The Dunedin Film Office has a new lead, and the role continues to help grow the good news and activity in the city’s screen industry.

A new face at the Dunedin Film Office

Stefan Roesch has taken over the Dunedin Film Office and Film Otago Southland roles from Antony Deaker who has stepped up into the position of Team Leader Economic Development at Enterprise Dunedin.

Stefan has nearly 20 years of experience in market research and is a leading expert on film tourism, having worked for various destinations around the world, including the likes of VisitBritain (on the movie Paddington), Tourism Northern Ireland (Game of Thrones), VisitDenmark (Trolls) and the Jordan Tourism Board (The Martian). He’s produced three short films to date.

Filming in Dunedin

Recent filming in the city has included documentaries for New Zealand television, various commercials, scenes for an Indian feature film and most significantly the feature film One Winter.

One Winter is set in Dunedin during the 1981 Springbok Tour protests. During filming, crew numbers grew to around 120 of which half were from the city and a further 25% from wider Otago. The production also provided opportunity for more than 100 extras during filming.

Workshops and industry events

Dan Eady, of Creative Media Productions, successfully organised a workshop for directors and actors with Miranda Harcourt in October. Participants came from across the region and the workshops were highly valued. The DCC, Film Otago Southland and New Zealand Film Commission all supported the project.

Film Otago Southland recently organised a pre-Christmas party at Steamer Basin Brewery for our filmmaking community.

Congratulations

• The Girl, The Lamb and The Man was selected for the Sydney Women’s International Film Festival (November 2022). Jacinta Compton wrote, directed and starred in the short film, which was filmed in Dunedin in 2021.
• Good Company Arts won best Art Music Video at International Music Video Awards in Budapest in early December. This was for their film EQUILBRIST. They also won Best Independent Experimental Film at Asia’s Best Independent Experimental Film Festival in November, for their film VOYAGER/TAL.
• The Finding short film by Rebecca Tansley (Minerva Productions) has been selected for the upcoming Canberra Short Film Festival. The Finding was filmed near Dunedin and in Central Otago in 2020 with some support from the DCC.
• Cinnamon Cinemas, a trio of St Hilda’s Collegiate School pupils, won best school entry in this year’s 48Hours film competition.
• Port Chalmers-based writer/director Pennie Hunt has been selected by the New Zealand Film Commission to participate in Screen POD, Screen Canberra’s bespoke project development incubator.
• Rose Jamieson and Mark John, both Dunedin-based, have been invited to participate in a Production Sound Course run by Share the Knowledge, a not-for-profit company that provides exclusive New Zealand Screen Industry specialised training courses. The DCC and Film Otago Southland have provided travel grants.
• Ford Everest TV commercial was partly filmed in Dunedin mid-year.

Please email Stefan Roesch if you have any film-related news or content for the next Toi Oho edition.