April 3, 2025 • 18 mins
You meet anyone overseas and say New Zealand, the first thing they bring up is hobbits.
Lord of the Rings was a crowning achievement for film production in Aotearoa, and opened the door for more movies to be filmed here.
A Minecraft Movie is just the latest overseas blockbuster to be produced on our shores, and that’s hitting cinemas around the world this weekend – while local film Tee-nah has been a box office sensation.
But as the cost of film production soars around the world, what does the future hold for New Zealand? And can we break out of the shadow of Middle Earth?
Today on The Front Page, we’re off to the movies with the chief executive of the NZ Film Commission, Annie Murray.
Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network.
Host: Chelsea Daniels
Sound Engineer: Richard Martin
Producer: Ethan Sills
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Jelder.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I'm Chelsea Daniels and this is the Front Page, a
daily podcast presented by the New Zealand Herald. You meet
anyone overseas and say New Zealand. The first thing they
bring up is Hobbits. Lord of the Rings was a
crowning achievement for film production in Altieroa and opened the
(00:26):
door for more movies to be filmed here.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
A Minecraft movie is just the latest.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Overseas blockbuster to be produced on our shores, and that's
hitting cinemas around the world this weekend, while local film
Tina has been.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
A box office sensation.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
But as the cost of film production saws around the world,
what does the future hold for New Zealand and can
we break out of the shadow of Middle Earth? Today
on the front Page, we're off to the movies with
the Chief Executive of the Enzed Film Commission, Annie Murray. Annie,
(01:04):
can we start with what exactly the Film Commission is?
Where does it set in the production, commissioning, promotion side
of our local film industry.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
The New Zealand Film Commission does all of those things
in relation to film. So we fund New Zealand film
on the cultural side of our mandate and we are
funded by the Lottery's Commission and the Ministry for Culture
inherited to fund film, promote it and participate in its production.
So that's wonderful. New Zealand films like Tina are which
is out at the moment. And then on the economic side,
(01:36):
we administer the New Zealand screen Production Rebate and we
attract production into New Zealand. And that's the likes of Minecraft,
which just came out this week, or Sweet Tooth or
the Brad Pitt movie that's shooting in the South Island soon.
So we do both the economic and the cultural.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
So there are two big things to celebrate with local
movies at the moment. Hey, you mentioned Tina as being
a box office sensation.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Basically, when you walked in, I thought, here's someone that
can offer my kids something different.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
The other schools say, we're to Ridget.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
You're probably the first Polynesian woman we've ever had, though.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Congrats.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
According to Flex, it has made four point two million
dollars since it came out in February. What do you
think has led to that success.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Tina is a beautiful story. It's an authentically told story.
It's really wonderfully acted. It's well written. It's just a
premium film and it has really resonated with a broad audience.
It is about a Sarmon mum who loses her daughter
in the christ Church earthquakes and burries herself in her work,
(02:51):
which is to be the mum of a school choir.
And it's a really beautiful emotional story. But it's also
a coral film, so the music in it is fantastic.
It's really hard to watch Tina without crying. I think
everybody who's seen it has had a cry but also
a laugh. And it's just a really fantastically warm New
(03:14):
Zealand film. So it's currently sitting at number six of
all time New Zealand films. So it's taken a four
point two million at the box office, which means two
hundred and seventy five thousand people have been to see
it so far in its first month, so I think
we're just into week five now. What that means is
(03:34):
that that has filled Eden Park more than five times
over with people who've gone to see Tina. Not even
Coldplay did that. So this is an incredible success and
it's the biggest New Zealand film since Hunt for the
Wilder People. Back in twenty sixteen. We're absolutely delighted with
the team who've put this together and we're asking them,
(03:55):
what are you doing next?
Speaker 2 (03:57):
You mentioned Times for the World of People and Tina
is the highest grossing local movie since then. We seem
to have a box office hit every few years. But
it's a little irregular, isn't it. So why do you
think we are kind of reluctant to celebrate our own movies.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
I don't think we are reluctant to celebrate them. I
think New Zealanders really do love New Zealand stories, and
you know, you can see it in ten r. The difference,
I think is that, you know, if we look back
over the history of New Zealand film, going to the
cinema to see it was everything back in the day,
So Hunt for the Wilder People was probably coming in
(04:31):
at the tail end of that kind of golden age
of cinema going ben COVID hit, and we've had a
complete change in behavior, not only as a result of
COVID but also the rise of the streamers. So there's
so many more ways in which to see films. So
the box office is just the beginning of the story.
