Kiwi film pros announce short film competition for kids and teens in lockdown

A new short film competition gives budding young filmmakers a creative challenge while in rāhui/lockdown, as well as practical advice from industry pros.

The production team behind The Breaker Upperers and She Shears has just announced a competition for young Kiwis to make their own short film on the topic “Finding our way home”. They’ll make entries available for others to see online—with various age groups of entrants eligible to win prizes.

The competition is run by Miss Conception Films’ Georgina Conder and Ainsley Gardiner, and is supported by several well-known Kiwi filmmakers and industry experts, including Madeleine Sami and Jackie van Beek, Loren Taylor, Chelsie Preston-Crayford, Cohen Holloway, Kate Rodger, Raymond Edwards and Sacha Young. Check out the announcement video featuring Sami and van Beek.

Lock, Load and Film Kids film making competition

So excited to be launching our kids film making competition – Lock, load and film! I will let our good friends Jackie van Beek and Madeleine Sami fill you in

Posted by Miss Conception Films on Sunday, 5 April 2020

Key information for the Miss Conception Films movie-making competition is as follows:

Competition open to all children up to the age of 16. Three age categories: under 10 years, under 13-year-olds and 16 years and under. The age of the director will determine which group the film falls under.

Films can be any genre up to 10 minutes long.

Film delivery formats: Flash video, MPEG, MP4, QuickTime, WMV (Windows media video).

Guardian signature required with all final submissions.

The films can be in English and Te Reo Māori.

Films with swear words, nudity or unnecessary violence won’t be published.

An overall winner will be selected from each age range on 10th May. Stay tuned for information on prizes.

Read on for further information, taken from their media release:

The competition will call for kids and teenagers (up to the age of 16) to make their own short film using available devices in their ‘bubble’. Submissions will be open from Monday 13th April to Friday 8th May.

The requested theme for each short film is ‘Finding our way home’. Miss Conception Films would love to see films that demonstrate why people’s homes and families are so important to them. The stories can be documentary, fiction or something in between, and an easy set of step-by-step guidelines will be available on Miss Conception Films’ website and Facebook.

To help support young filmmakers throughout the process, a host of industry experts will be offering their advice via short videos on Miss Conception Films’ Facebook and via short Facebook Live events, offering kids the chance to ask any questions they may have.

Georgina Conder from Miss Conception Films commented: “Like so many other parents at the moment, I’ve been thinking of ways to keep the kids entertained. Rather than battle to get them off devices, I thought this would be a really fun way to use this unusual time to get our kids inspired by the things around them and to use their devices for something truly productive.”

The competition will be split into different age groups and an overall winner from each category will be awarded a prize. All finished films that meet the criteria will be uploaded to Miss Conception’swebsite and Facebook to enable the young filmmakers to share with their friends and family.

Miss Conception Films is a production house partnership between Georgina Conder and Ainsley Gardiner. With a focus on female-led storytelling in front and behind the camera, they’re behind Kiwi box office hitsThe Breaker UpperersShe Shears and upcoming feature films Cousins and Reunion.