Seed 2025

Claire is a script editor/ EP/ Creative Producer who works globally with development agencies, screenwriters, producers, directors, broadcasters, streamers and film festivals. Claire was Senior Executive (Creative) at Australia’s national screen agency and was instrumental in establishing the First Nations Film Fund. From 2003 – 2019 Claire was Chair of “Australia’s most significant screen event” (International Screen Guide), the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) where she devised, established and secured the funds for MIFF’s acclaimed industry programs and is a longstanding mentor with eQuinoxe Europe. Claire was awarded an AM for Services to the Australian Film Industry and the Jill Robb award for outstanding leadership in the Victorian Screen Industry.

Karin is a descendant of British settlers in Aotearoa and ancestors from the Pacific island of Aitutaki. She began her career as a reporter at the Cook Islands News in Rarotonga, going on to work for broadcast networks in New Zealand and the USA. She founded Multinesia Productions to support global indigenous storytelling, working with First Nations communities in Canada, Alaska and the Pacific on grassroots community projects. Her independent films have screened on PBS prime time and at festivals around the world. Credits include Burning of the Gods, an experimental short film which premiered at NZIFF, and Pacific Mother, a feature documentary on Moana birth practices. Karin co-chairs the Board of Script to Screen and is a former board member of SPADA, the NZ producers’ guild. She also serves as a company director for Taro Patch Creative, a South Auckland arts hub.

Briar Grace-Smith (Ngāpuhi) is an award-winning writer and director of plays, screenplays, and short stories. Briar wrote the feature film The Strength of Water, directed Charm as part of the acclaimed omnibus Waru, and co-wrote, co-directed and acted in Cousins, an adaptation of Patricia Grace’s novel. She also co-directed and wrote for Rūrangi: Series 2 – Rising Lights. Her television writing credits include Fishskin Suit, This is Piki and Kaitangata Twitch (NZ) and Grace Beside Me and Swift Street (Australia). Briar is a recipient of the Arts Foundation Laureate Award and was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) in 2019 for services to theatre, television, and film. That same year, she and Ainsley Gardiner received the Sundance Merata Mita Directing Fellowship. In 2022, Briar was invited to join the Directors Branch of the Academy.

Nick Ward is an award-winning screenwriter and producer with a career spanning everything from supernatural thrillers to romantic comedies. His feature credits include the cult hit Stickmen and the box-office success Second-Hand Wedding. Recently, he was the script mentor on Tinā. On television, Nick’s name is behind some of New Zealand’s most successful and enduring series, including Fresh Eggs, Outrageous Fortune, The Brokenwood Mysteries, Westside, Under the Vines, Bird’s Eye View, and the international hit Wellington Paranormal. A storyteller with range, edge, and serious staying power.