It takes many voices to tell a true story. These people share their unique talents to create the workshop whanau
WELBY INGS
Welby is a Professor in Design at Auckland University of Technology. In 2001 he was awarded the Prime Minister’s inaugural, Supreme Award for University Teaching Excellence and in 2013 and 2022, medals for his contributions to research and education.
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Welby is a Professor in Design at Auckland University of Technology. In 2001 he was awarded the Prime Minister’s inaugural, Supreme Award for University Teaching Excellence and in 2013 and 2022, medals for his contributions to research and education. Beyond these accolades Welby is a long-term gay activist and storyteller who has been heavily involved in New Zealand’s homosexual and prostitution law reform. Arrested numerous times, he has in recent years turned his activism to focus on scholarship, design and film making. His short films, Boy, Munted and Sparrow have been selected in competition at over 80 international film festivals. His critically acclaimed feature film PUNCH had its international premiere last year in the Tallinn Black Nights film festival. It is currently programmed across a spectrum of international festivals. The film’s distributors, The Yellow Affair, struck sales deals for North American rights with Dark Star Pictures and across the UK and Ireland with Peccadillo, in Germany and Austria with Salzgeber, and in France with Outplay.
https://www.nzonscreen.com/profile/welby-ings
https://tedxauckland.com/people/welby-ings/
Welby is a Professor in Design at Auckland University of Technology. In 2001 he was awarded the Prime Minister’s inaugural, Supreme Award for University Teaching Excellence and in 2013 and 2022, medals for his contributions to research and education. Beyond these accolades Welby is a long-term gay activist and storyteller who has been heavily involved in New Zealand’s homosexual and prostitution law reform. Arrested numerous times, he has in recent years turned his activism to focus on scholarship, design and film making. His short films, Boy, Munted and Sparrow have been selected in competition at over 80 international film festivals. His critically acclaimed feature film PUNCH had its international premiere last year in the Tallinn Black Nights film festival. It is currently programmed across a spectrum of international festivals. The film’s distributors, The Yellow Affair, struck sales deals for North American rights with Dark Star Pictures and across the UK and Ireland with Peccadillo, in Germany and Austria with Salzgeber, and in France with Outplay. https://www.nzonscreen.com/profile/welby-ings
https://tedxauckland.com/people/welby-ings/
KIM WEBBY
Kim is an award-winning director with over 30 years’ experience in the NZ film and television industries.
Read moreKim is an award-winning director with over 30 years’ experience in the NZ film and television industries. She has directed at least a dozen documentaries including a cinematic feature, “The Price of Peace” (2015) which won a New Zealand and four international awards. She is of Eurasian descent but often works in Maori and indigenous story spaces as well as with Chinese and European stories. Kim has also produced or co-produced a number of documentaries and several television series, including “Eye to Eye with Willie Jackson” and, “Marae DIY”. Kim began her career as a journalist, reporting, directing and story producing for 60 Minutes, Fair Go, One News, Native Affairs and Te Ao with Moana, as well as other news and current affairs programme. Kim works internationally from New Zealand and has produced and directed for Al Jazeera and the BBC. She currently has two new documentary films in development with the support of the NZ Film Commission, including hybrid documentary / drama “Memory of Longing”.
Kim is an award-winning director with over 30 years’ experience in the NZ film and television industries. She has directed at least a dozen documentaries including a cinematic feature, “The Price of Peace” (2015) which won a New Zealand and four international awards. She is of Eurasian descent but often works in Maori and indigenous story spaces as well as with Chinese and European stories. Kim has also produced or co-produced a number of documentaries and several television series, including “Eye to Eye with Willie Jackson” and, “Marae DIY”. Kim began her career as a journalist, reporting, directing and story producing for 60 Minutes, Fair Go, One News, Native Affairs and Te Ao with Moana, as well as other news and current affairs programme. Kim works internationally from New Zealand and has produced and directed for Al Jazeera and the BBC. She currently has two new documentary films in development with the support of the NZ Film Commission, including hybrid documentary / drama “Memory of Longing”.
