A Brief History of Me
Gifted with parents who enjoyed movies, Ant Timpson was lucky enough to be escorted along to seminal 70s films like Taxi Driver and Apocalypse Now at a tender age, a pivotal move for the youngster.
Back in New Zealand, Ant experimented with filmmaking and made his first short film in 1987, The Gardener - a short best left unseen. He eventually spent too much money on a 35mm short about a lad with crab claws, then left a law degree at Otago University to pursue working in the film industry.
Luckily he made some easy cash with the many film marathons he charged his fellow students to endure. Ant then went on to create and publish New Zealand’s first film fanzines: Violent Leisure in the 80s and Filmhead in the 90s and through this eclectic network met several like-minded souls abroad that he would stay in contact with for the next three decades.
He then spent the next 10+ years working in all facets of the industry. From being a trainee to an AD to editing to exhibition. In 1992 he managed the influential Auckland arthouse Charley Gray’s before it fell to pieces amidst controversy.
In 1993 Ant set up the distribution company 2Brothers, designed to release specialist arthouse films in NZ/Australia.
And in 1994 Ant founded The Incredibly Strange Film Festival a collection of unusual films that travel the country. It was/is the best attended festival of its type in the world. The fact that there was nothing like it in the world helped to substantiate this claim. Well there is a French one called L’Etrange Film Festival but they’re French and don’t count.
From 1998 Ant began to travel internationally to show archival prints of films to cinematheques and film festivals in France, Canada and the US. He has one of the largest collections of exploitation cinema on 35mm and continues to supply exhibitors around the globe who support his interest.
In 2001 the formerly known “Incredibly Strange” became simply The Becks Incredible Film Festival but these days it has gone back to its roots and is known as The Incredibly Strange film festival once again. Each year Ant programmes his own section with the New Zealand International Film Festival.
In 2004 the 48HOURS - Furious Filmmaking competition became New Zealand’s premier short film event. Attracting hundreds of participants the films were then seen by hundreds of thousands in cinemas and online. In 2009 the event moved to television and is now a series on television. Peter Jackson continues to be a part of the event and each year chooses the wildcards.
In 2005 Ant partnered with Leanne Saunders and Paul Swadel to form Headstrong Headstrong. The company was given a fund by the New Zealand Film Commission to make low budget feature films. The first film out of the scheme was the anarchic comedy The Devil Dared Me To. The film was was released around the world and screened in over 20 international festivals. The second film was Greg Kings disturbing rape redemption film, A Song of Good which premiered at Rotterdam before screening in NZ at the NZFF. Headstrong have many other projects in the pipeline including Amatu, Summer Rhapsody.
In 2008 Incredibly Strange Television Ant partnered with MGM on Sky Television to bring a series of rare double features and unusual clips. The series is a first of its kind.
In 2009 it will be the 10th Anniversary of the 24HR Movie Marathon as hundreds huddle in the dark in AK & WGTN to watch 24 hours of non-stop movies.
In 2010 Ant partnered up with Vendetta Films to showcase new films throughout the country. Vendetta are the sponsor of the annual 24HR Movie Marathon.
Ant has several features in development (who hasn’t!) and is working on one called THE ABCS OF DEATH which was announced at Cannes 2011 and will be released in 2012.
In 2011 the project MAKE MY MOVIE was created by Timpson. It is an innovative multi-platform project that utilizes graphic design, social networking, a webseries and the public to decide which idea should receive $100,000 to be used to create a low budget feature film. It was funded by The New Zealand Film Commission and NZ On Air. The New Zealand Herald was the broadcast partner.
Ant is obsessed with the moving image, has 35mm, 16mm and super 8 gear lying everywhere at home and has an archive of rare films. His film influences are rather diverse - he cites Tod Browning, Sam Fuller, Busby Berkeley, David Cronenberg and Andy Milligan as influences.