Francesca Rudkin: The Arts make it hard for themselves

A headline in the news this week had me rolling my eyes. Sometimes the arts make it hard for themselves. 

The headline I'm referring to was about the New Zealand Film Commission spending $16,431 on two farewell and two welcome parties for their outgoing and incoming chief executives. Obviously, no one stopped to think how this particular headline might come across. If they had, the NZ Film Commission might have read the room differently.   

It’s not a good look to have an autonomous Crown Entity, whose job is to distribute public money to the film industry, creating headlines about throwing parties.  

In the scheme of things, this isn’t much money. And if we weren’t in the middle of a cost of living crisis, and with a government facing long term fiscal deficits, this may never have made headlines. I’m pretty sure I’ve been to similar farewells in the private sector which cost a lot more.   

I should note, these celebrations took place in 2023 before the October election which delivered a new Government hell bent on making savings across the public sector.   

But you could argue that we were already in a cost of living crisis before the election: a recession was expected, Labour had started tightening the belt and clamping down on costs, and we knew the policies of the potential new coalition partners. They should have anticipated how this would look.   

This follows news that NZFC paid a former boss well over half a million dollars in leave and severance payments after just nine months in the role when he left in 2022.   

None of this helps the NZFC garner support from the public. The New Zealand Screen industry is worth a bomb – it contributes $3.5 billion to the economy each year. It is an incredible industry filled with some of the hardest working, most innovative people I have ever worked with – and it’s world class. But when it comes to arts, and culture, and public perception, you’ll never be able to compete for funding against the need for a better education and health system, more police, and safer roads.  

These headlines also grate as many organisations have done incredible work over the last 9 months to ensure stability in the struggling industry. SPADA have been lobbying tirelessly to make sure NZ on Air was exempt from having to make the across the board 7.5% cut being asked of Ministry funding. New Zealand’s longest running soap, Shortland Street, will air just three episodes a week in 2025, a compromise to keep the long-running drama alive.  

The CEO of TVNZ proved she got the memo about creating headlines: after Jodi O’Donnell accepted an invitation from the IOC to attend the Paris Olympics, she thought about it and decided it didn’t pass the sniff test. She is taking leave and personally paying for the trip, even though she will attend some meetings. A sensible decision, especially considering this week TVNZ also announced it needs to find another $30m in revenue or cuts.  

I am a huge supporter of the arts, but silly headlines make it hard to encourage others to support them too. Art and culture is pivotal to creating vibrant cities and communities, to fostering a sense of belonging, pride, identity, and connection. And can be a good source of revenue.   

So please stop making it so hard to sell! 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack tam podcast
from News Talks at Me.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
A headline in the news this week had me rolling
my eyes. Sometimes the arts make it hard for themselves.
The headline I'm referring to was about the New Zealand
Film Commission spending over sixteen thousand dollars on two farewell
and two welcome parties for their outgoing and incoming chief executives. Obviously,
no one stopped to think how this particular headline might

(00:33):
come across. If they had, the New Zealand Film Commission
might have read the room differently. It is not a
good look to have an autonomous Crown entity whose job
is to distribute public money to the film industry creating
headlines about throwing parties and the scheme of things. This
isn't that much money, and if we weren't in the
middle of a cost of living crisis and with a

(00:53):
government facing long term fiscal deficits, this may never have
made the headlines. I'm pretty sure I've been to similar
farewells in the private sector which have cost a lot more.
I should notice well that these celebrations took place in
twenty three before the October election, which delivered a new
government hell bent on making savings across the public sector,

(01:13):
as they should. But you could argue that we were
already in a cost of living crisis before the election.
A recession was expected, Labor had started tightening the belt
and clamping down on costs, and we knew the policies
of the potential new coalition partners. They should have anticipated
how this would look. And of course this follows news

(01:34):
that the New Zealand Film Commission paid a former boss
while over half a million dollars in leave in severance
payments just after nine months in the role when he
left in twenty twenty two. So none of this helps
the New Zealand Film Commission garner support from the public
and the New Zealand screen industry. It's worth the bomb.
It contributes three point five billion to the economy each year.

(01:54):
It's an incredible industry filled with some of the hardest working,
most innovative people I have ever worked with, and it's
world class. But when it comes to the arts and
culture and public perception, you'll never be able to compete.
For far against the need for a better education and
health system, more police and safer roads. These headlines also
great as many organizations have done incredible work over the

(02:15):
last nine months to ensure stability in this struggling industry.
SPARTA have been lobbying tirelessly to make sure New Zealand
on Air was exempt from having to make the across
the board seven point five percent cut being asked of
ministry funding. New Zealand's longest running soap, Shortman Street, will
air US three episodes a week in twenty twenty five,
a compromise to keep the long running drama alive. The

(02:38):
CEO of TV and Z proved she got the memo
about creating headlines after Jodie O'Donnell accept an invitation for
the IOC to attend the paras Olympics. She thought about
it decided it didn't pass the sniff test, so she
is taking leave and personally paying for the trip, even
though she will attend some meetings. A sensible decision, especially
considering this week. TVNZ also announced it needs to find

(02:59):
another thirty million in revenue or cuts. I am a
huge supporter of the arts, but silly headlines make it
hard to encourage others to support them too. Art and
culture is pivotal to creating vibrant cities, communities to fostering
a sense of belonging, pride, identity, and connection, and can
be a good source of revenue, so please stop making

(03:21):
it so hard to sell.

Speaker 1 (03:23):
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