Scholarship Registrations Available for The Power of Inclusion Summit

The Power of Inclusion summit is pleased to announce the Motion Picture Association Scholarship Programme, which will provide 150 tickets for people working or studying in the screen sector who are low or unwaged or belong to a community underrepresented in the screen sector.

Made available through sponsorship by Motion Picture Association (MPA), these delegates will attend The Power of Inclusion summit, which will take place in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand on 3 and 4 October 2019.

The Motion Picture Association said, “There is a demand from global audiences to see stories from every corner of the world and the multitude of new channels provides filmmakers with different voices to share their diverse stories. We are delighted to continue our practice of supporting emerging filmmakers to tell their stories through the Motion Picture Association Scholarship Programme and welcome all recipients to The Power of Inclusion summit.”

Featuring over 35 speakers from around the world, it will be a two-day summit that includes case studies, panels, conversations and keynotes. An unprecedented event in the region, the focus of these sessions will be around pertinent issues in the inclusion and representation space in the screen, entertainment and technology landscape.

120 of these tickets will be allocated via an automated ballot system. In order to enter the ballot, applicants must reside in New Zealand and meet the following criteria:

• Be currently working or studying in the screen sector;
  and 
• Earn less than the living wage i.e. $44,000 per annum;
  or
• Belong to a community underrepresented in the screen sector including, but not exclusive to, Māori, Pacific Island peoples, Pan Asian, gender non-binary, LGBTQ+ or people with a disability.

Applicants are not required to provide documentation of their status - the answer will be accepted on an honesty basis.

Registration will close on 4 September 2019. Successful applicants will then be required to complete a full registration within one week.

A further 30 New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC) funded tickets will be allocated via the NZFC and various New Zealand industry screen guilds.

The summit is hosted by the NZFC and Women in Film and Television International (WIFTI), with support from The Walt Disney Studios. Further programme and speaker announcements are to follow.

Announced Speaker Highlights

About the New Zealand Film Commission

The New Zealand Film Commission invests in original and culturally significant films, encourages talented New Zealand filmmakers through developing career pathways and facilitating connections offshore, and works to increase the number of people seeing New Zealand films here and overseas. It is responsible for marketing New Zealand’s screen production industry overseas and attracting international screen productions to New Zealand. The NZFC supports the growth of economic activity and helps ensure New Zealand has sustainable screen sector businesses operating within an internationally competitive screen sector.  The NZFC also helps negotiate co-production treaties and is responsible for administering the New Zealand Screen Production Grant, the Post, Digital and Visual Effects Grant and the 5% Uplift, and for certifying official co-productions and New Zealand films for tax purposes. 

International productions are eligible for a grant rebate of 20 per cent of qualifying New Zealand production expenditure. An additional 5 per cent grant is available to applicants who demonstrate significant economic benefits to New Zealand, recognising that screen productions can raise New Zealand’s profile internationally, attract high value tourists, international students and profile innovative and creative people and technologies.

Motion Picture Association

We are the voice of the global film and television industry, a community of storytellers at the nexus of innovation, imagination, and creativity. We work to promote and protect screen communities in the Asia Pacific. Our members are: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Netflix Studios, LLC, Paramount Pictures Corporation, Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., Universal City Studios LLC, and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Australia New Zealand Screen Association

ANZSA represents the film and television content and distribution industry in Australia and New Zealand. Its core mission is to advance the business and art of filmmaking, increasing its enjoyment around the world and to support, protect and promote the safe and legal consumption of movie and TV content across all platforms.