Script Consultation & Polishing

Here is how this works in practice. Script consultation for projects targeting a New Zealand shoot or funding pathway works two channels in parallel: the local development community that gates Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga (The country Film Commission) greenlight and the global writing community that drove Oscar-nominated and Oscar-winning NZ screenplays. Our script consultants carry NZ Writers Guild credentials and working relationships with NZFC development advisors, SPADA producer assessors, and Pacific Media Network commissioning where applicable.

Here is how this works in practice. We work the structural and language layer through the lineage that delivered Taika Waititi's Jojo Rabbit (Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar 2019), Jane Campion's The Piano (Best Original Screenplay Oscar 1994) and The Power of the Dog (Best Director 2021), Niki Caro's Whale Rider, Andrew Adamson's Shrek (Best Animated Feature 2002), Lee Tamahori's Once Were Warriors, and Vincent Ward's Vigil and The Navigator.

Here is the short of it. Cultural-authenticity script consultation is a non-negotiable Aotearoa standard when stories engage te ao Māori. Our consultants set up it as a primary craft layer rather than a sensitivity pass. Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnership duties need iwi and hapū consultation when scripts touch Māori characters, communities, whenua, taonga, te reo Māori dialogue, waiata, haka, karakia, or mātauranga Māori classic knowledge, and we route drafts through Te Puni Kōkiri-aligned advisors, mana whenua representatives, and the Briar Grace-Smith / Witi Ihimaera / Hone Kouka / Hone Tūwhare writer-mentor network. Te reo Māori dialogue is asked with qualified Te Mātāwai-aligned reo practitioners. Pasifika narratives — Samoan, Tongan, Cook Islands Māori, Niuean, Fijian — engage the relevant community writer networks. Standard turnaround is one-week notes on feature drafts and 48-72 hour notes on TV episodics and commercial scripts, with rush services ready for urgent NZFC, SPADA, or global co-productions windows.