GREAT STORIES. REAL IMPACT.

Community Film Challenge pairs Wellington's talented filmmakers with local charities for one intensive weekend of filmmaking, turning real skill into real impact for the causes that need it most.

ONE WEEKEND. A TIGHT TURNAROUND. A FILM YOUR CHARITY CAN USE FOR YEARS.

FILMMAKERS AND CREATIVES

This isn't a weekend shoot for beginners. We're looking for filmmakers, editors, and content creators with the experience to deliver something genuinely great, whether you're working solo, as an existing crew, or as a team from an agency or production house.

You'll be paired with a local charity, get almost a week to develop your idea before cameras roll, and create up to five minutes of content for an organisation that actually needs it.

Build your portfolio, meet great people, compete for thousands of dollars in prizes, and make something that matters.

Register as a filmmaker

THE
CHARITIES

Every charity has an incredible story. Not every charity has the time or budget to tell it well.

Community Film Challenge matches your organisation with a professional creative team who'll spend time planning with you before creating up to five minutes of fresh video content: an “about” film introducing who you are, an “impact” film aimed at solving a specific problem, or a mix of both.

It's yours to keep and use for years, to recruit volunteers, connect with supporters, and share your impact. You'll need to be a registered Volunteer Wellington member to take part.

Register your charity

Why?

Wellington has some of the best film and creative talent in the country, and most of it never gets offered to the charity sector. Every not-for-profit has a story worth telling, and a one-minute film can often do more for a cause than a page of writing ever could. Making that content well takes real skill and that's where we need your help.

Volunteer Wellington also runs a corporate volunteering programme, helping local businesses put their staff's paid volunteer leave to good use, often through hands-on projects like gardening, painting, or a working bee. Those projects matter too. But we kept looking at Wellington's creative and screen sector and thinking there was an obvious gap: a volunteering pathway that puts real professional skill directly to work for a cause, not just a pair of hands for a day.

2026 is the United Nations' International Year of the Volunteer, and Volunteer Wellington is marking it by going big: putting professional creative skill directly into the hands of the causes that need it most.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Register (20 July – 20 August): filmmakers, charities, and student runners sign up.
Information night (Friday 21 August): an informational goal-setting meeting.
Matching night (Friday 11 September): everyone meets. Charities are paired with a filmmaking team and student runners.
Prep week: you can use as much or as little as you like of the week before to plan, script, and scout before a single camera rolls.
Shoot day (Friday 18 September): lights, camera, action.
Post-production day (Saturday 19 September): teams edit their footage into a finished film.
Hand-in brunch (Sunday 20 September): films are submitted, and everyone celebrates finishing over a scone.
Screening event at the Embassy Theatre (Friday 2 October): all the films screen together, and the awards are announced.
Films go live for charities to use and for public viewing.

AWARDS AND PRIZES

There's real prize money on the table, to be split between the filmmakers and charities. There is around $12,000 worth of cash, gear hire and spot prizes, across a range of award categories celebrating creativity, impact, and emerging talent (details coming soon). But most people don't do this for the prizes. They do it because it's a chance to use real skill for something that actually matters.

Thanks to our sponsors and prize partners (detailed below) for making this bonus incentive possible.

STUDENT RUNNERS

Want to know what it's really like to work on a film production? Care about your community? As a student runner, you'll be paired with a filmmaking team for the weekend, gain hands-on experience, and build real connections in the Wellington film industry, all while helping a local charity tell its story.

Open to tertiary students aged 18 and over. Apply solo or with a friend.

REGISTER AS A STUDENT

FANS AND FOLLOWERS

Every film gets its moment on the big screen at our public screening event at the Embassy Theatre.

Want to be first to know when tickets are available?

This year the dates don't work for you and you're heartbroken?

If we make it happen again we can let you know.

Join the mailing list

MEET THE ORGANISERS

Community Film Challenge is brought to life by a small, dedicated committee from Volunteer Wellington and the local screen industry, alongside a growing list of sponsors and partners making it all possible.

EMILY ARDERN

Emily, our Project Coordinator, is an award-winning creative, filmmaker and photographer. She runs her freelance business Emily Ardern Creative, is an editor and film assistant at Empire Films, and was the 2025 Wellington Winner of the Vista 48hr Film Competition. She has volunteered on multiple creative charity projects including work for The Aunties.

HELEN ANDERSON

Helen is the General Manager of Volunteer Wellington | Te Puna Tautoko. She co-founded Film for Change Aotearoa, a Wellington based charity that mobilised hundreds of volunteers to produce more than 200 short films for local charities over seven years. Alongside a career in community and philanthropy, she dabbles in impact film production and creative comms.

PAUL WOLFFRAM

Dr Paul Wolffram is an Associate Professor in the Film Programme at Te Herenga Waka, where he directs the Miramar Creative Centre. He is an award-winning film-maker with producer and director credits across feature and short film documentaries, and his practise focuses on cross-cultural production with indigenous communities in Aotearoa and the Pacific.