Our problem is that we’ve always been rather lazy. After writing that bold and pretentious manifesto, we have made precisely one feature film. In a New Zealand context, we can explain it like this: There is 48 Hours, a filmmaking competition where teams write, shoot, edit and score a short film over a single 48-hour period. And there is the 24 Hour Movie Marathon – 24 hours of non-stop movie madness on the big screen. We’ve never taken part in 48 Hours, preferring the one where you sit on your ass for 24 hours rather than having to go through the gruelling experience of making a damn movie.

The 24 Hour Movie Marathon, 2011, at the gone but not forgotten Paramount Theatre in Wellington. Row 3, Matthew is out of focus but Justin stares down the barrel of the camera.

However, we have made some movies, always on a shoestring, and have learned a lot along the way. So, the purpose of this website is to share our experiences, and to keep writing about movies. And who knows, maybe it will inspire us to make another one some day.

Matthew grew up in the Bay of Plenty, where he misspent his youth wagging school so he could go to the movies. He arrived in Wellington in 2000, at a time when the city was fast becoming New Zealand’s filmmaking capital. There he met Justin and Mark at a screenwriter’s group and attended a crash course in filmmaking at Avalon Film & TV School.

After years of watching movies, Matthew started a collaboration with Mark that led to Blind Panic, and to keep things in the family, the production was largely filmed at Justin’s house!

Matthew often found himself helming low-budget projects, such as short comedy Burst and a heavy metal music video for Wellington band Bulletbelt directed by Jason Howden (Deathgasm, Guns Akimbo).

Recently, Matthew has focussed on screenwriting, where there are no pesky issues like actors, money, and bad weather.

Mark discovered his love for films while working in a video store back in the 1980s. A few years later, he became the FX creator/supervisor for Robert Sarkies’ Nightmare Productions, showing off his creative streak on such award-winning short films as Dreammakers, Flames from the Heart and Signing Off. In 1999, he wrote 13 short horror episodes entitled ‘From Under the Bed’ for the children’s show, What Now?

That same year, while working on Robert Sarkies’ first feature film Scarfies, Mark conceived the idea for his short horror film Splinter, which was completed with funding from Creative NZ. He then dedicated himself to furthering his skills as a scriptwriter and director while embarking on his first feature film, Blind Panic.

Mark was tragically killed in May 2023. Right up to his death, he was writing – focussing on children’s horror stories. We will share some of his unfinished works on this website in his memory.

Justin grew up in the rural community of Huirangi, Taranaki, and began his academic journey at Massey University studying technology. It was during his first year there that he encountered Eraserhead – a surreal cinematic experience that warped his mind and led him to pursue a degree in media studies.

Driven by this newfound passion, Justin relocated to Wellington in 2000 to study at Avalon Film & TV School. There, he connected with fellow creatives Matthew and Mark, collaborated on student projects, and directed his own short film. He later lent his editing skills to several of Matthew’s productions.

As Wellington evolved into the heart of New Zealand’s film industry, Justin joined the pioneering team at Wētā Digital (now Wētā FX), where he currently serves as IT Support Technical Lead. His role bridges the technical and creative worlds, supporting the infrastructure behind some of the biggest blockbusters in cinema.