Francesca Rudkin: The Government’s changes to the Screen Rebate Scheme are a good start

It was really good on Friday to see the Government respond to the film industry’s call for help to remain globally competitive.  

We’re a country full of talented, skilled, creative, innovative, hard-working people, who have created a vibrant and reputable screen industry.

It’s a well-established sector which provides professional services from pre-production and shooting through to post-production. It employs 24,000 people, and contributes $3.5 billion to the economy each year.  

Regardless of whether you love movies and TV shows, or care where they’re made, we should all be proud of this export industry, what it has produced, and how well it is regarded on the world stage.  

It would be crazy not to protect and grow it.  

The reality for the screen industry is that the work can fluctuate - being overrun with productions for a few years, then have a year when very little happens. So whatever we can do to make New Zealand a consistently attractive destination is vital.  

The Government’s changes to the Screen Rebate Scheme kick off from 1 January, and are a good start to keeping us in the game.  

The plan is to lower the minimum qualifying spend to access the rebate for feature films from $15 million to $4 million and to reduce the threshold for the ‘5 percent uplift’ from $30 million to $20 million, allowing more mid-budget productions to qualify for the additional incentive which takes the rebate to 25 percent. It will also expand the eligibility for the 5 percent uplift to include post-production, digital and visual effects only projects - this makes a lot of sense, we are world renowned in this field. And finally, to remove the cap on above-the-line costs such as director, producer, principal cast, and screenwriter fees, aligning with international practice.

It's all possibly a bit late - we still lag the rest of the world who are also actively trying to remain competitive - Australia has increased their rebate to 40 percent, Ireland is at 32 percent, the UK 29 percent, and Canada is up to 29 percent.

But it is a pragmatic step in the right direction, and it’s good to see the Government taking action to create a more competitive and sustainable industry which employs Kiwis, generates business and adds to economic growth.  

Every dollar invested through the rebate delivers around $2.40 in return to the wider economy - through wages, services and international exposure. International productions also employ the majority of screen workers in New Zealand.  

It’s been a tough year for many in who work in the screen industry. For the world’s big players who are looking to potentially bring projects to New Zealand, this is hopefully the nudge they need to commit. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News talks'b It was.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Really good on Friday to see the government respond to
the film industry's call for help to remain globally competitive.
Where a country full of talented, skilled, creative, innovative, hard
working people who have created a vibrant and reputable screen industry.
It is a well established sector which provides professional services

(00:34):
from pre production and shooting through to post production and
employs twenty four thousand people contributes three point five billion
to the economy each year. Look, regardless of whether you
love movies or TV shows or care where they're made,
we should actually all be proud of this export industry
and what it's produced and how well it is regarded
on the world stage. It would be crazy not to

(00:55):
protect and grow it. The reality of the screen industry
is that the work can fluctuate being overrun with productions
for a few years, then have a year when very
little happens. So whatever we can do to make New
Zealand a consistently attractive destination is vital. The government's changes
to the screen rebate scheme, which kick off on the
first of January are a good start to keeping us

(01:17):
in the game. So the plan is to lower the
minimum qualifying spend to access the rebate for feature films
from fifteen million to four million. They're going to reduce
the threshold for the five percent uplift from thirty million
to twenty million, allowing more mid budget productions to qualify
for that additional incentive, which takes the rebate to twenty

(01:39):
five percent. So it's also going to expand the eligibility
for that five percent uplift to include post production, digital
and visual effects only projects. And this makes a lot
of sense because we're world renowned in this field. And
finally they're going to remove a cap on above the
line costs such as the director and producer from principal
cast and screenwriter fees and things like that. And that's
just aligning us with international practice. It's all possibly a

(02:04):
bit late. We still lag behind the rest of the
world who are also actively trying to remain competitive. Australia
has increased their rebate to forty percent, Ireland is at
thirty two percent, the UK twenty nine percent, and Canada
is up to twenty nine percent. As I mentioned, the House,
we have here in New Zealand is twenty five, but
it is a pragmatic step in the right direction and

(02:26):
it is good to see the government taking action to
create a more competitive and sustainable industry which employs kiwis
and generates business and adds to economic growth. Every dollar
invested through the rebate delivers about two point two dollars
forty in return to the wider economy, and that's through
wages and services and international exposure and look the international
productions they employ the majority of screenworkers in New Zealand.

(02:49):
It has been a tough year for many who work
in the screen industry. For the world's big players who
are looking to potentially bring projects to New Zealand, this
hopefully is the nudge they need to commit.

Speaker 1 (03:02):
For more from the Sunday session with Francesca Rudkin. Listen
live to us Talk it Be from nine am Sunday,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.