Munkie

Our team is so proud of the journey Munkie has taken us on. From festivals all over the world to some exciting new prospects, it goes to show just how important supporting short films truly is.

Our Boosted donors allowed us to make this crazy thriller in 2020, and now in 2022, we're proud to have Munkie selected as part of Short of the Week's incredible curation of short films.

You can now watch Munkie for free online - so share, like, comment and enjoy. You helped us get here, and we're so grateful for the support: https://www.shortoftheweek.com/2022/03/24/munkie/

-Rachel and Steven

Kia Ora to our incredible Boosted donors! Hope you are all keeping safe wherever you are in NZ and the rest of the world. We wanted to update you on Munkie's journey since we wrapped filming just over a year ago, and our hopes from here.

Our little Kiwi thriller has screened at a number of overseas festivals this year, including Fantastia (Canada), and San Diego International Film Festival, Montclair, Beyond Fest, and Nightstream in the US. We were also honoured with the Audience Choice Short Film Award at San Diego - a totally unexpected and exciting outcome. At home, we were also proud to have Munkie screen at this year's NZIFF. While the event couldn't take place in Auckland, it was able to safely proceed in Wellington.

We hope to have Munkie feature in more festivals over the next several months, after which we will make it available online. Steven and I are so grateful for the overwhelming support you showed us during our Boosted campaign, and wanted to once again thank you for supporting NZ filmmaking. We are planning future collaborations together, and can't wait to bring these to your screens.

There are so many talented artists in this country, and they deserve to create and have their art seen by the world. The fact that you all made the time to visit Boosted and support this community inspires and warms our hearts. We hope you'll continue to support emerging artists in Aotearoa.

More news to come!

Rachel and Steven

A few weeks ago, team Munkie received a welcome surprise: we made it into Fantasia - the largest genre film festival in North America!

A lot of our filmmaking heroes and favourite films have premiered at Fantasia over the years, so it's an enormous privilege that Munkie gets to have its world premiere at the festival's 25th edition! The festival will take place online from 5-25 August, and will be accessible across Canada.

We are keeping our fingers crossed that Munkie will get to screen at a NZ festival so we can finally share it with our incredible Boosted donors. Munkie couldn't have happened without your generous donations, and we just wanted to take a moment to thank you once again for helping us bring this thriller to life.

Stay safe!

Rachel and Steven

Dearest supporters,

Our thesis film was finally completed last week and I've submitted it along with my exegesis exploring our antiheroine protagonist within the genre of crime. What a relief to complete the Masters in what has been a truly difficult, painful year. However, thank you all for taking a chance on us. We got it finished in two months since the shoot wrapped, and we feel we have delivered exactly what was promised when we started this crowdfunding campaign i.e. a compelling, meaningful film.

What next? We need to organise an Auckland cast & crew screening in January, and then a festival submission rollout for the year. You'll get a chance to see Munkie as Rachel and I just need to nut out some stuff about how we do this. In meantime, please continue to support projects here on Boosted. And wishing you all a lovely festive break.

Warmest,

Steve, Rachel and Team Munkie

After a few setbacks and date changes, Munkie finally wrapped production last week with DP Adam Luxton!

Thanks to your generous donations, the hard work of our talented cast and crew, plus the support of Shuchi Kothari, Department of Post, Image Zone, and more, we were able to move forward with a busy and exciting four-day shoot!

Our team is so thankful for everyone's well wishes throughout prep and production, not to mention all the incredible creatives who've been in touch to offer their services.

Post-production is now underway and we can't wait to share Munkie with our incredible Boosted supporters. 

Stay tuned for more updates soon!

Steven, Rachel and Team Munkie

To all our wonderful donors,

Just a short update to inform you that we will be filming early next month after having to delay our original shoot dates due to the recent lockdown. Thankfully we've retained most of the team and we're excited for what lies ahead. 

We also want to share with you news that our home girl, Xana Tang's latest film, MULAN is premiering on Disney Plus. Xana plays Mulan's sister, Xiu, so please check it out. Directed by Nikki Caro and shot here in Aotearoa. 🎥

Hi all,

We wanted to share a rare pic of Team Munkie, taken prior to attending the NZIFF's Best Shorts screening over the weekend. This was a very special day for our talented filmmaker friends who premiered their shorts. They've set a standard we hope to strive for, and we're equally scared and excited for what lies ahead for our short!

We are now on the home stretch with our campaign set to end this Thursday evening. At this point, we have $1800 left to raise! If you would like to support us in reaching our goal, please hit the DONATE button or share the campaign. Every little bit counts.

For our donors, please ensure you get a receipt once the campaign ends so you can receive a 33% tax credit for your donation. Some of you have donated large amounts (to which we are very grateful) so please don't forget this! We will also reach out to you all personally to say thanks once the campaign ends.

Despite two large US productions resuming in September at the time of our shoot dates, we are making progress. We've secured our locations and key crew whilst continuing auditions. Script revisions are still ongoing, as well as the visual treatment for this story.

Please do get in touch if you have any questions or can offer assistance.

Thanks for your incredible support!

Aroha nui,

Steve, Rachel and Team Munkie.

Hi all!

Steven and I are sitting here beyond overwhelmed for the messages of love and support over the past week. Your generosity, well wishes and messages are deeply felt and appreciated.

Just wanted to write a quick reminder that all donations to Boosted qualify for a 33% tax credit. All you need is a receipt from Boosted! For those who didn't disclose their emails, simply get in touch with Boosted directly once the campaign finishes.

More updates to come soon!

Much love

x

Kia ora all!

We wanted to give our heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you who has donated to our campaign and sent your support.

'Munkie' is such an important story to both Steven and myself, and the idea that we'll get to make a genre film, about our culture, with an entirely pan-Asian cast, is beyond our wildest dreams!

We will have more updates in the coming days, and with less than two weeks to go, we'd so appreciate if you could share our Boosted campaign far and wide! Remember - every little bit makes a BIG difference.

In case you didn't know, the Diversity Report on gender ethnicity balance from NZ On Air was released this past week, revealing once again Asian creatives are under-represented in producer, director and writer roles.

RNZ ran a panel discussion today featuring Shuchi Kothari, Julie Zhu, and our director, Steven, to discuss the findings. They were also joined by Amie Mills from New Zealand On Air, and TVNZ's General Manager of Local Content, Nevak Rogers. You can listen to the discussion here: https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/standing-room-only/audio/2018755597/where-are-the-asian-kiwi-faces-and-voices

While progress has been made, NZ still has a long way to go in providing opportunities for Asian creatives to tell our stories, and enrich the landscape of tv and film. This is why 'Munkie' must be made. Our perspective, our voices and our faces, must be seen and heard.

Much love,

Rachel and Steven and the rest of Team Munkie