July 2020 Round information for funding applicants - Scripted, Factual and IDF
July is the first round of the new financial year and we expect to receive a large number of applications.
Given the widespread impacts that Covid-19 is having on the sector, for the July round we will be prioritising larger-scale drama productions that will give sizeable crews assurance of work, and balancing this with support for a range of Factual projects at different budget levels that might more easily be made in different Alert Levels.
Please read the full July 2020 information for funding applicants here.
July funding round priorities:
Factual
- Genres prioritised include Documentary, Information, and Events.
- We will also be considering a small number of previously-supported Regional Media projects in a closed round.
- Approximately $10m has been allocated for content intended for general audiences.
- Development applications for complex Factual projects that require significant research and that are co-funded by the supporting platform will be accepted in this round.
Scripted
- Scripted applications for the Premier strand of our Scripted Roadmap will be considered.
- Approximately $17.5m has been allocated for content intended for general audiences.
- Development applications for Scripted content development (Mainstream and Diverse) will be considered. Please see the Development Roadmap.
Industry Development Fund
- To this round we are accepting applications to all three strands of our Industry Development Fund: Professional Development, National Conferences and National Awards.
- The annual budget for this fund is $450k and is generally oversubscribed so there will be a high bar for new projects to secure funding.
- Please see our Development Roadmap for more information.
Important dates:
1 May 2020, 4pm - Funding round opens
28 May 2020, 4pm - Application deadline. Round closes.
16 July 2020 - Applicants notified. This date may be extended at NZ On Air's sole discretion.
Please note: The Government has announced a funding package to provide additional funding to NZ On Air in order to reduce platform contribution fees for the next financial year (1 July 2020). More information regarding NZ On Air’s contribution expectations will be shared shortly after the release of these funding guidelines.
Covid-19 Level 3 guidance for media organisations
Following the Prime Minister’s outline of what life will look like in COVID-19 Alert Level 3, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage has updated the guidance for media operations in Level 3.
The guidance is available on the Ministry’s website here. If you have any queries, please send these to the Ministry by email: essentialservices@mch.govt.nz
Production survey
Thank you to everyone who has already completed our Covid-19 production survey.
If you have a funded production and have not yet filled out the survey, we ask that you please complete it via the link here. Please be assured your information will be treated in the strictest of confidence. This information helps us to understand the impacts of Covid-19 and what interventions are helpful.
New York Film and TV Awards Winners
Congratulations to the cast and crew of Runaway Millionaires, The Bad Seed and Educators who have all been awarded medals at the 2020 New York Film and TV Awards!
Fearless Productions' debut television project Runaway Millionaires took home four medals for Best Camerawork, Best TV Movie, Best Screenplay and Best Direction.
South Pacific Pictures' improvised comedy Educators was awarded a Bronze World Medal in the ‘Streaming Comedy’ category and their five-part drama series The Bad Seed received a Silver World Medal in the ‘Entertainment Program: Drama’ category.
Other South Pacific Pictures’ productions to receive Finalist Certificates were The Brokenwood Mysteries 6 and Westside 5, which were both acknowledged for Best Drama.
Farewell to Cindy Beavis
NZ On Air extends our condolences to the friends and whānau of pioneering community radio broadcaster Cindy Beavis.
As founding co-ordinator of New Zealand's first community radio station, Wellington Access Radio, Cindy Beavis demystified the media by showing people of all ethnicities, lifestyles and beliefs how to make radio programmes.
Her hard work and belief in the power of representation broke down doors to create a platform for voices to be heard.