THOMAS BURSTYN
Canadian-born cinematographer Thomas Burstyn made his feature debut supplying the film noirish imagery for 80s Kiwi chillers The Lost Tribe, and Mr Wrong.
Read moreCanadian-born cinematographer Thomas Burstyn made his feature debut supplying the film noirish imagery for 80s Kiwi chillers The Lost Tribe, and Mr Wrong. Since then, Burstyn has stacked up Canadian award nominations, and an Emmy nomination for The 4400. Working with Kiwi partner Barbara Sumner-Burstyn, he has expanded into directing documentaries alongside other photographic assignments, winning two Qantas awards for the Berlin-selected and Oscar nominated This Way of Life.
Canadian-born cinematographer Thomas Burstyn made his feature debut supplying the film noirish imagery for 80s Kiwi chillers The Lost Tribe, and Mr Wrong. Since then, Burstyn has stacked up Canadian award nominations, and an Emmy nomination for The 4400. Working with Kiwi partner Barbara Sumner-Burstyn, he has expanded into directing documentaries alongside other photographic assignments, winning two Qantas awards for the Berlin-selected and Oscar nominated This Way of Life.
Yih Wen Chen (Wen)
Wen is a Malaysian documentary filmmaker and journalist who has worked on international documentaries for Netflix, BBC, History Channel, Crime & Investigation Network, Euronews and CNA.
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Wen is a Malaysian documentary filmmaker and journalist who has worked on international documentaries for Netflix, BBC, History Channel, Crime & Investigation Network, Euronews and CNA. Her documentary on female circumcision, The Hidden Cut, won the Society of Publishers in Asia 2019 Awards for Excellence in Reporting Women’s Issues. She is also a Pulitzer Centre grantee. Wen is an alumna of IDFAcademy and American Film Showcase. In 2019, her debut feature documentary, “Eye on the Ball”, about Malaysia’s blind football team premiered in London. Most recently, Wen’s #MeToo short documentary, “The Boys Club”, won the NETPAC Award during its world premiere at the Busan International Short Film Festival 2022. Currently, she’s working on a documentary about marginalised communities in Malaysia,” Queer As Punk”, supported by Hot Docs.
Wen is a Malaysian documentary filmmaker and journalist who has worked on international documentaries for Netflix, BBC, History Channel, Crime & Investigation Network, Euronews and CNA. Her documentary on female circumcision, The Hidden Cut, won the Society of Publishers in Asia 2019 Awards for Excellence in Reporting Women’s Issues. She is also a Pulitzer Centre grantee. Wen is an alumna of IDFAcademy and American Film Showcase. In 2019, her debut feature documentary, “Eye on the Ball”, about Malaysia’s blind football team premiered in London. Most recently, Wen’s #MeToo short documentary, “The Boys Club”, won the NETPAC Award during its world premiere at the Busan International Short Film Festival 2022. Currently, she’s working on a documentary about marginalised communities in Malaysia,” Queer As Punk”, supported by Hot Docs.
David Oxenbridge
David Oxenbridge is an independent multi-platform transmedia producer, managing events and assisting on the sets of some of NZ’s largest film productions.
Read moreDavid Oxenbridge is an independent multi-platform transmedia producer, managing events and assisting on the sets of some of NZ’s largest film productions. Like most of Yalla’s crew, his path has been a winding one, with seventeen years spent in Korea, as a university lecturer, film journalist and social media marketer at the Korea Film Council. Since arriving back in Aotearoa he has co-produced, designed and implemented the transmedia strategy for Fierce Girls, a Canada/NZ digital co production and completed a Master of User Experience Design. He is a major contributor to the development of Yalla’s “Interference”, as well as managing the project’s ongoing outreach strategy. He is currently developing and producing a complementary digital series with the working title “Whose Pride”
David Oxenbridge is an independent multi-platform transmedia producer, managing events and assisting on the sets of some of NZ’s largest film productions. Like most of Yalla’s crew, his path has been a winding one, with seventeen years spent in Korea, as a university lecturer, film journalist and social media marketer at the Korea Film Council. Since arriving back in Aotearoa he has co-produced, designed and implemented the transmedia strategy for Fierce Girls, a Canada/NZ digital co production and completed a Master of User Experience Design. He is a major contributor to the development of Yalla’s “Interference”, as well as managing the project’s ongoing outreach strategy. He is currently developing and producing a complementary digital series with the working title “Whose Pride”
IZZY CHAN
Izzy Chan is a storyteller deeply curious about cultural and social trends poised to change life as we know it.
