‘They Are Us’ film funding revealed
WELLINGTON: Director Andrew Niccol did not want the Prime Minister’s Office seeing an early draft of his They Are Us film, which intended to have 40% of its New Zealand production costs subsidised by the taxpayer, netting the film as much as $20 million in subsidies.
The details are revealed in documents recently released under the Official Information Act, which show communications between the film’s producers and the New Zealand Film Commission.
The documents show the commission had to be persuaded by the film’s producers to be up front about the fact the film was likely to receive taxpayer support.
Commission staff were keen to drop references to taxpayer support from a response to a query from the media.
Mr Niccol emailed a draft copy of the script to commission acting chief operating officer Chris Payne on June 9, with a request to ‘‘keep it between us for now’’.
Mr Payne emailed back asking whether he could share the script with other commission staff.
Mr Niccol replied saying he was happy for ‘‘others in your team’’ to read the script, but he wanted it kept ‘‘inhouse’’.
‘‘For instance, I wouldn’t want the Prime Minister’s office reading it,’’ he wrote.
A draft script has subsequently been released to Newshub, which has published substantial portions of it.
Mr Payne was, however, at the same time thinking about how to brief the Beehive, and in particular the Prime Minister’s Office, on the film, which he had to do under the ‘‘no surprises’’ rule, which requires the public service to flag any potentially contentious topic with ministers.
A backgrounder on the film was soon sent to the Prime Minister’s Office, giving it its first awareness on a project the commission had known about since late 2019.
About this time, Mr Niccol, the film’s New Zealand producer Philippa Campbell, and British producer Stewart Till caught up for a virtual meeting with the commission to discuss the film.
Mr Payne took notes on the call, which he emailed to himself.
Those notes record Mr Till had read ‘‘six drafts and still cries’’ over the film.
Mr Till also mentioned the budget for the film, but the precise figure has been redacted.
Mr Payne recorded that Mr Niccol described the film as a ‘‘love letter to Jacinda and to the two mosques’’.
It would ‘‘[m]irror the approach that Jacinda took in real life — never show the gunman, livestream, don’t say his name, don’t show his manifesto — he’s kept away from real events, mostly focuses on the heroism that happened during the [at]tack, acts of sacrifice and what Jacinda was able to accomplish during that week, banning assault weapons in six days’’.
Another note said Mr Niccol suggested the film would apply for the New Zealand Screen
Production Grant.
Films made by local producers are allowed a 40% subsidy, capped at $6 million, while international crews are allowed a 20%25% subsidy, uncapped.
Certain films can apply for a higher subsidy if they meet certain conditions, allowing them to have 40% of costs subsidised up to a budget of $50 million, equating to a subsidy of $20 million.
Mr Niccol said the production would ‘‘maybe’’ apply for the additional grant.
After going public with the film in June, the commission began receiving requests from media about the taxpayer support for it.
The commission’s communications staff drafted a reply which it sent to Mr Payne and Ms Campbell for vetting.
The reply said the commission understood ‘‘the production does intend to apply for the New Zealand Screen Production Grant (NZSPG)’’.
This text was highlighted in yellow, with the question, ‘‘Do we add in the yellow section or just drop it for now? I think we should drop it . . .’’.
Ms Campbell, however, wanted greater transparency, saying the film’s producers ‘‘felt it was important to be transparent about our intentions applying for the SPIG [sic] to the NZFC’’.
Ms Ardern has so far distanced herself from the film.
The Film Commission said it would be ‘‘premature to discuss ways the film would be financed before it had been announced to the market’’. —