And I really want to emphasize that it's while TENR
(04:52):
has been a fantastic hit, we haven't yet seen how
it's going to play around the world, how it will
sell into various platforms around the world, as all of
our films do. So we need to stop being so
focused on that first two, three, four weeks at the
box office and focus more on the long life cycle
of films, which means, you know, there might be a
(05:12):
film that is a quiet release locally, doesn't you know,
make a big noise at the box office, but sells
fantastically well around the world and is seen by an
awfully large number of people, and that's also a success.
So we need to look at how we judge the
success in a different way.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
And of course the other thing we can celebrate is
that Minecraft is hitting cinemas after being filmed here last year.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Who are you I am, Steve.
Speaker 5 (05:48):
Ok?
Speaker 2 (05:48):
What does it mean for our local film economy that
these big blockbusters are still coming to shoot in New Zealand.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
It's everything to our local industry. They are coming in
spend big money, so Minecraft will spend by the time
it's finished well over one hundred and fifty million dollars
in New Zealand's economy. So that is benefiting businesses accommodation
what calls all the crew who work on it. It's
fantastic for developing careers. So the experience that our crew
(06:17):
gain on a project like Minecraft is phenomenal and they
get a credit like that on their CV and they
go on to bigger and better things. Also, the work
for our post production industry, so Wetter Affects did a
lot of the visual effects for Minecraft. It's fantastic work
for them. And we're talking highly skilled, very well paid jobs.
(06:40):
These are jobs that set up our people for a
career in a creative, rewarding, fantastic industry that actually will
pay them quite well.
Speaker 6 (06:54):
I understand that this is a risk averse industry. I
get it, But at two hundred million dollar movie are
also a risk, you know, and it doesn't always work out,
but you take the risk anyway, and instead of making
one two hundred million dollar movie, try making twenty ten
million dollar movies or fifty fifty right, fifty four million
(07:17):
dollar movies.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
There have been global concerns around the rising cost of
film production. It's been a topic of conversation at CinemaCon
in Las Vegas just this week with President of Warner
Brothers Global Distribution Jeff Goldstein, raising concerns around production, marketing
and turning a profit. Are we seeing those same concerns
impact New Zealand.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
I think rising costs are a concern across the board,
not just for the film industry. Inflation has affected every
facet of our economy, so film is no exception to that.
What we are doing here at the Film Commission about
that is we are taking a fewer and bigger mantra
to the way that wes. We're seeing a similar mindset
(08:03):
out of Hollywood two. So there has been a global
reduction in the number of new titles being commissioned, so
a bit more money being spent on fewer titles. What
that means is that we're able to focus on fewer
things doing them really, really well. What I see there
is a real uplift and quality. So rather than sprinkling money,
(08:26):
you know, a little bit across a lot of things,
consolidating into spending more money on fewer things.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Our our tax credits enough to entice studios to come
make their movies at the bottom of the world. I
know a lot of horror movies like ex Perl and
Meghan filmed here during COVID and Universal did return here
to film Megan two point oh as well, Hey, exactly.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Now, I just want to correct one thing. It's not
a tax credit. It's a common misconception. The rebate has
nothing to do with tax It's a cash rebate. So
if a production comes in and spends one hundred dollars,
they get a twenty dollars rebate on the spend that
qualifies in New Zealand. So it's a very efficient and
fast system. So we are world renowned for having an accurate,
(09:22):
fast and efficient rebate system and one that has integrity.
So that is a real selling point for New Zealand
and I'm very proud of my team that administers the rebate.
So the rebate, in terms of the amount that's offered,
the percentage sits around the middle of the pack. There's
about one hundred places around the world as places, because
they're not countries. Some countries have several, but there's one
(09:45):
hundred odd places around the world that offer rebates ours.
It's around about the middle and it's part of the
offering that we have for international production. We've also got
a very flexible labor market. We've got incredible creative crew.
