Singh's a finalist in top movie contest
Award-winning local filmmaker Rajneel Singh is on the move again … and this time he is looking at making it big.
The 32-year-old Aucklander has been named one of 12 finalists in the NZ Herald / New Zealand Film Commission / NZ On Air sponsored Make My Movie competition with his project Number 8 Wire.
A win in the competition, which will earn the winner $100,000 towards the making of their film, will propel Singh into the world of feature film making.
But Fiji-born Singh, the only Indian shortlisted out of 800 entries, needs your help to sway the votes in his favour.
“Number 8 Wire” is an action-thriller set in the deep bush. A synopsis and poster for the project is available on the competition at www.makemymovie.co.nz/finalist/finalist-number-8-wire/ where fans are encouraged to “Like” the project via a Facebook button. The idea with the most “Likes” gains a sizable advantage towards being chosen by the judges.
Singh is no stranger to such competitions, having previously been a finalist in the Your Big Break Filmmaking Competition (judged by Sir Peter Jackson and produced by Matrix/Lord of The Rings producer Barrie Osborne) with his short film “Blank Spaces”.
“Blank Spaces” also won the prestigious 2011 MBF Indian Film Festival short film competition, while Singh’s previous short “Big Bad Wolves” also screened earlier this year at the 2011 Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in France.
Singh said the competition was “a fantastic opportunity for young filmmakers to get on with the business of making movies rather than wading through potentially years of development that can kill your passion for a project altogether”.
“The Make My Movie competition stands as an ingenious way of allowing the New Zealand public to have a say on the types of movies that get made, and who gets to make them,” Singh told the Indian Weekender.
“Because the public are crucial to the decision of which film gets made, we need New Zealanders to have their say by voting at the website and telling their friends and family to voice their opinions as well.”
Anyone who has a Facebook account is eligible to vote and and votes can be made by visiting the Make My Movie website. Votes count for 20 per cent of the final score for each project and the winner of the competition will be announced on January 26.
The public has until November 30 to have their opinions heard. Votes are accepted from anyone worldwide, so friends and family living overseas can also vote.
The competition
The Make My Movie competition is run by local film producer and patron Ant Timpson who, apart from producing feature films such as The Devil Dared Me To, also organises the annual 48 Hour Film Competition and the 24 Hour Movie Marathon.
The competition asked for filmmakers from all over New Zealand to submit a synopsis for a potential film they wished to make and also design a slick poster promoting their idea.
The winner of the competition will be awarded $100,000NZD to turn their film idea into reality. The 12 finalists need public support to make up their total score, after which point two finalists are selected to battle head-to-head in a script-writing round.
The winning script will then be announced on January 26th and production of the winning film will then commence. The film is expected to premiere in cinemas sometime around April.
The competition was launched on September 15th, 2011 and is sponsored by the New Zealand Herald, the New Zealand Film Commission, NZ On Air and is supported by Panasonic, Images & Sound and the website Flicks.co.nz
The winners will also have their exploits in making their film recorded and broadcast online in a series of webisodes. The Make My Movie website already has four websites which cover the launch of the competition and the selection process.
The public voting round was launched on November 10 and finishes on November 30. Voting is done at the Make My Movie website and voters need to be logged into an active Facebook account in order to make their vote. The public can vote for as many films as they want out of the finalists.
Rajneel Singh
Rajneel Singh, of Hillsborough, Auckland, was born in the Fiji Islands and moved to California as a teenager before settling down in New Zealand, he first appeared into the media spotlight in 2003 when he produced a $700 tribute film set in the “Matrix” universe called The FaniMatrix.
The 15-minute short film became an internet phenomenon, accumulating over eight million downloads and quickly becoming New Zealand’s most widely seen short film in history as well as garnering the attention of “The Matrix” directors’ The Wachowskis.
“Big Bad Wolves” garnered several awards including Best Director at the Big Mountain Film Festival in 2006, Best Emerging Filmmaker at the Magma Film Festival 2006 and Best Short Film at the Donetsk Film Festival 2010.
Then in 2010 he was selected as one of five finalists to film a $100,000NZ short film for the Tourism NZ “Your Big Break” Competition where he produced “Blank Spaces”.
Singh was subsequently invited to screen “Blank Spaces” at the Australian Embassy in Paris, France and also at the 2011 MBF Indian Film Festival where he was awarded Best Short Film and a free return-trip to Mumbai, Indian, where he subsequently spent a month researching and working with the local film industry.
Since returning from India, Singh won the chance to attend and pitch a feature film idea at the Asian Pacific Producers Network Symposium, at the weekend (November 13) at Unitec, Auckland.
