animation company Siungfilms.com in 2013.

Project: The Dog, The Owl and The Rainbow

WRITER

Lynda (She/Her, Ngāti Haina, Ngāti Pākehā) has a background in scriptwriting and public broadcasting (TVNZ, RNZ). Lynda’s award-winning plays have toured in festivals here and abroad. Her screenplay Little Dragon was the first from Aotearoa to be pitched for co-productions at the Shanghai Film Festival, 2009. Lynda was 2019 Writer in Residence at the International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML), Victoria University of Wellington. Lynda recently received EDF funding (NZFC) to develop Memory / Longing with Kim Webby, and she’s directing Farewell Guangdong a documentary web series for broadcast on RNZ.

Project: Malayo

DIRECTOR

Rafa is a Filipino filmmaker who moved to New Zealand in 2006. He graduated from the University of Otago in 2021 and has since written numerous feature length and short screenplays. He has worked in various departments such as lighting, production and casting on feature and short film sets. He was selected to take part in Script to Screen’s Paerangi Project and his notable written and directed works include Last Call and most recently For Thom which is in Post-Production.

Project: Malayo

PRODUCER

Prashanth is a Malaysian NZ Filmmaker who has been working in the screen industry for over a decade. He has been involved in feature length films, having co-directed 2 as well as line produced and post-produced a handful of films. Prashanth started with TVC and short films and frequently collaborates with several indie studios across Auckland, Hamilton and Wellington. He has a keen interest in developing talents and stores and is currently focusing on producing content.

Project: Malayo

WRITER

Patrick immigrated to New Zealand from the Philippines in 2009. He graduated from the University of Auckland in 2020. Currently, he is completing a teaching diploma and working as a pre-service teacher. In 2022, Patrick worked as a Production Assistant in his cousin Rafa’s short film For Thom. Creative writing is one of his primary interests. Though unpublished as of yet, he has been writing since he was a teenager.

Project: Pretty Metal

PRODUCER

Sahil is a Kiwi-Indian Producer, Director, and Actor. Since graduating from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (UK) with a Master in Screen Acting; Sahil has produced short films across the UK and New Zealand. Sahil has also worked as an Actor for the BBC show Annika and recently was cast in the feature film A Mistake starring Elizabeth Banks. Sahil also works as a fully Qualified Chartered Accountant.

Project: A Thousand And One

WRITER/DIRECTOR

Pon is a Thai-New Zealand writer, director whose films frequently explore themes of masculinity, escapism, and denial. You will find his creative works often invoke a surrealist/mythological undertone, exemplified by his short film Majesty (2021).

He recently branched out into comedy with Pincher (2023), a web series pilot created with long-time collaborator Sara Chen through PASC's Episode One program. Pon is also set to direct Turtle Tent, a Fresh Shorts funded film, later this year.

Project: A Thousand And One

PRODUCER

Sara Chen is a Chinese-Kiwi producer. Ever since her stint as a teen receptionist for the family business, she dreamt of a career surrounded by excel sheets and the smell of manila folders.

She has recently produced Hweiling Ow’s upcoming Fresh short Vivie (2023) and Pincher (2023), a web series she co-created and produced, funded by PASC’s Episode One initiative.

Project: Parallel Lines

WRITER/DIRECTOR

Beyond is a Kiwi-Chinese writer/director who enjoys telling extraordinary stories in creative ways, and a lover of all things cinema. His thesis film, The Education of Ming Ming, was the winner of the University of Auckland Geoff Evans Memorial Prize. His follow up film, Setsubun, a meditative reflection on belonging and solitude, was made while living in rural Japan. Beyond’s latest film, A Guide to Becoming a Detective, was made with funding from the New Zealand Film Commission.

Project: Parallel Lines

PRODUCER

Patrick is a Kiwi-Chinese creative. He graduated with an Engineering degree from the University of Auckland and works as a consultant in the tech space. When not working his day job, Patrick enjoys discovering new experiences, which include creative writing, wood carving, analogue photography, and

seeing old classic films for the first time on the big screen. Patrick is excited to learn more about filmmaking, and this will mark his first time being involved with a film production.

Project: Parallel Lines

PRODUCER

Description goes hereFelicia is in her final year of an English and mechanical engineering conjoint degree at The University of Auckland. She was born in Indonesia and has lived in Tamaki Makaurau for almost all of her life. Felicia enjoys the intersection of her two degrees, creating content and running the socials for the Women in Engineering Network. Building off this passion for social change and increasing diversity in the engineering discipline, she has created an engineering mockumentary web-series "ENGGEN 101" which is set to be published in July.

Project: Elopement

PRODUCER

Joyce is an emerging producer based in Wellington. Growing up in Tāmaki Makaurau she is a second generation immigrant from Hong Kong. Joyce began her career in the technology startup world and in 2021 she made a career change into film.

