Chris Finlayson: former Arts and Heritage Minister on the Government's push for Wellington premiere for Avatar sequel

Finance Minister Nicola Willis may get her wish to see the latest move in the Avatar franchise premiere in the capital at the end of the year.

That's due to a decade-old agreement between the producers of the Avatar franchise and the Government.

It states at least one of the films produced here must hold a local premiere - if the studio wants to receive its rebate payment - worth about $60 million.

Former Arts and Heritage Minister Chris Finlayson says an event like this will be huge for Wellington.

"If it means the red carpet can be rolled out in front of the embassy, that's fantastic."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now it looks like potentially another major film premiere, maybe
on its way to the Capitol. Turns out that a
deal was signed about a decade ago that one of
the future Avatar films produced in New Zealand must hold
a local premiere if the studio wants to receive its
rebate payment. Christopher Finlayson, the former Minister for Arts, Culture
and Heritage, struck that initial dealings with us.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Now, hey, Chris, hello, Heather Hou's life.

Speaker 1 (00:23):
Very well, thank you. Do you think they're going to
come good on this deal?

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Well, thank you for your kindness and saying I struck
the deal. But it was really Patsy Ready, who was
then chair of the Film Commission, who got this sort
of thing going, and John Key, who worked very closely
with Warners to make sure that the Union Wreckers didn't
achieve what they wanted to achieve. So he saved Lord
of the Rings and then Avatar followed on from that

(00:48):
and it's been tremendous for Wellington. So it's really good news.

Speaker 1 (00:51):
And so basically the same thing was done. So do
you think they're going to come good on it?

Speaker 2 (00:57):
Well? I hope. So I enjoyed the first Avatar, the
second one, I got a bit sick of it because
it was so much blue all around you.

Speaker 1 (01:04):
You don't strike me as an avatar viewer.

Speaker 2 (01:07):
I wasn't. When all said and done, I don't think
I was an avatarist. But nonetheless, look, if it means
the red carpet can be rolled out in front of
the embassy, that's fantastic. I remember walking along the red
carpet to the Lord of the Rings. I thought a
bit of a deck doing it, and several people I
heard say who's that guy? So my profile as a

(01:29):
minister was never particularly high.

Speaker 1 (01:31):
Now Chris explains something to me, why are you mates
with the Maori party who are up for the old
punishment debate tomorrow?

Speaker 2 (01:38):
Well, I just sort of take the approach. If someone
approaches me to do a job, then I'm ethically bound
to do it, if I'm not in conflict with the
particular task, and if I'm guaranteed is to payment and
so on. So lawyers operate on what's known as the
cab Rank rule, and you don't sort of I can

(02:00):
choose you've got a duty to the court and a
duty to the client.

Speaker 1 (02:04):
Okay, and do you think that is twenty one day
suspension too much.

Speaker 2 (02:08):
Well, yeah, I just think of the night I remember
Toehnra coming and saying, oh, hell, I've just had a
scrap with Mallard and the lobby. Well that would be
at the higher end of oafish behavior which would warrant
or suspension. And they both nothing happened.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
Because sorry, because this lot didn't say that sorry. And
then they thumb their nose at the Privileges Committee, and
then they released the recommend dab whatever. The Privileges Committee acting.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
Yeather you know, you know in the house, when must
find of some police stand and apologize, I was drawing apologize.
No one means an apology, so they.

Speaker 1 (02:45):
Probably if these ones don't even want to perform it.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
Well, the way the whole thing was handled, I think
was unfortunate. I don't want to slag off the Privileges Committee.
I chaired it for six years. I would have dealt
with it differently. There are ways of dealing with these things,
and the sledgehammer approach, which commends itself to the Privileges
Committee of today is not the one I would have employed.

Speaker 1 (03:07):
Chris it's good to talk to you, it always is.
Thank you. Chrispin Layson former Minister of Arts. Yeah, tomorrow,
big day because the old Maldi punishment debate is going
to be up and that we could just go through
the same old thing we're going to go through last time,
which is the filibustering. So we're all tuning in for it,
aren't we. For more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive, listen
live to news talks it'd be from four pm weekdays,

(03:29):
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