Movie grant changes welcomed
WELLINGTON film-makers have welcomed Government changes to the screen industry, which will see better screen incentive grants and the New Zealand Film Commission taking over Film New Zealand.
Industry insiders say the changes will make it easier to promote New Zealand to international movie-makers and they are optimistic this will lead to more business for their companies.
Changes to grants could see more work for medium-sized production companies in New Zealand, stabilising the industry, which was often reliant on bigbudget movies.
Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Maggie Barry announced the changes after a review of the New Zealand Screen Production Grant.
The changes will be from August 1.
The Film Commission, which administers the government’s screen incentives and supports economic activity, will assume responsibility for the functions of Film NZ, which markets the industry overseas.
Commission chief executive Dave Gibson said it would be business as usual. Film NZ’s services would continue, with four permanent staff moving across to the commission’s offices.
Film NZ’s board will resign and chief executive Gisella Carr will also step down.
‘‘A single agency enables us to
implemented maximise New Zealand’s presence in the global screen industry,’’ Gibson said.
‘‘It offers a more streamlined approach to marketing and administering New Zealand’s incentives and attracting international film and television production. We hope, over time, to make some savings which will be used for frontline activities in market.’’
There had been some crossover in the work of the two agencies and the move would mean more efficiency and consistency when overseas productions were engaged, he said.
The commission planned to extend its industry-led focus beyond Cannes and China to include Los Angeles and build on existing work done by Film NZ.
Barry said: ‘‘The two screen agencies have worked more closely together in recent years, and it makes sense to combine their industry knowledge, contacts and expertise.’’
The qualifying expenditure threshold for international grants will be reduced from $1 million to $500,000 to stimulate demand for post-production and smaller visual effects companies.
A new provision in the grant would allow children’s drama productions to access both New Zealand Screen Production Grant and other screen agency funding.
There were also changed requirements for television and nonfeature film productions.
Park Road Post Production general manager Cameron Harland said lowering the threshold was a fantastic opportunity and a great incentive. In the past clients would have needed to spend more than $1m to access rebates and there had been none to date.
He was aware of one project that would spend more in order to access the grant.
‘‘I’m pretty optimistic about new business. These are small tweaks but they could be quite significant for us,’’ he said.
Overseas there was often confusion between the commission and Film NZ. ‘‘In my view one entity will be good,’’ he said.
Weta Workshop general manager David Wilks was pleased the review acknowledged that incentives were working.
‘‘This [incentive] fine tuning will help us further. Good incentives are important for the future success of this industry.’’
Film director Alex Galvin said there was ‘‘fantastic potential’’ for the industry now the threshold had been lowered. The proactive move would support New Zealand talent, he said.
Pukeko Pictures chief executive Andrew Smith said allowing access to NZ on Air and the grant changes would be positive for the children’s TV side of the business.
Joyce said that since their introduction in April last year, the grants had led to an increase in the number of productions and business confidence within the screen sector had improved.
The commission was expecting a three-fold increase in applications for funding.
It had been a record year for international productions shooting in New Zealand, including Walt Disney’s Pete’s Dragon, DreamWorks’ Light Between Oceans, The Weinstein Company’s Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon II, and Saban Brands’ Power Rangers.