Passionate about telling Pan-asian stories, she has aspirations of becoming an executive producer. Holding credits in local television productions and Disney/Marvel feature films, Joyce has a scripted series and short films in different stages of production.

Project: Elopement

WRITER

Assiya is a fashion designer from Kazakhstan and was on the design team for the Golden Globe Award-winning movie The Power of the Dog and the series Dancing with the Stars, Jonah and Cowboy Bebop (Netflix).

A graduate of South Seas Film School, Elopement is one of her first short films to be selected for further screen development. Originally written in Russian, she is excited to develop it into a captivating story for local and global audiences.

Project: Elopement

DIRECTOR

Sofi is a filmmaker from Kazakhstan who is now based in Tāmaki Makaurau. Sofi is best known for her work as a 1st AC and Camera Assistant on documentaries, TV shows, short films, and music videos.

Thriving on the ever-changing nature of productions, she is always eager to take on new technical and creative challenges. Sofi's ultimate goal as a director is to bring more diversity to the screen and to empower new filmmakers to find their voice.

Project: Hot Pot

WRITER-DIRECTOR

Sinead is an emerging writer and director born Asian of Hong Kong descent. In 2021, Sinead was the recipient of a SEED grant from the NZ Writers Guild for her first feature script, Not This Time, about a time-travelling Chinese-Kiwi woman, and has also directed an award-winning NZFC funded short film, Misimpressions (2017), about a trio of artists.

Sinead has worked on several high-budget projects at Wētā FX over the past seven years in Motion Capture Production. Combining her style with her experience, Sinead’s interests lie in telling original stories, with imaginative elements layered over a lyrical narrative.

Project: Hot Pot

PRODUCER

Rachel Fawcett is a Chinese/Kiwi producer from Auckland, New Zealand and the owner of Lusty Productions. She produced Steven Chow’s award-winning short thriller, Munkie, the Te Reo Maori documentary, Wind, Song, and Rain, and Hindi-language short film, Anu. In 2022, she co-created and produced the hit TikTok series, n00b, and served as associate producer on the feature film biopic, Joika. Rachel is currently developing the half-hour version of n00b with Victoria and Great Southern Television, as well as a slate of other projects.

Project: Puli and the Tiger

PRODUCER

Rajeev (he/him) migrated to New Zealand in 1987 after Fiji’s first military coup. He has a BCA in Management (because he’s a good Indian son) and a BA with Honours in Film (because he likes to tell stories). He has been in film and TV since 2006, working for Park Road Post, TVNZ, The Gibson Group & Wētā Workshop, among others. Recently, NZ on Air funded his documentary In Search of Tūrangawaewae, about his father's struggles as a former Fijian diplomat after the ‘87 coup.

Project: Puli and the Tiger

WRITER

Esteban (he/him) is a New Zealand-based writer living in Wellington. He has an MFA in film production, and is contributing to the film and theatre community in Wellington by working and developing projects with Squash Co Arts Collective and Floating Rock animation studio. He wrote the screenplay for Raids (directed by Jade Jackson) which featured in the Māori Pasifika Shorts Competition at Whānau Mārama 2022 (NZIFF). And has written the feature-length version which recently received EDF funding from the New Zealand Film Commission

Project: Puli and the Tiger

DIRECTOR

Jessica is a Kiwi-Indian producer from Te Awakairangi (Lower Hutt). She has worked on a diverse range of short film projects from period, drama, to documentary. In 2019 she produced the Tokelauan documentary VAKA (supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade), which made its debut at the United Nations’ annual climate change conference in Madrid (COP25). Now in pursuit of her own storytelling, Puli & the Tiger is her foray into directing. Jessica currently works at Wētā Workshop as a production coordinator in the Design Studio.

Project: Rudraksha

PRODUCER

Marianne (M-AH-rianne) is an award-winning Kapampangán-Filipino multi-disciplinary creative based in Tāmaki Makaurau. She is Proudly Asian Theatre’s executive producer, and co-founder and creative director of Te & Kuya Collaborative. Making waves, Infante created NZ’s first Filipino theatre play Pinay, NZ’s first Kapampángan short-film Mekeni and now she’s the first Filipina core cast on NZ’s prime time show Shortland Street as Madonna Diaz. Marianne works to empower Asian voices in Aotearoa screens and stages, as she truly believes authentic representation matters.

Project: Rudraksha

WRITER/DIRECTOR

Mayen is a multidisciplinary Kiwi-Indian artist. He recently starred in 'Interceptor' which became the number one Netflix film in the world during its release. In 2022 he was a participant for Script to Screen’s South Shorts mentorship lab. Mayen has written for 'Tales of Nai Nai' and has also been a writer’s assistant on ‘Homebound 3.0’ and ‘Raised by Refugees’ Season 2. He frequently collaborates with the award winning Angle3 Pictures. As a writer Mayen is drawn to representing minority communities and exploring cross-cultural collisions.