Canterbury’s Slow Burn Back to Life
I’m sure like many of you, I’ve found myself swinging between genuine concern about what the Netflix/WBD/HBO deal might mean for our industry (not just here in Aotearoa, but around the world) and moments of deliberate head-in-the-sand avoidance, gratefully distracted by the arrival of a glorious Canterbury summer.
The truth is, the first half of 2025 (and a good part of Q3) felt pretty bleak for our region. Bookings were thin, optimism was thinner, and a lot of us were wondering where the next job was coming from.
Winter and early spring brought a welcome spark: an international artist visited to film a music video, a couple of commercials rolled into town, and the local indie feature ‘Flatearther’s’ began filming.
In October, ‘The Amazing Race US’ swept through Canterbury (seriously, they were slick. Blink and you would have missed them), which will put our stunning slice of NZ in front of millions of viewers worldwide and has put some solid work in the diaries of a good chunk of local crew (including some emerging - we love to see it).
Around the same time, SPP provided decent-length contracts for several of our people on a Timaru-based production, with strong signs they’re planning to make the region a regular base for future seasons - very encouraging indeed.
November delivered more sunshine, literally. Netflix filmed an episode of a reality series in Nelson, and a happy contingent of Canterbury crew got paid to spend days on beaches and with helicopters overhead. Hard to complain about that.
Right now, local production ‘Sons of a Bitch’ is underway with Block 2 of filming. This bold screen adaptation of the much-loved show ‘The Bitches’ Box’ is being co-directed by locals: Zac Beckett-Knight, Amelia Guild, Emma Newborn, and produced by Rob Malloch. The production is making great use of Koawa Studios and other various Canterbury locations. It’s fantastic to see some distinctly local IP being brought to the screen by local talent.
On the leadership front, we’ve welcomed a new friendly face to the helm of Screen CanterburyNZ; Meg Huston has stepped in as Manager. A huge, heartfelt thank you to Petrina for her years of outstanding mahi. Meg, we’re delighted you’re here and can’t wait to see the fresh energy and ideas you’ll bring to the role.
So there are still questions hanging over the global landscape, but right here in Canterbury, the phones have been starting to buzz again and the crews have had a bit of work before Christmas. Could there be a genuine sense of momentum building? Summer’s arrived so for the moment at least, we’re allowing ourselves to feel cautiously hopeful.