Read moreIzzy Chan is a storyteller deeply curious about cultural and social trends poised to change life as we know it. Her award-winning documentary feature on the rise of breadwinner moms and at-home dads, “The Big Flip—Stories from the Modern Home Front” (2016), premiered at the Austin Film Festival and Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, and was featured in the 2017-2019 American Film Showcase. As a film envoy, Izzy has travelled to Egypt, China, and Ukraine to conduct workshops on storytelling and strategy. After graduating magna cum laude with a double degree in Cinematic Arts and French from the University of Southern California, Izzy built a successful advertising career as a researcher and strategist. She leveraged her insights into human behaviour, social trends, and popular culture in her work on brands such as Apple, Google, Nike, Honda, Audi, Virgin America, and Visa. Brought up in Hong Kong and Singapore, Izzy’s creative process integrates her cross-cultural background, experience across diverse industries, and her passion for filmmaking and storytelling as tools for instigating understanding, action, and change. Izzy is currently working on “Matriarch”, a documentary series and feature, set in four matriarchal communities: the Minangkabau in Indonesia, the Mosuo in China, the Tuaregs in Africa, and the Khasi in India. Find out more at https://www.matriarch.world
https://www.izzychan.com/documentary
Izzy Chan is a storyteller deeply curious about cultural and social trends poised to change life as we know it. Her award-winning documentary feature on the rise of breadwinner moms and at-home dads, “The Big Flip—Stories from the Modern Home Front” (2016), premiered at the Austin Film Festival and Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, and was featured in the 2017-2019 American Film Showcase. As a film envoy, Izzy has travelled to Egypt, China, and Ukraine to conduct workshops on storytelling and strategy. After graduating magna cum laude with a double degree in Cinematic Arts and French from the University of Southern California, Izzy built a successful advertising career as a researcher and strategist. She leveraged her insights into human behaviour, social trends, and popular culture in her work on brands such as Apple, Google, Nike, Honda, Audi, Virgin America, and Visa. Brought up in Hong Kong and Singapore, Izzy’s creative process integrates her cross-cultural background, experience across diverse industries, and her passion for filmmaking and storytelling as tools for instigating understanding, action, and change. Izzy is currently working on “Matriarch”, a documentary series and feature, set in four matriarchal communities: the Minangkabau in Indonesia, the Mosuo in China, the Tuaregs in Africa, and the Khasi in India. Find out more at https://www.matriarch.world
https://www.izzychan.com/documentary
Naashon Zalk
Naashon Zalk is an award winning directing cinematographer with over 20 years of media experience. He is currently based in Auckland, New Zealand.
Read moreNaashon Zalk is an award winning directing cinematographer with over 20 years of media experience. He is currently based in Auckland, New Zealand. Naashon has worked in over 40 countries, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific and South-East Asia for broadcasters (Al Jazeera, TVNZ, ABC, NOS, RTL, ARD, CCTV, Food Network), development and non-profit organisations (UNAIDS, UNDP, World Bank, International IDEA, Fairtrade) and corporates (Vodafone, Siemens, Aon).
Naashon is also a highly experienced photojournalist and has shot for publications such as TIME, Newsweek, The Guardian, Der Spiegel, The Washington Post, New York Times, US Vogue and many others. He is also a highly proficient writer.
He was selected as a 2015 International Emmy Awards documentary category judge
Naashon Zalk is an award winning directing cinematographer with over 20 years of media experience. He is currently based in Auckland, New Zealand. Naashon has worked in over 40 countries, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa, the Pacific and South-East Asia for broadcasters (Al Jazeera, TVNZ, ABC, NOS, RTL, ARD, CCTV, Food Network), development and non-profit organisations (UNAIDS, UNDP, World Bank, International IDEA, Fairtrade) and corporates (Vodafone, Siemens, Aon).
