Industry Insight: Summit Shoot

Alex McCrossin has been working in the film and television industry for almost 30 years, starting in Melbourne, Australia, before moving to Queenstown in 2010.

Her business, Summit Shoot, sources, manages and permits locations for all types of productions, from feature films and TV drama to advertising campaigns.

Largely operating as a sole operator, Alex also contracts additional scouts and small crews for fashion shoots and stills, as well as providing on-set location management. With an extensive photographic location library and a wide network of contacts across the South Island and beyond, Summit Shoot helps productions find and access the right location for their project.

How did your company get started, and how has it evolved alongside the New Zealand screen industry?

My business got started around 15years in NZ, after having run another location management business in Melbourne, Australia for 12 years. As lighter cameras, crew sizes and ways of sharing imagery have changed it’s evolved along with that.

What key trends or changes have you noticed in demand from productions in recent years?

In general, productions are working with smaller crews and tighter budgets.

How are new technologies or shifts in production styles influencing the services you provide?

AI means image creation can be outsourced, but interestingly for me it’s often in the form of creating the perfect image/brief to shoot in reality. People often still currently feel acutely aware that AI is not always the best option for the vision they are trying to create.

‍What do productions often underestimate when planning a shoot, and how can your business help address those challenges?

Lead time to gain permissions for locations, especially ones with several parties to consult. Special Effects, set builds plus large crew size on some productions can also extend this process.
My business can assist by having discussions with Producers & Directors early in the pre-production / planning stage to point out where in a script or storyboard we may be looking at longer lead times and how to approach challenging scenes.

What factors do you think make New Zealand a strong (or challenging) environment for screen suppliers right now?

Great crews and amazing locations are clearly our strengths!
But wages that are well below on par with Australia as our neighbour, plus the lack of a South Island Film Studio complex hold us back and make it hard to survive as a production business.

What collaborations or innovations have you seen recently that give you optimism for the future of the industry?

More multi-country co-productions are happening, and there’s also increasing use of post-production imaging of real locations to create additional backdrops during the editing process.

Looking ahead, how do you see the regional or national production landscape evolving over the next few years?

If the studio complex currently going through the consent process at Aryburn near Queenstown becomes a reality, it could be a significant boost for the region.
Having a facility of that scale close to many of New Zealand’s best locations would strongly encourage more North Island and international productions to shoot in the South Island.