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Jessica Charlton is a New Zealand cinematographer and scriptwriter who has worked since 2009 on over 30 short films, television productions, and feature-length films as well as music videos, web series, and documentaries. [1]

Life and career

Charlton was born in London but raised in Invercargill and Queenstown. [2] She graduated from The New Zealand Film & Television School in around 2009. [3]

In 2012 she shared with Juliet Bergh the New Zealand Writers Guild awards for Best Feature Film Script and New Writer Award [4] for Existence, a feature-length drama starring Loren Horsley (co-star of Eagle vs Shark) and Matt Sunderland. It premiered in the 2012 New Zealand International Film Festival, [5] [6] and was also accepted that year as part of the Industry-only Breakthru Screenings at the Melbourne International Film Festival. [5]

NZ on Screen calls Existence a "low budget," "salvagepunk" film, and describes it as "a rare entry in the Kiwi sci-fi feature catalogue." [7] The New Zealand International Film Festival said in a press release that it ties into an older, more established tradition of New Zealand storytelling, the " man alone" story set in scenic natural environments, often found in New Zealand 1980's films such as The Navigator, The Quiet Earth, and Vigil. [5]

Existence is also notable because the production team is "predominantly" female, including the producers Mhairead Connor and Melissa Dodds. [5] Meridian Energy gave the filmmakers special permission to film at the Makara West Wind Farm, [5] [8] on Wellington's south coast, as part of a 24-day shoot. [9] Additionally, the Existence team were among the last filmmakers to have the benefit of working with leading New Zealand filmmaker Graeme Tetley on developing their script. [5]

In 2010 Existence had been one of the first recipients of the New Zealand Film Commission's $250,000 Escalator grant, [10] [8] and was the first film completed as part of that scheme. [5] That year the Escalator scheme offered financial and other support to provide "four teams of talented, visionary filmmakers a fast track to making a first feature film." [9] Escalator limits a project's budget to NZ$250,000, and requires "creative filmmaking ideas explicitly conceived with low budget production in mind." [9] Beyond the funding, the Existence team have praised the Escalator scheme's additional benefits, especially its "boot camp" (a 4-day workshop), [11] calling it "a great stepping-stone into feature film production." [9]

Charlton also worked on the short "sci-fi, action/adventure film" Flip (2019; written and directed by Jessica Grace Smith). [12] Like Existence, the film deals with an isolated mother trying to save her family in a "post-apocalyptic" environment. [10]

In 2017 Charlton was the filmmaker for Jessica Grace Smith's award-winning short film Everybody Else is Taken, [2] and was the director and cinematographer for the short film Discord. [1] She was the cinematographer for the 2020 documentary feature Loimata, The Sweetest Tears. [13] In 2022 she was the executive producer of short film Buzzkill.[ citation needed]

References

  1. ^ a b "Jess Charlton". NZOnScreen. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Jess Charlton: Cinematographer: Overview". NZonScreen. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  3. ^ Wood, Stacey (13 November 2010). "Film school marks 10 years of turning out young talent". The Dominion Post. p. A13. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  4. ^ "Jess Charlton: Awards". NZOnScreen. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "It's the End of the World at the Wellington Film Festival". Scoop.co.nz. 11 July 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  6. ^ Partridge, James (4 September 2012). "WELLINGTON FILM 'EXISTENCE' A BIG WINNER AT THE 2012 SCRIPT WRITERS AWARDS NEW ZEALAND". AdmitOne.co.nz. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  7. ^ "Existence". NZonScreen. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  8. ^ a b Fox, Michael (2 November 2010). "Makara to become stage for post-apocalyptic Western". The Dominion Post. p. A4. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
  9. ^ a b c d "On the Escalator: An Update". WIFTNZ. 15 June 2011. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  10. ^ a b "Existence". nzfilm.co.nz. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  11. ^ George, Sandy (6 April 2011). "NZFC invites 12 teams for low-budget Escalator initiative". Screendaily.com. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  12. ^ "Flip". nzfilm.co.nz. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  13. ^ "LOIMATA, The Sweetest Tears". NZ On Screen. Retrieved 9 May 2024.

External links

Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Jess_Charlton&oldid=1222972786"