ABOUT

Born in Sussex, England, Chaz declared to his parents his desire to be a filmmaker at 9 after seeing Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park. He got his start on Alan Rickman film The Search for John Gissing in 2000, before working for Oscar-nominated producer Alison Owen (Elizabeth). A role in the development team at Miramax Films followed, working under execs Colin Vaines (Gangs of New York/Cold Mountain) and Ollie Madden.

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Chaz moved to Aotearoa New Zealand in 2006 and has since written, directed, and produced two award-winning web series including romcom 101 Dates and the apocalyptic thriller End of Term featuring Thomasin McKenzie (Jojo Rabbit/Last Night in Soho) and Jayden Daniels (Shortland Street/Evil Dead Rise). Past short film work includes family drama The Shoe Box and the family fantasy short Broken Glass. In 2012 he wrote and directed the hit stage romcom Someone Like You, followed by a second queer-centred comedy in 2016, The Next Best Thing.

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Also in 2016, Chaz co-founded Promised Land Tales with Adam Reynolds which led to the internationally acclaimed LGBTQ fairy tale children's book trilogy Promised Land, Maiden Voyage and Raven Wild. Their work attracted global media coverage and support from the likes of George Takei and Sir Ian McKellen.

 

In 2019, Chaz released his middle-grade fantasy novel Soulfire, and he was lead Producer and a collaborating filmmaker on multi-genre anthology film Encounters released in early 2021.

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Chaz's family fantasy screenplay The Glassmaker was a Finalist in the 2021 ScreenCraft Family Screenplay Competition, and a Quarterfinalist in the 2022 Final Draft Big Break Screenplay Contest. His sci-fi/thriller Endurance also placed as a Quarterfinalist in the 2021 BlueCat Screenplay Competition, as a Semifinalist in the 2021 ScreenCraft Sci-Fi/Fantasy Screenplay Competition, and as a Quarterfinalist in the 2022 Final Draft Big Break Screenwriting Contest. His horror-comedy screenplay Not Dead Yet was a Quarterfinalist in the 2022 ScreenCraft Horror Screenplay Competition, as well as the 2022 ScreenCraft Comedy Screenplay Competition.

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In 2022, Chaz wrote, directed, and produced the queer psychological thriller short film You're Out, which screened at NZ's leading genre film festival TERROR-FI, Canada's Image+Nation LGBTQ film festival, and the UK's biggest genre film festival FRIGHTFEST. Most recently, his supernatural thriller Previous Occupants was a Quarterfinalist as one of the top 26 horror-thriller scripts for the 2023 Slamdance Screenplay Competition.

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Chaz is a member of the Directors & Editors Guild of Aotearoa New Zealand and is represented by John E. Ferraro of Valleywood Entertainment.