We've got you know, Oscar winners up the Wazoo in
New Zealand that we should be incredibly proud of. So
(10:07):
they come here for premium production, really strong creative, a
favorable exchange rate. If you're coming this way from America,
of course, you get very good value on screen, and
the American companies that we deal with are very quick
to say that they get the best value for money
in New Zealand. We're not looking to attract everything to
(10:28):
New Zealand. We are a premium filmmaking destination. We are
very very good at it here in New Zealand. I
think I'd really love New Zealanders to understand that this
is something that we are incredibly good at and we
don't want everyone in the world coming here. We want
the best, so that's what we get with things like
a Minecraft movie, Sweet Tooth, East of Eden, fantastic series
(10:51):
that Netflix have been shooting here, Heart of the Beast,
which is Brad pittsfilm being shot around Queenstown quite soon.
So we're premium. We do it well.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
What is the process of trying to get studios to
film in New Zealand. I can imagine that it just
takes years. I mean, do you know something that's going
to be filmed here saying five years time, Well.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
We've had Avatar shooting here for a number of years
and a few more years to come. So Avatar three,
which I think is called Fire and Ash, will release
later this year. The Avatar has put about a billion
dollars into our economy. The wonderful thing about those longer
running titles is that somebody can come in in terms
of career development. They can come into the first one
(11:35):
or series one, whatever you want to call it, as
a runner or an intern and they can come out
at the other end of the fifth title in five, six,
seven years as a head of department. So they're fantastic
for career development. Wonderful four putting a spotlight on New
Zealand internationally. So to have a filmmaker of the caliber
of Jim Cameron now I think almost now a New
(11:56):
Zealand citizen. He's been very vocal about saying he loves
New Zealand, he wants to make all his movies here.
I mean, this is one of the biggest best filmmakers
of all time, who's chosen to live in Wellington and
make all his stuff there, So you know, we do
an incredibly good job. The attraction work starts years earlier,
(12:16):
and it starts with very strong relationships that my international
attraction team have built with the decision makers, mostly in
Los Angeles because that is where the bulk of this
work comes from. So we have a team who are
frequently in the LA market. Our head of international Attraction,
Philippo Mossman, is up there right now. She'll be there
(12:38):
for a good month or so. She's gathering intel constantly,
whether she's there or here, and figuring out who to
talk to, what are they doing next, where are they considering,
How can we help? And we have a very quick
responsive attraction team who will provide information to the decision makers,
whether they want locations, whether they want to look at
(12:58):
their budgeting, they need to talk to a local line producer,
what's the crew availability. We help with all of that.
Speaker 5 (13:08):
The one thing I left New Zealand remembering is how
warm the people were, and how generous and kind and
welcoming they are. Just they just are very happy people,
and of course they're happy they live in New Zealand.
Speaker 4 (13:22):
It's an interesting industry because it has a lot of
offshoots outside of the actual movie that you're making, and
it has a lot of benefits for the economy, for
local economies, and especially with something like these movies, they
generate tourism. You know, there's you know, I can't really
think of any other industry, in any industry that has
(13:44):
the reach and the depth.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
I mean, you go overseas, you speak to anyone, they
find out you live in New Zealand and they ask
you about Hobbits in terms of the behemoth that the
Lord of the Rings franchise is to New Zealand and
how important it is to our tourism. Do you think
that we're ever going to see something like that replicated?
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Again?
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Absolutely so. Lord of the Rings has been an incredible
boom to New Zealand tourism and to New Zealand generally
in terms of putting us on the map. So we're
more than the all Blacks now and we have been
for a very long time, and we have to acknowledge
the incredible work of Sir Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa
Boyans and others in creating that phenomenon. They're now busy
(14:29):
making the Hobbit. So the Hobbit film is the next
in that dynasty, and it will be out in the
next few years, and just see what an impact that
has on New Zealand tourism all over again. While you know,
it's been a while between drinks, though some of you
may have seen The War of Rahrem, which was the
really beautiful anime Hobbit story that came out late last year.
(14:54):
There will be another big boom around the Hobbit film,
but there also is around Minecraft. You know, the work
that was done to create a Minecraft game that has
specific New Zealand downloadable content. So these locations like White
or More Caves, the able Tasma, National Techapal, Doubtful Sound, Kapit,
(15:15):
the Island, those are all locations in a Minecraft game now,
so any Minecraft player can download those locations and play
in them. So the benefit to New Zealand tourrism of
that sort of creative content is really hard to put
a value on. It's just enormous.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
I don't know if you've ever sat through a Marvel
movie to watch the post credits scene Annie, but it
can be a surprise sometimes to see the New Zealand
government logo show up there near the end, and it's
usually for things like post production or visual effects work
that's been done here. Is it right though, that we're
offering those rebates to these multinational studios to make their
(15:55):
movies here when they've got insane. New Zealand can't even
comprehend the money behind these studios, right.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
So the thing with that, the rebate, which we call
it the PDV the post production and Digital visual effects rebate,
that's all about creating New Zealand jobs. So there are
jobs behind every one of those names that you see
up there in the New Zealand section of the credits.
