Matthew Mawkes has made three fully-independent short films to date. He began writing scripts in high school and to pass the time watched hundreds and hundreds of films, developing a taste for movie-making and an appreciation for the cinematic past.

Matthew embarked on a half-year crash course in filmmaking at Avalon Film and TV School where he met Justin Young, afterwards writing and directing his first short film, 'And We All Fall Down', in late 2001. The story of a single mother isolated on a farm searching for her missing daughter, the film was shot on Super 16mm on a budget of around $6,000.

In 2004 he followed this up with 'In Limbo', a guerrilla-style digital short made for less than $600, about three friends who clash after an accident, ensuing in a cat-and-mouse chase through the New Zealand bush.

With fellow filmmakers Mark Willis and Justin Young, Matthew co-founded Point Blank Films in 2007. Later that year Matthew embarked on his third short, 'The Stranger', a serio-comic story of a man who tries to cut himself off from the outside world only to come face-to-face with an intruder. Completely self-funded and self-produced, the film was shot in HD on the Panasonic AG-HVX200 camera.

Matthew is currently writing a feature film with Mark Willis.

From an early age, Mark has had an extreme passion for movies. In 1988 he enrolled in the Winter Dawn Film Course in Dunedin and later joined Robert Sarkies' Nightmare Productions. Mark worked as the SPFX creative supervisor on Robert Sarkies' short films, as art director for the 50s comedy 'Flames from the Heart' and both in the art and SPFX departments on the feature film 'Scarfies' in 1999. Mark also provided his services as script consultant on all these productions.

Mark worked in television with the production of the children’s educational series ‘The Tiki Tiki Forest Gang’, in puppeteering and set work. In 1991 he won a contract to create and write 13 short drama/suspense episodes entitled 'From Under the Bed' for the children’s TV show 'What Now?' Mark also self-funded and directed a 25 minute comedy short entitled 'The Amulet' – a spoof of ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’.


In 2000 Mark moved to Wellington and started work on his next short film ‘Splinter’, with funding from the Screen Innovation Production Fund. It was shot on Super 16mm. In between his own personal projects, he lent his services to other filmmakers as camera operator, first assistant director and script editor.

In 2007 Mark and fellow filmmakers Matthew Mawkes and Justin Young started Point Blank Films with the aim of making and encouraging genre films within the filmmaking community. Future projects Mark is working on include a horror anthology aimed for television entitled ‘Screamers’ and two feature films, one co-written with Matthew Mawkes.

Justin Young is never happier than when sitting in a crowded cinema, waiting for the lights to dim and the curtains to open. The magic of the cinema has always had a hold on him. He studied for a Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies at Massey University and had his first production experience there when he took the available practical filmmaking papers.

After completing his degree the desire to continue on the filmmaking path led him to Wellington where in 2000 he undertook the six month course at the Avalon Film and TV School. This is where he first met Matthew Mawkes, starting their long-term creative partnership. While here Justin also shot his first short, a sci-fi entitled ‘Hardwired’.

Justin later worked at Blue Bicycle Flicks as a trainee editor. During this time he received funding by TV4’s RADz to produce a 90 second short, ‘Greenfingers’, a quirky story of an elderly woman who digs up a human hand in her garden. He also worked with Matthew Mawkes as editor on ‘And We All Fall Down’, a short film shot on Super 16mm, and again on Matthew's short film ‘In Limbo’.

In 2007, along with Matthew Mawkes and Mark Willis, Justin co-founded Point Blank Films and was the co-producer, sound recordist and editor on Matthew’s short film ‘The Stranger’. He was also the second unit director of photography for the commercials that appear in the background of the film. This also acted as a test of the high-definition camera that was used in the final shoot.

Justin has a background in IT, skills that have served him well in his filmmaking endeavours. He has a great interest in new filmmaking technology and finding new ways to push the envelope of what can be achieved on screen for next to nothing in terms of cost. He is excited by the new horizons opened up by the internet and its many social networks, including distribution and marketing possibilities.