Irene Gardiner: Screen Producers' Association President on the call to force streaming giants to invest in New Zealand content and productions

Calls for the Government to force streaming giants to invest in New Zealand content as local productions struggle.  

The Screen Producers' Association says Netflix, Disney, Apple and Amazon should be forced to commission local programmes or pay into a fund from their local revenue  

President Irene Gardiner says declining ad revenue means TVNZ and Three have cut local productions by $50 million dollars, and Kiwis are missing out on their own stories.  

She told Andrew Dickens that streaming services have completely broken the traditional business model, so they’re looking to them to be part of the solution. 

Gardiner says they’re not asking for charity, just fairness and a level playing ground. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
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Speaker 2 (00:16):
A new law has just coming to affect in Australia
requiring international streaming services to make regulated investments in the
local screen content. So services like Netflix and Disney Plus
and now expected to fulfill a quota of Australian content
to continue streaming in the country. So, of course here
streaming regulation seems inevitable. The Labor Party floated an idea

(00:37):
of streaming tax, making the overseas giants pay a portion
of their New Zealand revenue to us to make more
key we stuff more content. So President of the New
Zealand Screen Producers Guild SPARTA is Irene Gardner, who joins
me now good morning to you and happy New Year.

Speaker 3 (00:51):
Irene, same to you, Andrew.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
So who has the right idea Australia or that original
idea we had about a streaming tax.

Speaker 3 (01:01):
Well, quite frankly at this point we'd take anything that
would help in terms of streamers regulation in New Zealand.
We have tended to campaign for a levee, which is,
you know, a percentage on the New Zealand revenue invested
back into the industry via our screen agencies, because we
don't already have any form of a quota system in Australia.

(01:22):
They've had a quota system for years for their traditional
free to air broadcasters, so it's easy enough to attach
a different piece of legislation off the back of that.
We don't have here, so that's why we've tended to
suggest a levee. However, we're open to anything that will help,
and you know, we're open to conversations with the Minister
and ministry officials as to the best way to do it.

(01:45):
The reason we're doing a little bit of a step
up to our campaigning now is just because you know,
with Australia having success after a very long campaign, the
time is now, and our minister has tended to say,
you know, let's wait and see what happens in Australia.
So we're kind of open to anything really that would
help us.

Speaker 2 (02:04):
Why why is intervention necessary, Why do we have to
do this, Why is it needed buy the.

Speaker 3 (02:10):
Industry because the streamers have completely broken the traditional business model.
You will remember about two years ago both of our
big main networks here announced major local production cuts and
We estimated at that time at about fifty million came
out of local production, and that is massive for New Zealand.
I mean, we're not a big industry, we're not a

(02:31):
big country. And that is basically because of declining advertising revenue.
Because these the streaming companies have broken that old model.
So they've caused the problem. So we look to them
to be part of the solution. And it's not like
we're asking for charity. I mean we're just asking for

(02:52):
you know, fairness and as I say, a level playground
because these people operate in New Zealand with no regulation
at all, they pay no tax, they use our broadband,
they harvest our data that you know, it just is
a very unfair situation and has been for some time.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
But the streaming giants, the streaming giants have broken the
model by funding their own stuff and then and then
putting it in and so surely we would want them
to fund stuff in New Zealand because they want it
to be on their platform and it might help, for instance,
if Netflix actually had an office in New Zealand. They
have one in Australia. But you know, why do they
not want to invest in our content providers?

Speaker 3 (03:31):
Well, to be fair in that Netflix they have shot
shows here that are not New Zealand productions. They have
bought New Zealand shows that are sort of out of license.
There's not a huge amount of money for our producers,
but it's something, and it's exposure for the shows. And
you might hope that the next step would be to
commission here, which they've been very slow to do. And
you're right, Andrew, they have a Netflix, a n Z

(03:54):
Australia New Zealand based in Australia, but you know, at
the stage they've done nothing here. And look, you know
if they and the other big streamers Disney, Amazon, Apple,
et cetera, would just voluntarily commissioning some shows in the territories,
that would be wonderful. I mean that perhaps that's the
way you do it, where if you do three commissions

(04:15):
a year you're exempt and if you don't, you pay
the levy. I mean, you know, we're open to whatever.
It's just you know, you're part of the ecosystem screen
ecosystem here, guys. You know, you don't want to estimate that.
I don't quite understand. I know they're big companies, they're commercial,
they push back, but it is not in their interest
to destroy local production in New Zealand or any other

(04:37):
territory in the world, because they need content exactly.

Speaker 2 (04:40):
And we've seen that New Zealanders like to see New
Zealand stuff. I mean, we've seen the success of Tina,
and we've seen the success of Takeaway TT Films and
it just keeps on going. So youh, I get it, Irene.
I thank you so much for your time today. Irene Gardner,
who is the SPARTA President, pay for things that for.

Speaker 1 (04:56):
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