Annabelle Sheehan the CEO Looks Back Over Her First Nine Months

I have been CEO of the New Zealand Film Commission for nine months and in that time I have had the opportunity to meet with industry around the country at various events, meetings, workshops, guild catch ups and screenings. It’s been great to engage with people about the industry and learn more about their career paths and production successes, as well as the challenges the industry faces.

My background includes 17 years in production and post, another ten years as a talent agent and ten in government screen agencies and screen education. So I too have been subject to the challenges and changes of production and the specific issues arising for different projects and the development of professional careers. I have had the great fortune to work in New Zealand in many of those roles and been inspired by the depth and success of the New Zealand screen industry and the calibre and commitment of its creative crews.

The New Zealand screen industry has a well-deserved reputation driven by its unique cinematic voice, dry humour and big heart as well as its excellent crews, expanding infrastructure and impressive filming locations. It’s a strong and diverse national industry with huge potential and a significant and enviable position in the global screen industry as a major screen hub for the Asia-Pacific region.

One of the NZFC’s key roles is to activate local production and attract international production, thereby supporting opportunities for production companies, key creatives, crew and other providers to build careers, capacity and sustainability.

Commitment to both aspects of the New Zealand industry is essential to the ongoing health of the screen sector. I know that NZTECHO has raised the importance of partnership in recent articles and I fully endorse that spirit. The New Zealand screen industry can power ahead when it works together to promote and build the value we all contribute to New Zealand culture and to the economy.

The NZFC works to enable major international productions as well as to support local projects and people. Our production, development and talent programmes support the development of unique, universal stories with strong New Zealand voices that can reach all New Zealanders as well as reach out across the globe projecting New Zealand stories and culture to the world.

We recently announced new funding programmes to ensure Māori filmmakers have significant access to financing and developing their stories and careers. We have seen huge success for Māori filmmakers and want to build on that success. We are also committed to increasing the number of women filmmakers through such initiatives as the 125 Fund. There is substantial international appetite for new stories that reflect true global diversity. New Zealand has the capacity to deliver on this.

As well as providing more funding opportunities for filmmakers, we are working to make the physical process of applying for funding, and contracting, more streamlined with online applications and an updating of our Terms of Trade, guidelines and application processes.

We want to help talented New Zealanders build sustainable careers in the industry. The Talent Development department will be making announcements over the coming months about new short film programmes and other career development opportunities.

One of the key things I am committed to, is ensuring strong production across the nation. NZFC staff work directly with regional screen agencies across the country. We will continue to liaise with them regarding the identification of infrastructure needs. The NZFC actively supports and encourages the growth of investment in screen industry resources including large-scale builds like the recently opened Kumeu Film Studio and tank development in Auckland.

2018 and 2019 are looking very strong for production in this country with nine local features, two international features, two international television pilots and seven local and three international television series due to go into production in the coming months.

There are always highs and lows in the production cycle, of course, as there are in all jurisdictions where film production takes place. We’d love to smooth out those bumps but there are multiple factors impacting on the timing of productions with many moving parts to the finance, cast, locations and creative elements.

The NZFC also has a strong team administering the NZSPG – the incentives scheme - working closely with our ministry partners at MBIE and MCH to ensure New Zealand retains a competitive grant which provides cultural, economic and industry development benefits to New Zealand. As an industry we need to continue reinforcing these key messages to ensure the New Zealand screen industry remains internationally competitive and continues its significant contribution to the New Zealand economy.

We seek to ensure also that all New Zealanders understand how the screen industry and screen culture contribute to the global brand of New Zealand and to our own sense of cultural identity. New Zealand made screen projects resonate around the world and create a sense of pride for New Zealanders. The 2017/2018 New Zealand productions - both the national and the international shoots - have brought great acclaim to New Zealand. The Breaker Upperers has followed its successful New Zealand release of $1.7M with an Australian box office of over AU$2 million and a sale to Netflix. It has screened at major festivals overseas and has just been announced to screen in the BFI London Film Festival. At home, thirteen New Zealand feature films screened in the recent New Zealand International Film Festival, many of them world premieres. As I write this, Waru continues to be selected for festivals around the world, a full year after its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, Taika Waititi has just served on the jury at the Venice Film Festival and Niki Caro is preparing to shoot a large-scale Disney film in New Zealand. Showcasing the terrific work of our New Zealand practitioners on a global scale, just a few weeks ago The Meg and_ Mission Impossible: Fallout_ held two of the three top spots at both the New Zealand and US box offices for several weeks.

All these success stories are testament to the strength of the industry and the respect New Zealand films and filmmakers earn both here and internationally. I am inspired by industry, and by the work of Commission staff, to keep building on these successes and the continued expansion of New Zealand talent and stories.