A short film about New Zealand has given one young film-maker
his 'Big Break'.
The film Working Day by Andres Borghi from Argentina
was selected by New Zealand film legend Sir Peter Jackson as the
winner of Tourism New Zealand's 100% Pure 'Your Big Break' short
film competition.
The winner has just been announced in the US, with the film due
to screen this evening to viewers of the 25th Film Independent
Spirit Awards, the premier independent film event in the US.
Andres Borghi was one of five finalists in the short film
competition that travelled to Queenstown last month to direct their
films alongside Lord of the Rings producer Barrie Osborne.
Sir Peter Jackson said: "The standard of all five films was very
high. Any of them deserved to win, but it came down to personal
choice. [Working Day] stood out as a fresh and original
piece of storytelling. This was an extremely accomplished piece and
I will definitely be keeping an eye out for Andres' future
work."
"100% Pure New Zealand jump started my work and career," says
Andres Borghi, who also acted in his film. "I also thank Peter and
Barrie for helping me polish my work and gain international
exposure."
Borghi and the other finalists - two Americans and two New
Zealanders - were selected from a pool of over 1,000 screenplays
submitted between 9 December 2009 and 15 January 2010.
Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive Kevin Bowler said interest
in the competition exceeded expectations, with the competition
website - www.your-big-break.com - attracting 18,000
votes and 2.5 million video views in the first phase of the
competition.
"This campaign has generated a huge amount of interest from the
film community both here and internationally, and was extremely
successful in terms of both the number of entries received and
website views.
"The involvement of industry heavy-weights Sir Peter Jackson and
Barrie Osborne helped attract attention in the US, which can be a
challenging market to get our 100% Pure New Zealand message across
in.
"This competition has not just created 'talkability' around New
Zealand, it has also given us five excellent short films that
capture New Zealand's scenery, our people and culture which will be
seen around the world."
The five winning films will be shown on the Independent Film
Channel (IFC) and to around 1,800 celebrities, media and film
industry professionals in the 100% Pure New Zealand lounge at
tonight's Spirit Awards ceremony.
Television advertising on IFC and Sundance over the last month
has helped drive awareness of the competition, and is expected to
increase viewership of the Spirit Awards and the winning film.
Engagement through social media websites has also been strong,
with over 1,400 fans following developments through Facebook and
the 'Your Big Break' blog.
A follow-up online campaign will run from Monday 8 March,
encouraging film-lovers to book their New Zealand holiday now. The
campaign will run in conjunction with Air New Zealand, with
discount airfares of USD848 return on offer.
Check out the competition website: www.your-big-break.com