Lights, camera, action on Covid insurance

A new Covid-19 insurance scheme is being rolled out by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage to help get 12 New Zealand screen productions over the line.

The screen sector indemnity scheme has been established by the ministry after concerns were raised by the sector about the films being able to get over the line, according to a briefing to new Arts Minister Carmel Sepuloni.

It allows the ministry, on behalf of companies with films scheduled to begin production before April 2021, to submit individual business cases to Treasury in order to seek an indemnity for the films.

This means should a production collapse due to Covid-19, companies could make insurance claims to the ministry directly.

The 12 productions would have ‘‘reasonably [been] expected’’ to get pandemic cover before it became unavailable on the private insurance market earlier this year, ministry deputy chief executive Anna Butler said.

The cover was only for productions that needed private finance, of which insurance was a requirement. The insurance covered against delays and abandonments due to Covid-19.

Butler said the 12 productions would be considered by Finance Minister Grant Robertson on a ‘‘case-by-case basis’’. Some had already been granted the indemnity, while others were yet to be considered.

‘‘Screen productions generally need pandemic insurance to secure private finance. If granted, the indemnity will give financiers the comfort they need to lend to productions,’’ Butler said.

All 12 productions are being developed by New Zealandregistered production companies, and have New Zealand content. The productions showcase New Zealand, and were identified by the New Zealand Film Commission as

being domestic productions.

Butler said the scheme would potentially save up to 1240 jobs.

But Brendon Durey, president of the Screen Industry Guild of Aotearoa New Zealand, said that was ‘‘drawing a pretty long bow’’.

‘‘The Government underwriting a specific level of the Covid-related financial risk to facilitate New Zealand film financing is a good idea, as long as it’s managed effectively,’’ Durey said.

Trying to insure productions was difficult enough without a pandemic. ‘‘New Zealand films struggle ... [without] Covid-related things. They don’t have the budget to self-insure like Netflix or Jeff Bezos.’’

While there had been criticism of taxpayer money being spent on screen incentives, he said the sector created jobs and boosted GDP.

New Zealand’s screen sector supports 14,000 jobs and contributes about $3.5 billion annually to the economy.

Despite unexpected costs, delays and restraints in production, the sector has bounced back from Covid-19, with several productions now in development.

In August, the film commission said it was ‘‘critical’’ a solution be found to the Covid-19 insurance issue for independent screen projects filming in New Zealand.

Jasmin McSweeney, the commission’s head of marketing, said the insurance scheme was welcome news as it meant several productions would commence filming in early 2021.

Sepuloni’s briefing acknowledged there was a level of risk to the Government with the scheme, however that could be managed.

‘‘They don’t have the budget to self-insure like Netflix or Jeff Bezos.’’ Brendon Durey

Screen Industry Guild of Aotearoa