And for every one hundred dollars that Disney or you know,
(16:23):
Universal or whoever spends in New Zealand, they get twenty
dollars back. We get eighty dollars spent in our economy
that we would not get otherwise. It's a really simple equation.
If that company doesn't get the rebate, they go elsewhere.
They go to Australia, they go to Canada, they go
to the UK and Europe. We must offer the rebate
(16:43):
in order for our economy to benefit from that eighty
percent of their spend.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Any are you optimistic for the future of New Zealand film.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Oh. Absolutely, We've got fantastic projects coming through. I mean,
just if we talk for a minute about the international side.
On the inbound production side, we've got Avatar, Fire and Ash.
We've got Meghan two, which you mentioned. The cool thing
about that is that it's directed by a New Zealander
did a fantastic job with the first one. He's going
again on Megan two. We've got Spartacus, House of Asher.
(17:12):
So those are some of the inbound productions that will
release this year. But on the cultural side, on the
New Zealand film side, we've got a couple that I'm
super proud of. So the Marlon Williams documentary, which will
release in time for Music Month at the beginning of May.
Really beautiful story, Marlon's story of recording his new album
(17:33):
interil Maldi, where he's really vulnerable about how he found
that his anxiety around being a second language learner. It's
a really lovely story. Then later in the year, we've
got Pike River, profoundly powerful story with Robin Malcolm and
Melanie Lynsky starring as two of the women who lost
their men in the Pike River. Mine tragedy. So, you know,
(17:56):
very diverse and interesting and powerful stories coming out of
New Zealand and I'm really super proud of them.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
Thanks for joining us, Annie.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
You're welcome. Thank you, Chelsea.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
That's it for this episode of the Front Page. You
can read more about today's stories and extensive news coverage
at enzdhrald dot co dot nz. The Front Page is
produced by Ethan Sills and Richard Martin, who is also
our sound engineer.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
I'm Chelsea Daniels.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Subscribe to the Front Page on iHeartRadio or wherever you
get your podcasts, and tune in on Monday for another
look behind the headlines.
Jelder.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I'm Chelsea Daniels and this is the Front Page, a
daily podcast presented by the New Zealand Herald. You meet
anyone overseas and say New Zealand. The first thing they
bring up is Hobbits. Lord of the Rings was a
crowning achievement for film production in Altieroa and opened the
(00:26):
door for more movies to be filmed here.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
A Minecraft movie is just the latest.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Overseas blockbuster to be produced on our shores, and that's
hitting cinemas around the world this weekend, while local film
Tina has been.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
A box office sensation.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
But as the cost of film production saws around the world,
what does the future hold for New Zealand and can
we break out of the shadow of Middle Earth? Today
on the front Page, we're off to the movies with
the Chief Executive of the Enzed Film Commission, Annie Murray. Annie,
(01:04):
can we start with what exactly the Film Commission is?
Where does it set in the production, commissioning, promotion side
of our local film industry.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
The New Zealand Film Commission does all of those things
in relation to film. So we fund New Zealand film
on the cultural side of our mandate and we are
funded by the Lottery's Commission and the Ministry for Culture
inherited to fund film, promote it and participate in its production.
So that's wonderful. New Zealand films like Tina are which
is out at the moment. And then on the economic side,
(01:36):
we administer the New Zealand screen Production Rebate and we
attract production into New Zealand. And that's the likes of Minecraft,
which just came out this week, or Sweet Tooth or
the Brad Pitt movie that's shooting in the South Island soon.
So we do both the economic and the cultural.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
So there are two big things to celebrate with local
movies at the moment. Hey, you mentioned Tina as being
a box office sensation.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
Basically, when you walked in, I thought, here's someone that
can offer my kids something different.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
The other schools say, we're to Ridget.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
You're probably the first Polynesian woman we've ever had, though.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Congrats.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
According to Flex, it has made four point two million
dollars since it came out in February. What do you
think has led to that success.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Tina is a beautiful story. It's an authentically told story.
