Philippa Mossman: NZ Film Commission Head of International Attraction and Marketing on the Wrecking Crew filming in New Zealand

An Amazon MGM Studios production is coming to Aotearoa, with Auckland announced as the primary shooting location for the star-studded project. 

The Wrecking Crew will be directed by award-winning film-maker Ángel Manuel Soto and feature an impressive cast including Aquaman’s Jason Momoa, Guardians of the Galaxy’s Dave Bautista, and New Zealand’s own Temuera Morrison and Frankie Adams. 

Philippa Mossman, Head of International Attraction and Marketing for the NZ Film Commission, told Mike Hosking the Commission does everything they can to incentivise filming in New Zealand. 

She said the productions offer significant benefits in the short periods of time they film, including the huge injection of foreign money into the country, region, or community, that’s spent on workers or businesses. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good news. Amazon MGM are coming to make some movies.
The Wrecking Ball is what it's called. It's got Jason
Mama de Batista teams and fourteen hundred jobs were expected
the New Zealand Film Commission ahead of international attraction. Of
Marketing Philippa Mossman is with us on this Philip Morning.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Good morning.

Speaker 1 (00:15):
This feels a bit but it feels a bit funny
to me because I've been around long enough to remember
the day when we did this every second Tuesday in
Wellington and it was the greatest thing in the world.
What the hell has happened to the film industry that
this is suddenly news.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Look, this is a big deal. We've been very busy
in recent years and we've got lots of productions that
we can talk to I can talk to you about
this morning. But it's a really big deal. When any
international production is secured to New Zealand, you know, it's
a big spinner and a big employer and it's celebrated.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
Oh couldn't agree more and I'm all for it. Have
we have we fallen off the radar a bit with
COVID and strikes and stuff like that.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
No, I not really look the strikes. The US stripes
were really problematic everywhere in the world for obvious reasons.
Productions from entirely shutdown. But you know, working through that
long winter, we rebounded pretty quickly New Zealand and we're
currently very buoyant. We've had productions here in the last
couple of years from Disney, twentieth Century, Warners, lines Gate.

(01:18):
You know, the list goes non Paramount TV here at Warlington, Blumouse, Warners, Netflix,
Apple TV. You know, lots of production has been going on.

Speaker 1 (01:25):
The text deals still work for us.

Speaker 2 (01:28):
The incentives, yes, this is a cash rebait. They do.
Look when you think about this international production from the
studios perspective, from the international executives perspective, before they greet
any movie or TV shows green, they're figuring out all
the essential elements, you know, the rioter, the director of
the cast, the budget, where are we going to shoot?

(01:49):
And people probably know it's in decades and Hollywood movies
were shot mostly in Hollywood, and the reason for that
is because other countries offer incentives. Fifteen years ago, studio
would budget a couple of places in the US and
maybe can that And now when they're thinking where in
the world are we going to take this fantastic international production.
They might look at fifteen fteen different places, so the

(02:12):
film a film common we do everything we can to
make sure that one of those places they considers New Zealand.
For over one hundred places in the world offering incentives programs,
it's fiercely compensive global, globally, and the reason for that is,
you know, because of the significant benefits that these productions deliver.
Over a relatively short period of time of a production

(02:33):
being here, a huge injection of foreign money. New money
is made into our country or region or community, you know,
spent on humans, on jobs, and on businesses.

Speaker 1 (02:42):
Exactly. I'm very exciting and still going well. Philip, appreciate it.
Philip A. Mossman, who's with the New Zealand Film Commission.

Speaker 2 (02:47):
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Speaker 1 (02:51):
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