Award-winning local filmmaker Rajneel Singh is on the move again … and this time he is looking at making it big. The 32-year-old Aucklander has been named one of 12 finalists in the NZ Herald / New Zealand Film Commission / NZ On Air sponsored Make My Movie competition with his project Number 8...
Award-winning local filmmaker Rajneel Singh is on the move again … and this time he is looking at making it big.
The 32-year-old Aucklander has been named one of 12 finalists in the NZ Herald / New Zealand Film Commission / NZ On Air sponsored Make My Movie competition with his project Number 8 Wire.
A win in the competition, which will earn the winner $100,000 towards the making of their film, will propel Singh into the world of feature film making.
But Fiji-born Singh, the only Indian shortlisted out of 800 entries, needs your help to sway the votes in his favour.
“Number 8 Wire” is an action-thriller set in the deep bush. A synopsis and poster for the project is available on the competition at www.makemymovie.co.nz/finalist/finalist-number-8-wire/ where fans are encouraged to “Like” the project via a Facebook button. The idea with the most “Likes” gains a sizable advantage towards being chosen by the judges.
Singh is no stranger to such competitions, having previously been a finalist in the Your Big Break Filmmaking Competition (judged by Sir Peter Jackson and produced by Matrix/Lord of The Rings producer Barrie Osborne) with his short film “Blank Spaces”.
“Blank Spaces” also won the prestigious 2011 MBF Indian Film Festival short film competition, while Singh’s previous short “Big Bad Wolves” also screened earlier this year at the 2011 Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in France.
Singh said the competition was “a fantastic opportunity for young filmmakers to get on with the business of making movies rather than wading through potentially years of development that can kill your passion for a project altogether”.
“The Make My Movie competition stands as an ingenious way of allowing the New Zealand public to have a say on the types of movies that get made, and who gets to make them,” Singh told the Indian Weekender.
“Because the public are crucial to the decision of which film gets made, we need New Zealanders to have their say by voting at the website and telling their friends and family to voice their opinions as well.”
Anyone who has a Facebook account is eligible to vote and and votes can be made by visiting the Make My Movie website. Votes count for 20 per cent of the final score for each project and the winner of the competition will be announced on January 26.
The public has until November 30 to have their opinions heard. Votes are accepted from anyone worldwide, so friends and family living overseas can also vote.
The competition
The Make My Movie competition is run by local film producer and patron Ant Timpson who, apart from producing feature films such as The Devil Dared Me To, also organises the annual 48 Hour Film Competition and the 24 Hour Movie Marathon.
The competition asked for filmmakers from all over New Zealand to submit a synopsis for a potential film they wished to make and also design a slick poster promoting their idea.
The winner of the competition will be awarded $100,000NZD to turn their film idea into reality. The 12 finalists need public support to make up their total score, after which point two finalists are selected to battle head-to-head in a script-writing round.
The winning script will then be announced on January 26th and production of the winning film will then commence. The film is expected to premiere in cinemas sometime around April.
The competition was launched on September 15th, 2011 and is sponsored by the New Zealand Herald, the New Zealand Film Commission, NZ On Air and is supported by Panasonic, Images & Sound and the website Flicks.co.nz
The winners will also have their exploits in making their film recorded and broadcast online in a series of webisodes. The Make My Movie website already has four websites which cover the launch of the competition and the selection process.
The public voting round was launched on November 10 and finishes on November 30. Voting is done at the Make My Movie website and voters need to be logged into an active Facebook account in order to make their vote. The public can vote for as many films as they want out of the finalists.
Rajneel Singh
Rajneel Singh, of Hillsborough, Auckland, was born in the Fiji Islands and moved to California as a teenager before settling down in New Zealand, he first appeared into the media spotlight in 2003 when he produced a $700 tribute film set in the “Matrix” universe called The FaniMatrix.
The 15-minute short film became an internet phenomenon, accumulating over eight million downloads and quickly becoming New Zealand’s most widely seen short film in history as well as garnering the attention of “The Matrix” directors’ The Wachowskis.
“Big Bad Wolves” garnered several awards including Best Director at the Big Mountain Film Festival in 2006, Best Emerging Filmmaker at the Magma Film Festival 2006 and Best Short Film at the Donetsk Film Festival 2010.
Then in 2010 he was selected as one of five finalists to film a $100,000NZ short film for the Tourism NZ “Your Big Break” Competition where he produced “Blank Spaces”.
Singh was subsequently invited to screen “Blank Spaces” at the Australian Embassy in Paris, France and also at the 2011 MBF Indian Film Festival where he was awarded Best Short Film and a free return-trip to Mumbai, Indian, where he subsequently spent a month researching and working with the local film industry.
Since returning from India, Singh won the chance to attend and pitch a feature film idea at the Asian Pacific Producers Network Symposium, at the weekend (November 13) at Unitec, Auckland.
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