It's really wonderfully acted. It's well written. It's just a
premium film and it has really resonated with a broad audience.
It is about a Sarmon mum who loses her daughter
in the christ Church earthquakes and burries herself in her work,
(02:51):
which is to be the mum of a school choir.
And it's a really beautiful emotional story. But it's also
a coral film, so the music in it is fantastic.
It's really hard to watch Tina without crying. I think
everybody who's seen it has had a cry but also
a laugh. And it's just a really fantastically warm New
(03:14):
Zealand film. So it's currently sitting at number six of
all time New Zealand films. So it's taken a four
point two million at the box office, which means two
hundred and seventy five thousand people have been to see
it so far in its first month, so I think
we're just into week five now. What that means is
(03:34):
that that has filled Eden Park more than five times
over with people who've gone to see Tina. Not even
Coldplay did that. So this is an incredible success and
it's the biggest New Zealand film since Hunt for the
Wilder People. Back in twenty sixteen. We're absolutely delighted with
the team who've put this together and we're asking them,
(03:55):
what are you doing next?
Speaker 2 (03:57):
You mentioned Times for the World of People and Tina
is the highest grossing local movie since then. We seem
to have a box office hit every few years. But
it's a little irregular, isn't it. So why do you
think we are kind of reluctant to celebrate our own movies.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
I don't think we are reluctant to celebrate them. I
think New Zealanders really do love New Zealand stories, and
you know, you can see it in ten r. The difference,
I think is that, you know, if we look back
over the history of New Zealand film, going to the
cinema to see it was everything back in the day,
So Hunt for the Wilder People was probably coming in
(04:31):
at the tail end of that kind of golden age
of cinema going ben COVID hit, and we've had a
complete change in behavior, not only as a result of
COVID but also the rise of the streamers. So there's
so many more ways in which to see films. So
the box office is just the beginning of the story.
And I really want to emphasize that it's while TENR
(04:52):
has been a fantastic hit, we haven't yet seen how
it's going to play around the world, how it will
sell into various platforms around the world, as all of
our films do. So we need to stop being so
focused on that first two, three, four weeks at the
box office and focus more on the long life cycle
of films, which means, you know, there might be a
(05:12):
film that is a quiet release locally, doesn't you know,
make a big noise at the box office, but sells
fantastically well around the world and is seen by an
awfully large number of people, and that's also a success.
So we need to look at how we judge the
success in a different way.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
And of course the other thing we can celebrate is
that Minecraft is hitting cinemas after being filmed here last year.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
Who are you I am, Steve.
Speaker 5 (05:48):
Ok?
Speaker 2 (05:48):
What does it mean for our local film economy that
these big blockbusters are still coming to shoot in New Zealand.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
It's everything to our local industry. They are coming in
spend big money, so Minecraft will spend by the time
it's finished well over one hundred and fifty million dollars
in New Zealand's economy. So that is benefiting businesses accommodation
what calls all the crew who work on it. It's
fantastic for developing careers. So the experience that our crew
(06:17):
gain on a project like Minecraft is phenomenal and they
get a credit like that on their CV and they
go on to bigger and better things. Also, the work
for our post production industry, so Wetter Affects did a
lot of the visual effects for Minecraft. It's fantastic work
for them. And we're talking highly skilled, very well paid jobs.
(06:40):
These are jobs that set up our people for a
career in a creative, rewarding, fantastic industry that actually will
pay them quite well.
Speaker 6 (06:54):
I understand that this is a risk averse industry. I
get it, But at two hundred million dollar movie are
also a risk, you know, and it doesn't always work out,
but you take the risk anyway, and instead of making
one two hundred million dollar movie, try making twenty ten
million dollar movies or fifty fifty right, fifty four million
(07:17):
dollar movies.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
There have been global concerns around the rising cost of
film production. It's been a topic of conversation at CinemaCon
in Las Vegas just this week with President of Warner
Brothers Global Distribution Jeff Goldstein, raising concerns around production, marketing
and turning a profit. Are we seeing those same concerns
impact New Zealand.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
I think rising costs are a concern across the board,
not just for the film industry. Inflation has affected every
facet of our economy, so film is no exception to that.
