Regional Wrap: Auckland
There finally seems to be a bit more of a buzz around Auckland at the moment, and after the fairly lean couple of years we’ve all experienced, it is certainly nice to be able to say that!
One of the biggest changes we’ve noticed this year has been the return of international television commercial line production to New Zealand. We have seen considerably more international TVCs coming through Auckland in 2026 than we have for some time, with crews travelling all over the country on some of these shoots. There has also been a slight lift in work coming from local advertisers, which is another encouraging sign.
TVC production companies booking crew through September and October include Exit Films, Finch Films, Flying Fish, Good Oil, Hooves, State House, In Motion, Les Mills International, Reel Factory, Strat, Supernormal, The Story Board, The Sweet Shop and Toy Box.
Hopefully this momentum continues through summer and into 2027.
On the television drama front, Kevin & Co had a couple of successful drama series shoots at the end of 2025 and into 2026, and they’re heading into another busy summer with Chan, which is due to shoot in Auckland during November and December.
South Pacific Pictures is currently shooting its 13th season of The Brokenwood Mysteries in Auckland, while Great Southern Television is shooting Season 2 of Blue Murder Motel through until November.
There is some feature activity around too. Bougie Baby Productions will be filming You’ve Changed in Auckland during October and November, and there are also a couple of smaller-budget film projects currently looking around for crew before Christmas that we can’t say too much about just yet.
But perhaps the most interesting part of the picture at the moment is what might be coming.
There seems to be quite a bit of scouting and tyre-kicking going on around Auckland, with several international projects being talked about for later this year and, particularly, the first half of 2027.
Disney’s Spaceship Earth is now booking crew and will be filming at KFS in Auckland during November and December 2026. There are also international producers from Alcon reportedly scouting locations for a television pilot and potential series for next year, along with industry whispers around a possible Peacock/NBC series, Dungeon Crawler Carl.
As always with projects at the scouting stage, nothing is certain until the cameras actually start rolling, and we’ve all been around long enough to know how quickly things can change. But the fact that there are several projects looking seriously at Auckland at the same time feels very encouraging.
After the quieter period our industry has been through, it would be wonderful to head into 2027 with a number of productions overlapping again. If even a few of the projects currently circling Auckland get across the line, we could find ourselves going from wondering where the next job is coming from to wondering where we’re going to find enough crew!
And frankly, that would be a very nice problem for Auckland to have again.
So, while I’m reluctant to count any chickens just yet, I’m feeling considerably more optimistic about what the next six to nine months could bring. Between the resurgence in international TVC line production, the gradual lift in local commercial work, the drama and feature projects already shooting or preparing to shoot, and the number of larger projects currently scouting, there are some genuinely positive signs out there.
Here’s hoping I have an even busier Auckland Regional Wrap to write next time!