Naashon is also a highly experienced photojournalist and has shot for publications such as TIME, Newsweek, The Guardian, Der Spiegel, The Washington Post, New York Times, US Vogue and many others. He is also a highly proficient writer.
He was selected as a 2015 International Emmy Awards documentary category judge
Elina Osborne
Elina Osborne was a senior strategic communications advisor for the NZ Police and a video content production leader for Crimson Education in New York City and Auckland.
Read moreElina Osborne was a senior strategic communications advisor for the NZ Police and a video content production leader for Crimson Education in New York City and Auckland. She has grown a following on YouTube around her outdoor adventures and is passionate about impactful documentary storytelling.
Elina Osborne was a senior strategic communications advisor for the NZ Police and a video content production leader for Crimson Education in New York City and Auckland. She has grown a following on YouTube around her outdoor adventures and is passionate about impactful documentary storytelling.
Duncan Dykes
Duncan is a talented writer, director and producer. A recent screen graduate of Unitec, Duncan's graduating film Childhood Room screened at the 2020 NZ International Film Festival's Homegrown Programme.
Read moreDuncan Dykes (he/him) is an Auckland-based director and screenwriter. After graduating from the New York Film Academy's Summer Screenwriting program and Unitec's Screen Arts course in screenwriting and directing, his graduate film 'Childhood Room' played at NZIFF2020 as one of the top NZ shorts of the year. He currently works in creative and crew capacities with local production houses Yalla Media and RPStudios, specializing in commercial and short-film work, while continuing to refine his voice as a filmmaker. A lifelong film obsessive, Duncan decided to be a filmmaker at five years old, and his dream is to eventually create feature films.
Duncan Dykes (he/him) is an Auckland-based director and screenwriter. After graduating from the New York Film Academy's Summer Screenwriting program and Unitec's Screen Arts course in screenwriting and directing, his graduate film 'Childhood Room' played at NZIFF2020 as one of the top NZ shorts of the year. He currently works in creative and crew capacities with local production houses Yalla Media and RPStudios, specializing in commercial and short-film work, while continuing to refine his voice as a filmmaker. A lifelong film obsessive, Duncan decided to be a filmmaker at five years old, and his dream is to eventually create feature films.
DYEGO CORTINAS
Dyego is a Uruguayan director and producer who has worked for the last 15 years in the world of drama and advertising.
Read moreDyego is a Uruguayan director and producer who has worked for the last 15 years in the world of drama and advertising. He is a big supporter of narratives that uplift people, inspire us to grow as a community and help develop tools for a more peaceful understanding of our humanity. An optimist and a realist: Always trying to see the glass half full, but also realising when there's an empty half that needs to be filled. And work hard to fill that half. Expect him to be mindful and attentive to others and keep a calm familiar environment around any people he works with. For the last 6 years, his main focus has been in the lighting department of diverse film productions and television series in New Zealand, from Netflix dramas to local content, commercials and documentaries, including The Brokenwood Mysteries, WestSide, The Legend of Monkey, Sweet Tooth, and an infinite number of commercials and campaigns, as well as documentaries, short films and web series. For the last two years he has been involved in independent projects, either as a Director, Producer, Camera Operator or Gaffer, directing music videos and producing commercials.
www.dyegocortinas.com
@have.a.nice.day.humans
Dyego is a Uruguayan director and producer who has worked for the last 15 years in the world of drama and advertising. He is a big supporter of narratives that uplift people, inspire us to grow as a community and help develop tools for a more peaceful understanding of our humanity. An optimist and a realist: Always trying to see the glass half full, but also realising when there's an empty half that needs to be filled. And work hard to fill that half. Expect him to be mindful and attentive to others and keep a calm familiar environment around any people he works with. For the last 6 years, his main focus has been in the lighting department of diverse film productions and television series in New Zealand, from Netflix dramas to local content, commercials and documentaries, including The Brokenwood Mysteries, WestSide, The Legend of Monkey, Sweet Tooth, and an infinite number of commercials and campaigns, as well as documentaries, short films and web series. For the last two years he has been involved in independent projects, either as a Director, Producer, Camera Operator or Gaffer, directing music videos and producing commercials.
