Supporting the NZ Film Industry
New Zealand Film & TV Industry INC has had a busy period post the mass lockdowns of 2020. The sectors that service the local content and the crew and vendors that service the offshore productions have both been going gangbusters. This has led to a bountiful period to be a screen industry worker. Its seldom I hear people complaining about wanting more time off and over this recent period I have hear that sentiment echoing around both the on and offset zones of productions.
We have had media putting stories out about “Hollywood” rushing to NZ to take advantage of our Covid free status. I think many of us know that while this was a great soundbite for the media, for the most part the productions that began shooting at the end of lockdowns were projects that were already in preproduction here and were already slated to shoot here pre covid. It’s a reflection of the patchy quality of reporting about the screen sector we tend to see here, dominated by speculation articles and ideological opinion pieces often operating off dubious research and dated information.
Also concerning from the media is the continuing series of articles attacking the New Zealand Screen Production Grant (NZSPG). The recent articles address the scale of the rebate being paid to Amazon for the “Tolkien” show nearing the end of filming its first season here in NZ. The production has been reported as spending over $650 million NZ dollars (most of it in New Zealand) and earning a tax rebate on the spend of an estimated $160 million (25%). The articles talk about the rebate as its NZ taxpayers hard earned tax that is going offshore to a large US company, when the real story is far from that. A rebate is when a percentage of the huge spend (in this case over half a billion) in the country gets given back to the production after a lengthy audit. In no way is this or any other production reducing the taxpayer funds in the government coffers. Rather the coffers of the nation are benefiting from huge amounts of “new money” flowing into our economy.
There are very few industries that can achieve this level of direct foreign investment which is why there is a race around the world to attract this style of capital inflows with the incentives. Many other nations offering incentives are offering much greater incentives than NZ. I encourage all members of SIG and the screen industry in general to educate yourself on the benefits of the NZSPG and spread the word about these benefits to help combat the negative reporting it receives.
The work and income from offshore productions increases the total skill base of our industry and allows the vendors, suppliers, and all film makers to be supportive of local production and content to a level that would not be possible if the political and public desire to maintain a competitive incentive was gone.
Brendon Durey.
