New Zealand Film Commission Talent Development team leader Dale Corlett met with members of the BOP Film collective plus other local directors and writers during visits to Tauranga and Rotorua on Wednesday.

'I go out and meet people and find out what's going on,” says Dale. 'Ultimately I see my job as trying to minimise barriers and help evaluate who we can support.”

The commission is running a Locations Manager workshop in Auckland this coming weekend, so it seemed a good opportunity to take up BOP Film's Anton Steel's invitation to come a few days early, divert to the Bay of Plenty, and meet the local talent.

Dale has been in the film industry for about 20 years and and joked that he was deported from New Zealand to Scotland for his own bad acting. His OE resulted in spending nearly 17 years away in the UK where it seems he lived and breathed film.

In Scotland he was making films, helping others make films, working for a film collective, and giving out grants to make short films. Dale worked for the collective for 11 years.

When it came time to make the return to his homeland he found out first-hand one of the biggest problems faced by those in the industry – the people you work with become the closest close-knit family and the strong emotional ties makes it very hard to leave.

But return he did and Dale now works with a small talent development team in Wellington whose main goal is to connect and help progress talent. Their four-fold focus is finding, fostering, connecting and progressing the film making talent in New Zealand.

Through the financing and administration of incentive schemes, the commission has been involved in more than 300 feature films including Boy, Goodbye Pork Pie, Heavenly Creatures, The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Avatar, Whale Rider and Mr Pip.

So where is the money and how do interested film makers apply for it?

The NZ Film Commission Talent Development department has recently reviewed its funding and simplified the funding categories. It's now been honed down into three grants.

'In terms of talent development, diversity and equality are essential," says Dale. "The talent pool that we're developing in New Zealand reflects the communities that we're from.”

The commission ‘core-funds' established industry organisations such as the writing, producing and directing guilds in New Zealand. Also Script to Screen, and Tangata whenua and Pasifika organisations.

'We support these organisations to help with the sustainability of the industry," says Dale. "We're very keen for them to widen their activities outside of the main centres and extend their reach into the regions to work with organisations like the BOP Film collective."

The NZ Film Commission also supports the Big Screen Symposium which is a ‘coming together' of the NZ film industry over two days.

This year Dale and his Talent Development team are running location scouts and management workshops, including Saturday's Auckland workshop.

The NZ Film are very keen to hear from film makers, because they are passionate about helping them on their pathway.