Lake Wānaka Tourism is partnering with creative media business Monster Children Group on an inaugural short film award with a $10,000 prize package.

The prize includes products from Sony, a production budget, and mentorship for the winner to create their short film on location in Wānaka.

New Zealand and Australian filmmakers are being asked to submit entries that centre on a place where they feel most connected. There are no limits to where this place can be.

Each 'Short Story' should be no longer than five minutes and can be as short as 30 seconds. 

Films will be judged by a panel of expert industry guest judges (Ben Briand, Kai Neville, Lula Cucchiara, Benn Jae and Dylan Rivers) representing either side of the ditch and a wide range of genres. 

Lake Wānaka Tourism marketing and communications manager Gizelle Regan, who is leading this project, said it has been a huge piece of work with many moving parts and a few disruptions due to Covid-19.

“Our partners Monster Children have done an exceptional job to get the short film awards to where it is today. We are very excited to launch this project, which is a departure from traditional tourism marketing campaigns to a model that takes a more holistic approach,” she said.

“Short Stories is a celebration of storytelling, originality, and provides a platform to encourage work that creates a powerful connection between people and place and supports the economic diversity of the district by highlighting the depth and breadth of the local film industry.” 

Film Queenstown Lakes coordinator Kahli Scott said Wānaka is an incredible place for filmmaking and storytelling.

“It has [a] strong local film industry base and is an exciting hub for new talent, too. Cultivating local storytelling that draws on our district’s strong sense of place is a focus area for the film office right now, so we’re excited to support this project. The competition winner will find no shortage of inspiration and expertise to draw on here,” Kahli said.

Find out more here and enter here.