www.dyegocortinas.com
@have.a.nice.day.humans
KIMBERLEE BASSFORD
Kimberlee Bassford is an independent documentary filmmaker from Honolulu, Hawai‘i, She has deep roots in the Asia-Pacific community and a mission to produce documentary films that advance social justice, strengthen our connections to one another and deepen our understanding of the world.
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Kimberlee Bassford is an independent documentary filmmaker from Honolulu, Hawai‘i, She has deep roots in the Asia-Pacific community and a mission to produce documentary films that advance social justice, strengthen our connections to one another and deepen our understanding of the world. She advocates for gender equity and diversity in film and television, with her work focusing on Asia-Pacific women and young girls, actively seeking to correct underrepresentation of those groups in the media, She won the Student Academy Award in Documentary and a CINE Golden Eagle Award. Her films have been screened at events such as the Cannes Film Festival, the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, and Gate City Women's Film Festival. She is currently producing and directing I Of The Water, with Marilyn as Co-producer https://www.makingwavesfilms.com
Kimberlee Bassford is an independent documentary filmmaker from Honolulu, Hawai‘i, She has deep roots in the Asia-Pacific community and a mission to produce documentary films that advance social justice, strengthen our connections to one another and deepen our understanding of the world. She advocates for gender equity and diversity in film and television, with her work focusing on Asia-Pacific women and young girls, actively seeking to correct underrepresentation of those groups in the media, She won the Student Academy Award in Documentary and a CINE Golden Eagle Award. Her films have been screened at events such as the Cannes Film Festival, the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, and Gate City Women's Film Festival. She is currently producing and directing I Of The Water, with Marilyn as Co-producer https://www.makingwavesfilms.com
Vikram Dasgupta
Vikram Dasgupta hails from Canada. Born in India, Vikram has shown himself as an important emerging voice in documentary storytelling.
Read more Vikram Dasgupta hails from Canada. Born in India, Vikram has shown himself as an important emerging voice in documentary storytelling.
“…I got to know him well only after he had taken a reckless leap from his safe, comfortable parental home in Delhi to Canada to pursue filmmaking some twenty years ago. I used to see him briefly during my trips home from Sweden and knew him as a chubby kid, though lovable and generous to a fault but his future seemed very bleak as he had absolutely no interest in studies, nor any particular skills.” A less than ringing endorsement from a very proud uncle who now follows Vikram’s rapidly rising film career, which has seen his works awarded at Cannes and submitted for an Oscar. His debut feature documentary “Beyond Moving” premiered in Canada at Hot Docs and has gone to theatrical distribution, while work continues on his upcoming feature, Dog-Ma, a deeply personal journey about his mother feeding 500+ stray dogs on the streets of Delhi. He is now in development with Yalla on a new feature documentary, “Vrindavan: City of Widows”
Vikram Dasgupta hails from Canada. Born in India, Vikram has shown himself as an important emerging voice in documentary storytelling.
“…I got to know him well only after he had taken a reckless leap from his safe, comfortable parental home in Delhi to Canada to pursue filmmaking some twenty years ago. I used to see him briefly during my trips home from Sweden and knew him as a chubby kid, though lovable and generous to a fault but his future seemed very bleak as he had absolutely no interest in studies, nor any particular skills.” A less than ringing endorsement from a very proud uncle who now follows Vikram’s rapidly rising film career, which has seen his works awarded at Cannes and submitted for an Oscar. His debut feature documentary “Beyond Moving” premiered in Canada at Hot Docs and has gone to theatrical distribution, while work continues on his upcoming feature, Dog-Ma, a deeply personal journey about his mother feeding 500+ stray dogs on the streets of Delhi. He is now in development with Yalla on a new feature documentary, “Vrindavan: City of Widows”