if funded, I'll make it here and use Kiwi actors and crew. You say "The idea that a filmmaker shouldn't tell the stories they want if they want to be noticed is ridiculous" Well -- that's exactly how I've felt when looking at the NZFC and what i've had the impression they're looking for -- these dark, 'New Zealand stories'. I was ready to stop trying altogether. Not able to tell the stories I want. I grew up in 1980?s white middle class Christchurch. 95% of the TV and films I saw were all American. The first non-white friend I had wasn't really until middle school and he was Asian, not maori. My 'culture' is this odd generic western type of thing. (you may think that's sad, but it's true.) The films I will make will reflect that. What does the NZFC expect? So, I may be desperate film maker (hell, the world is over-saturated with films for any one person to watch in a life time) But I'm not trying to dress up and pretend to be a popular kid -- I am a popular kid, just from a few streets over is all, wanting to make the films I'd want to watch (and think a huge audience out there might too) At the end of the day, a good story, one that can be commercially viable, needs to be at it's core, some sort of universal theme around the human condition. eg: About a boy looking for his