Big film benefits for capital

Wellington has long been regarded as a film-making mecca, and now new figures show just how big the benefits are for the capital.

Government subsidies may have cost New Zealand taxpayers $550 million since 2010, but a report prepared by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research shows film-making has created thousands of jobs in the region, and added an estimated $260 million to the capital’s economy last year alone.

The report found that in 2017 the business of bringing things to the silver screen provided about 2500 jobs and generated $705m in revenue for Wellington-based film-making businesses.

Nearly two-thirds of that – $449m – comes from postproduction work.

The report, commissioned by the Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency (Wreda), coincides with the opening of Mortal Engines, a film entirely shot in Wellington.

That movie provides a snapshot of the wider benefits of filmmaking to the region, providing 5000 hotel nights for cast and crew, using 1500 vendors, and involving 926 crew members and 800 digital artists.

Wreda spokesman David Perks said the report wasn’t able to measure the flow-on impact on tourism.

But figures showed paying visitors on the Weta Studios Tours at Weta Workshop in Miramar had risen from 48,873 in 2013 to 149,579 in 2017.

Weta Digital chief executive David Wright said the findings of the report were ‘‘not surprising’’.

Wright has worked in the industry for 10 years but said his understanding of its local value was more abstract than its dollar amount.

He said on his commute into Miramar, he could spot a billboard for a film that involved 18 months of post-production work at Weta Digital, pass by hotels where rooms had been booked by the industry ‘‘essentially every day for the last 10 years’’, and spot a hologram start-up company founded by a group of former

Weta Group employees.

The film industry was a ‘‘very competitive market’’, Wright said.

‘‘London, Vancouver, Australia – increasingly Asia – are all places where work can be done ...

‘‘And all those economies are trying to attract those clients to bring work to their economy simply because it’s such highvalue work.’’

Graeme Tuckett, who has run crew-sourcing sites Crew Wellington and Crew Auckland for about six years, said working as a film technician could be a fulltime job now in a way it never used to be.

But he said those just entering the industry could still struggle with job security on a year-onyear basis.

‘‘If you go back to 2016, those lower-level technicians would have had work 12 months of the year, in 2017 and 2018, probably six months.

‘‘In 2019, those technicians will probably have worked 10 months of the year with Avatar.

‘‘Ever since Lord Of The Rings went into production, film became a viable career path for a lot more people, rather than being for a very talented select few.

‘‘It’s still extraordinarily competitive, but there is a way now you can start at the bottom and work your way up to the top in a way you never could have 20 years ago,’’ he added.

Wright said the presence of the Weta Group in Wellington ‘‘goes back to the owners’ preference to build a business in this city’’ but he warned that government support was vital.

Those subsidies, long controversial, have seen some projects getting up to 25 per cent paid for by taxpayers.

More than $550m has been given to film companies since 2010, supporting huge Hollywood studios and local movie-makers alike.

In the past four years, the Government has paid a combined $177m to production companies – $36.6m to Kiwi producers, and $140.5m to global movie giants.

Wright said the screen industry in New Zealand was still ‘‘very small’’.

‘‘We won’t succeed unless we have local government and central government supporting us with the screen grant subsidies scheme, and rebate schemes.’’