Covid gold as NZ eyed by Hollywood
Segments of Hollywood are looking to move to New Zealand’s near-Covid-free shores as the country’s film industry stands to win big in coming months.
New Zealand Film Commission chief executive Annabelle Sheehan’s optimism is matched by BusinessNZ, Equity NZ, and the Wellywood councillor in charge of economic development.
Sheehan said 47 local productions with a spend of around $200 million were stalled or unable to start when lockdown hit. That was on top of seven or eight international projects in production or about to start, employing about 3300 people and spending just under $400m.
All signs were positive they could soon start again. International productions tended to hire about 90 per cent locally and there were already positive talks with the Government to allow the extra 10 per cent in, with proper safety procedures.
On top of that were a ‘‘large number’’ of productions now looking to come to New Zealand in the coming six months to a year, lured by New Zealand’s low number of Covid-19 cases.
‘‘We are in discussions with a lot of different international studios,’’ she said.
She could not reveal specific projects but said United States film and streaming services were interested.
BusinessNZ chief executive Kirk Hope said New Zealand’s largely successful battle against Covid-19 made us ‘‘an ideal location for a number of new international productions’’.
‘‘Through the BusinessNZ network we have been tracking a number of screen-related ‘shovelready’ infrastructure projects, including proposed studio developments in Auckland, Rotorua,
Hawke’s Bay, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown.’’
BusinessNZ was asking the Government to make it possible – for example allowing border entry to studio executives, cast and crew, after proper quarantine procedures.
Yesterday, Equity New Zealand president Jennifer WardLealand said the film industry was better positioned than live theatre to recover quickly because of its greater ability to deal with social distancing.
The Screen Sector Covid-19 action group did a lot of work to prepare the screen industry for production under level 2, she said.
New Zealand was one of the first places in the world going back into local production with Shortland Street and the preparation included ‘‘really solid standards for health and safety’’.
The return of international productions was welcomed and quarantine restrictions may mean more opportunities for New Zealand actors, she said.
International crews, if they could get into New Zealand, would find themselves in one of the safest places in the world to film once here.
‘‘The other big issue for international productions is insurance. In the event of another breakout and potential shift to lockdown, will underwriters still front up to insure these big productions?
‘‘Whatever the outcome – we don’t want to see the community’s health compromised by the drive to attract international productions – so it really is a matter of proceed with caution.’’
The border closures made it an ideal time to be telling local stories and a trans-Tasman bubble, if it eventuated, would be another boom for the industry.
WellingtonNZ general manager David Perks said the number of trained crew in Wellington meant only a small number of overseas people would need to be brought in, under controlled circumstances, to get the industry up and running on a large scale.
On March 17, Stuff revealed that filming of James Cameron’s Avatar in Wellington was suspended due to the virus.
The Seaview, Lower Hutt, facility being used as a filming base for Avatar was all-but deserted in March.
Miramar’s Weta empire has previously been confirmed as doing post-production work for the Avatar sequels.