What we are doing here at the Film Commission about
that is we are taking a fewer and bigger mantra
to the way that wes. We're seeing a similar mindset
(08:03):
out of Hollywood two. So there has been a global
reduction in the number of new titles being commissioned, so
a bit more money being spent on fewer titles. What
that means is that we're able to focus on fewer
things doing them really, really well. What I see there
is a real uplift and quality. So rather than sprinkling money,
(08:26):
you know, a little bit across a lot of things,
consolidating into spending more money on fewer things.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Our our tax credits enough to entice studios to come
make their movies at the bottom of the world. I
know a lot of horror movies like ex Perl and
Meghan filmed here during COVID and Universal did return here
to film Megan two point oh as well, Hey, exactly.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Now, I just want to correct one thing. It's not
a tax credit. It's a common misconception. The rebate has
nothing to do with tax It's a cash rebate. So
if a production comes in and spends one hundred dollars,
they get a twenty dollars rebate on the spend that
qualifies in New Zealand. So it's a very efficient and
fast system. So we are world renowned for having an accurate,
(09:22):
fast and efficient rebate system and one that has integrity.
So that is a real selling point for New Zealand
and I'm very proud of my team that administers the rebate.
So the rebate, in terms of the amount that's offered,
the percentage sits around the middle of the pack. There's
about one hundred places around the world as places, because
they're not countries. Some countries have several, but there's one
(09:45):
hundred odd places around the world that offer rebates ours.
It's around about the middle and it's part of the
offering that we have for international production. We've also got
a very flexible labor market. We've got incredible creative crew.
We've got you know, Oscar winners up the Wazoo in
New Zealand that we should be incredibly proud of. So
(10:07):
they come here for premium production, really strong creative, a
favorable exchange rate. If you're coming this way from America,
of course, you get very good value on screen, and
the American companies that we deal with are very quick
to say that they get the best value for money
in New Zealand. We're not looking to attract everything to
(10:28):
New Zealand. We are a premium filmmaking destination. We are
very very good at it here in New Zealand. I
think I'd really love New Zealanders to understand that this
is something that we are incredibly good at and we
don't want everyone in the world coming here. We want
the best, so that's what we get with things like
a Minecraft movie, Sweet Tooth, East of Eden, fantastic series
(10:51):
that Netflix have been shooting here, Heart of the Beast,
which is Brad pittsfilm being shot around Queenstown quite soon.
So we're premium. We do it well.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
What is the process of trying to get studios to
film in New Zealand. I can imagine that it just
takes years. I mean, do you know something that's going
to be filmed here saying five years time, Well.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
We've had Avatar shooting here for a number of years
and a few more years to come. So Avatar three,
which I think is called Fire and Ash, will release
later this year. The Avatar has put about a billion
dollars into our economy. The wonderful thing about those longer
running titles is that somebody can come in in terms
of career development. They can come into the first one
(11:35):
or series one, whatever you want to call it, as
a runner or an intern and they can come out
at the other end of the fifth title in five, six,
seven years as a head of department. So they're fantastic
for career development. Wonderful four putting a spotlight on New
Zealand internationally. So to have a filmmaker of the caliber
of Jim Cameron now I think almost now a New
(11:56):
Zealand citizen. He's been very vocal about saying he loves
New Zealand, he wants to make all his movies here.
I mean, this is one of the biggest best filmmakers
of all time, who's chosen to live in Wellington and
make all his stuff there, So you know, we do
an incredibly good job. The attraction work starts years earlier,
(12:16):
and it starts with very strong relationships that my international
attraction team have built with the decision makers, mostly in
Los Angeles because that is where the bulk of this
work comes from. So we have a team who are
frequently in the LA market. Our head of international Attraction,
Philippo Mossman, is up there right now. She'll be there
(12:38):
for a good month or so. She's gathering intel constantly,
whether she's there or here, and figuring out who to
talk to, what are they doing next, where are they considering,
How can we help? And we have a very quick
responsive attraction team who will provide information to the decision makers,
whether they want locations, whether they want to look at
(12:58):
their budgeting, they need to talk to a local line producer,
what's the crew availability. We help with all of that.
Speaker 5 (13:08):
The one thing I left New Zealand remembering is how
warm the people were, and how generous and kind and
welcoming they are. Just they just are very happy people,
and of course they're happy they live in New Zealand.
