About SFO

Short Film Otago supports screen-drama in Otago. We encourage writers to develop short film scripts. The best scripts submitted are guided through a rigorous script editing process.

Two or three are selected each year for production with the Short Film Otago executive producer team overseeing the process (click here for more details).

 What we seek

The kind of short films we seek should:

  • Have a strong story – an effective ending is probably the most important factor

  • Be visually powerful or interesting

  • Be compelling in originality, character and setting

  • Be stories of today although we won’t rule out an interesting futuristic or historical treatment

  • Be tragedy or comedy or horror or just simply dramatic

  • Normally have a maximum length of 10 to 15 minutes

  • Be fiction rather than documentary

  • Appeal to a significant audience

  • Above all something must happen.

In the first instance (unless you already have a script written) we want to see just a one or two page outline of your short film and do not require a budget. It must however be a film achievable on a modest budget. Strong in its ideas and simple in production.

We are keen to see projects from writers, directors, and teams of a writer and a director or writer and producer. It would be possible for a producer to recognise a compelling short story and submit that.

The film will have to be shot in Otago but it doesn’t have to be about Otago necessarily. Either the writer or the director should be normally resident in the province or have strong family connections with Otago.

Our role

  • Support screen-drama in Otago

  • Manage publicity for the initiatives, including newspaper, a website and a road-show of seminars

  • Organise short film script writing workshops

  • Assess scripts

  • Appoint script editors to work with writers

  • Gather a data base of prospective production talent & facilities

  • Judge the best scripts to go into production

  • Facilitate production teams for the chosen films

  • Executive produce the chosen films

  • Manage the administration of Short Film Otago

Board members

George Dawes (Chairperson)

In 1998 George immigrated from the United Kingdom to New Zealand with his family and from the age of five dreamed of a career in the film industry. He has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Otago and a Master of Science Communication from the Centre for Science Communication. George’s credits include Three Little Pigs: A Curly Tale (2010), a documentary that covers the controversy around pork production in New Zealand and The Assassin (2011), which he produced for Short Film Otago.

Maddy Maxwell

Maddy Maxwell is a creative film producer based in Ōamaru, North Otago. She has been working in a range of roles in the industry since 2010 - casting, extras work, locations and production management. She also works in youth film teaching, under the Filmmakers in Schools banner and engages with community film projects across a wide range of genres and topics. She is committed to helping develop our southern film industry, in both the Waitaki District and more broadly in Otago, Southland and beyond.

Judith Curran

Judith is a multiple award-winning documentary producer/director/writer with a side-line in drama writing and development.

Since joining internationally renowned factual production company NHNZ in 2001, Judith has been a driving force behind a diverse range of high profile, multiple award-winning documentaries for international cable networks like Discovery, Animal Planet and National Geographic as well as streamers like Netflix and Love Nature.

Previous to this, while living in Sydney from 1982-2001, Judith was involved in drama production. She attended the Sydney Acting School in late 80’s and then went on to become a playwright which led to her attending the NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Art ) Playwrights Studio in 1990-91. Two plays came out of this process; The Garage Sale produced by Griffin Theatre Company at The Stables theatre Kings Cross 1991 and Dancing Naked Among Roses performed at NIDA in 1992 with Cate Blanchett playing the key role.

She also worked as a drama researcher and story liner for legendary Australian drama producer Sue Masters (then at Roadshow, Coote and Carroll – now head of drama at SBS).

Currently Judith produces and writes high budget docos for national and international networks.

She is also a founding board member of Short Film Otago (since 2003) – and has read and selected numerous scripts for production since then. She has also executive produced many of the SFO films and mentored new talent in this genre.

Stephen Downes

Stephen along with Robert Sarkies made short film happen in Dunedin when they formed Nightmare Productions together in the late 1980’s. Over the course of 10 years a large group of diverse talents evolved around Stephen and Robert producing a string of highly successful short films. Those 10 years culminated in the realization of both their dreams – the opportunity to make a feature in Dunedin. That feature was Scarfies which went on to become one of New Zealand’s most successful recent feature films. Stephen has continued to shoot many short dramas for others and to direct and shoot his own projects as well.

Sina Walker

Sina has played key roles in several of Short Film Otago’s most successful films, writing one, editing one, directing three, and producing two. For ten years she was a writer and post producer for NHNZ, writing and editing projects for numerous major international broadcasters including National Geographic, Animal Planet, and Discovery Channel. She has directed two independent short films that have featured in the NZIFF's Homegrown programme. Sina is passionate about supporting emerging Pasifika and Maori filmmakers and writers to tell their stories.

David Hay

David is a multi-award winning screenwriter, short film director and TV maker. His short films have won a dozen awards and played at notable festivals all over the world. He’s also been a key creative on over 100 hours of factual television that have played on local and international networks including National Geographic, Channel 4, PBS and NHK.  

Callum Curran

Callum is a working Graphic Designer and Filmmaker based in Wellington, New Zealand.

Our Funding

We are very grateful to the Otago Community Trust who are our principal funder.

We are also very appreciative of the Accounting services provided by Crowe Howarth and the generous support provided on many levels by Natural History New Zealand.