Your Big Break

What’s required first:

The first thing we need is an understanding of your proposed idea. We believe the best way to achieve that is with a screenplay. A screenplay is basically a script or an outline of your script and what you propose to shoot. It is usually best supplied as a written narrative with supporting material that can help bring the idea to life – we recommend this take the form of a short pitch to camera that could include a rough edit footage (stock footage), or a storyboard that visually explains your scenario.

You will need to complete this and submit your entry by January 15, 2010. Remember, there will be many applications alongside yours so the easier you make it to understand your idea and bring it to life through a video pitch the better chance it will have of getting through to the finals.

What’s my short film about?

The subject of your film is: CAPTURING THE SPIRIT OF 100% PURE NEW ZEALAND - THE YOUNGEST COUNTRY ON EARTH.

You need to think of a script, an idea and a scenario that brings that statement to life. Remember, you need to be able to produce your idea on a reasonably limited budget and you need to be able to tell your story in exactly three minutes.

The location for your filming is New Zealand. Specifically, the spectacular Queenstown area in the South Island.

New Zealand was the last country on earth that any human ever set foot on. Therefore it stayed pure and green and uninhabited longer than any other place on earth. You can explore this insight further and find out more facts and observations about the Youngest Country by exploring the contents and links on this site. There are obviously a number of ways you could capture the essence of this statement.

For example, it could be about the young attitude of the country – what it’s like to be a teenage country amongst the continental grandparents.

It could be about the land itself – a place that still has active volcanoes and powerful geothermal activity (although not in the Queenstown area). The area for shooting, Queenstown, is also known as the adventure capital of the world.

This is not about making a commercial for New Zealand - you can take any angle on this you wish. You might take it from a personal perspective of being there for perhaps the first time, you might see it through the eyes of a visitor, or a local or purely from the natural surroundings you discover. It might be funny, sad, evocative, exciting, shocking or simply beautiful.

Remember: Your film will first be judged on the power of the idea but it will also be judged on practicalities, which are detailed below. You will need to keep in mind your timing and resource constraints when creating the idea and this will play an important part in deciding which ideas make it through to production.

How does the peoples’ choice work?

As explained four of the five finalists will be selected by a panel of film experts. The fifth finalist will be selected by public vote through this website. Therefore the sooner you have your screenplay completed and available for scrutiny by the public the longer people will have to vote for you. Quite simply the screenplay that receives the largest number of public votes will become the fifth finalist, so get your mates, friend’s sister’s aunty, etc voting to make this work for you.

Please note: This screenplay will then be checked by the judging panel simply to ensure it is achievable within the production schedule and budget. If it is not, the concept with the second highest vote count will be selected.

Who are you?

You may already have experience with filmmaking. When you submit your screenplay tell us a little about yourself, including any experience you have had and links to past work. Please be assured, your experience won’t bias the judging but it will give us an idea of the sorts of things you are capable of creating.

The practicalities of production

From all the entries, five finalists will be selected. If you are one of the five you will need to travel to New Zealand to turn your idea in to a three-minute short film. Before considering entering please be sure you could drop everything and leave for New Zealand at a moments notice for around 3 weeks. You would need to be there soon after the announcement of finalists week commencing January 18, 2010. The production dates for all five films will be between February 1, 2010 & February 21, 2010.

You will be the director and you will be provided with a local support team. If your concept requires them, you will be given resources to complete the project to a maximum budget of NZ$100,000. These will include crew, gear, sound & video post production requirements, some talent and use of music. Please be assured, while these resources can be made available you may well wish to ‘got it alone’ with your own camera and equipment or your idea may not require paid talent or music. Please treat these as available resources only and not as a mandatory requirement. On top of this Tourism New Zealand will provide your return airfare from anywhere in the world to Queenstown and Wellington, New Zealand, and accommodation.

You will have one week of pre-production in Queenstown, a crew for 2 days of shooting anywhere within travelling time of Queenstown (note: travelling time to shoot is included in budget) and then one week post-production at Park Road Post Production – Peter Jackson’s post-production facility in Wellington. For further information on Park Road Post Production go to www.parkroadpost.co.nz. Your short film must be completed by the end of your post-production time allocation and it must be exactly 3 minutes long.

What will happen from there?

Post-production for the five finalists will be happening at around the same time in Wellington. On completion, Peter Jackson will judge the winning entry. The winner will then be announced. The winner and finalists will then return home.

The winning film will run in its entirety on US television. The winner will also be credited.

Important dates to remember

January 15, 2010	Deadline for having your entry completed and submitted on www.your-big-break.com
Week commencing January 18, 2010	Five finalists will be announced.
Week commencing January 18, 2010	Five finalists must be ready to depart for New Zealand
Week commencing February 22, 2010	Winner is announced.
Week commencing February 22, 2010	Five finalists return home
March 2010	Winning film is screened on US television.

Competition open December 9 2009 - January 15 2010.

Competition terms and conditions apply at www.your-big-break.com/rules

For tips on writing your screenplay and submitting your entry, check out the Critic's Blog and our FAQ.