Speaker 4 (13:22):
It's an interesting industry because it has a lot of
offshoots outside of the actual movie that you're making, and
it has a lot of benefits for the economy, for
local economies, and especially with something like these movies, they
generate tourism. You know, there's you know, I can't really
think of any other industry, in any industry that has
(13:44):
the reach and the depth.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
I mean, you go overseas, you speak to anyone, they
find out you live in New Zealand and they ask
you about Hobbits in terms of the behemoth that the
Lord of the Rings franchise is to New Zealand and
how important it is to our tourism. Do you think
that we're ever going to see something like that replicated?
Speaker 3 (14:06):
Again?
Speaker 1 (14:07):
Absolutely so. Lord of the Rings has been an incredible
boom to New Zealand tourism and to New Zealand generally
in terms of putting us on the map. So we're
more than the all Blacks now and we have been
for a very long time, and we have to acknowledge
the incredible work of Sir Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa
Boyans and others in creating that phenomenon. They're now busy
(14:29):
making the Hobbit. So the Hobbit film is the next
in that dynasty, and it will be out in the
next few years, and just see what an impact that
has on New Zealand tourism all over again. While you know,
it's been a while between drinks, though some of you
may have seen The War of Rahrem, which was the
really beautiful anime Hobbit story that came out late last year.
(14:54):
There will be another big boom around the Hobbit film,
but there also is around Minecraft. You know, the work
that was done to create a Minecraft game that has
specific New Zealand downloadable content. So these locations like White
or More Caves, the able Tasma, National Techapal, Doubtful Sound, Kapit,
(15:15):
the Island, those are all locations in a Minecraft game now,
so any Minecraft player can download those locations and play
in them. So the benefit to New Zealand tourrism of
that sort of creative content is really hard to put
a value on. It's just enormous.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
I don't know if you've ever sat through a Marvel
movie to watch the post credits scene Annie, but it
can be a surprise sometimes to see the New Zealand
government logo show up there near the end, and it's
usually for things like post production or visual effects work
that's been done here. Is it right though, that we're
offering those rebates to these multinational studios to make their
(15:55):
movies here when they've got insane. New Zealand can't even
comprehend the money behind these studios, right.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
So the thing with that, the rebate, which we call
it the PDV the post production and Digital visual effects rebate,
that's all about creating New Zealand jobs. So there are
jobs behind every one of those names that you see
up there in the New Zealand section of the credits.
And for every one hundred dollars that Disney or you know,
(16:23):
Universal or whoever spends in New Zealand, they get twenty
dollars back. We get eighty dollars spent in our economy
that we would not get otherwise. It's a really simple equation.
If that company doesn't get the rebate, they go elsewhere.
They go to Australia, they go to Canada, they go
to the UK and Europe. We must offer the rebate
(16:43):
in order for our economy to benefit from that eighty
percent of their spend.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Any are you optimistic for the future of New Zealand film.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Oh. Absolutely, We've got fantastic projects coming through. I mean,
just if we talk for a minute about the international side.
On the inbound production side, we've got Avatar, Fire and Ash.
We've got Meghan two, which you mentioned. The cool thing
about that is that it's directed by a New Zealander
did a fantastic job with the first one. He's going
again on Megan two. We've got Spartacus, House of Asher.
(17:12):
So those are some of the inbound productions that will
release this year. But on the cultural side, on the
New Zealand film side, we've got a couple that I'm
super proud of. So the Marlon Williams documentary, which will
release in time for Music Month at the beginning of May.
Really beautiful story, Marlon's story of recording his new album
(17:33):
interil Maldi, where he's really vulnerable about how he found
that his anxiety around being a second language learner. It's
a really lovely story. Then later in the year, we've
got Pike River, profoundly powerful story with Robin Malcolm and
Melanie Lynsky starring as two of the women who lost
their men in the Pike River. Mine tragedy. So, you know,
(17:56):
very diverse and interesting and powerful stories coming out of
New Zealand and I'm really super proud of them.
Speaker 3 (18:02):
Thanks for joining us, Annie.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
You're welcome. Thank you, Chelsea.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
That's it for this episode of the Front Page. You
can read more about today's stories and extensive news coverage
at enzdhrald dot co dot nz. The Front Page is
produced by Ethan Sills and Richard Martin, who is also
our sound engineer.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
I'm Chelsea Daniels.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Subscribe to the Front Page on iHeartRadio or wherever you
get your podcasts, and tune in on Monday for another
look behind the headlines.
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