When: Sat 21 March 2026, 9am - 4pm
Where: The Button Factory, 2 Abbey Street, Tāmaki Makaurau (opposite Old Folks Association)
Tickets: From Humanitix $15 waged, $10 unwaged
Join us for a one-day workshop for emerging queer writers about crafting a short film script. This is an opportunity to gain insight from experienced filmmakers about shaping characters and story dynamics for a short film.
Hear from writer/director Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu (We Were Dangerous, When We Were Kids, Ani) and writer/director Todd Karehana (Socks, The River, Ahikāroa) about storytelling decisions they made in their acclaimed short films using examples. The workshop will include a mix of watching, listening, writing exercises and group work.
All levels of experience welcome. To get the most out of the workshop, you are encouraged to come with a short film concept in mind, no matter how early on it is.
SCHEDULE
8:45am - Doors open, coffee and tea available
9am - Intro
9:15am - Guest Speaker - Josephine Stewart Te Whiu (We Were Dangerous, When We Were Kids, Ani)
10:30am - Break
11am - Josephine Stewart Te Whiu continues
12pm - Lunch break (bring own lunch - K’Rd is near by)
1pm - Guest Speaker - Todd Karehana (Socks, The River, Ahikāroa)
2:30pm - Break
3pm - Writing exercises and group work led by Todd Karehana
4pm - End
Todd Karehana (Ngai Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāti Tarāwhai, Ngai Tamaoki, Ngāti Ruapani ki Waikaremoana) is a Māori and Queer writer-director. Since completing his MA in Screen Production (First Class Honours) at the University of Auckland in 2017, he has taken on leading roles as a writer, story consultant, storyliner, and script editor across series and features including Ahikāroa, The Exceptional Squad, The Taneatua Express, The Panthers (Season 2), The Child, We Are Still Here, and Ture.
Between 2020 and 2023, Todd served as co-creator on two scripted series: Ngā Hau E Whā, an LGBTQA+ high-school drama that received NZ On Air development funding, and The River, a supernatural audio drama that won Best Experimental Audio at the 2023 imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival.
Todd has also contributed to the sector in key advisory and leadership roles: as a Funding Advisor at NZ On Air, an external advisor to Te Māngai Pāho and Fresh Shorts, and a board member of Ngā Aho Whakaari and Proud Voices on Screen.
As a director, Todd has led the creation of award-winning short films spanning documentary and fiction, including The Spectacular Imagination of the Pōhara Brothers, My Brother Mitchell, Young and on the Paepae, Night Ride, and Socks. He recently completed Jane Campion’s prestigious, Netflix-funded two-year director’s intensive, A Wave in the Ocean. Todd is passionate about nuanced stories that give voice to working-class, Māori, and queer lives.
Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu (Ngāpuhi/Te Rarawa) is a writer and director of Māori and Pākehā descent from Aotearoa. Josephine wrote Titty and Bash (Dir. Awanui Simich-Pene) for Waru (2017), which premiered at TIFF. In 2018, Josephine was awarded the Māori Screen Excellence Award from the NZFC, alongside her fellow Waru filmmakers. Her directorial debut short film Ani (2019) premiered at the Berlinale Film Festival and went on to screen at TIFF. Ani has since been acquired by Fox Searchlight Shorts. Ani won Best Short Film by a Māori Director at Wairoa Film Festival, Best Film and Best Cinematography at Show Me Shorts. Her latest short film, When We Were Kids (2020) won best short at NZIFF, and Best Short at MWFF. Josephine is an alumni of the 2020 TIFF Filmmakers Lab where she was awarded the Canada Goose Fellowship. Her first feature film We Were Dangerous premiered in competition at SXSW in 2024, where she won the Special Jury Prize for Filmmaking. We Were Dangerous has since screened at festivals worldwide and was the Opening Night film for the NZIFF 2024. Aside from her own filmmaking/storytelling journey Josephine moonlights as a screenwriter for various NZ television series.
This workshop is made possible with generous support from the New Zealand Film Commission Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga.