Auckland Film Industry Update

The Auckland film and television community has been stretched to full capacity over the last nine months, and although things are showing signs of slowing down for the winter period as far as commercial work is concerned, the drama and feature film work is still ticking along nicely, which is absolutely fabulous. It seems a far cry from where we were not that long ago, and many crew have made the most of the overflowing well of work and are squirrelling away, slowly recovering from when times were tight.

I’d like to remind crew that although it is tempting to work hard and work long, please be aware that overworking can be counterproductive and often very unsafe. If you had a normal 9-to-5-type profession, you would be asked to take annual holidays and would often get the odd long weekend or stat day off as a matter of course. As a freelancer, you are the boss of your own destiny. Use this power wisely and pace yourself. You are of no use to anyone if you get sick or have an accident while on set, or getting to or from set. Many crew have been asked by producers to shoot longer and longer days for less and less money. It seems that we are slowly slipping backwards again. Please remember that by undercutting other crew, offering to do far too much for far too little pay, it in fact makes it harder for producers to get real money from their clients for the next job as they often get that old line, “but you managed to shoot this type of job for only $X last time….”, making it very difficult to shoot on a realistic budget.

Studio West has hosted the latest season of Power Rangers: Dino Charge once again, and we remain optimistic that NZ will still be the front-runner for next season too! Rob Tapert’s Ash vs Evil Dead is halfway through production, as is Toa Fraser’s adaptation of the true story of the 1980 siege of the Iranian Embassy in London, called 6 Days. Gavin Strachan and Rachel Lang’s latest series Filthy Rich has also just begun production, which will continue through to summer, providing a large spoonful of work for many. South Pacific Pictures have also had a fairly consistent year, with further series of Brokenwood Mysteries and Step Dave filming around Auckland.

Even though things are slowing a little, we still have a continued shortage of crew at assistant levels. This includes grips, lighting, camera, 2nd ACs, assistant directors, DAs, location scouts and managers, boom operators, caterers, and production coordinators – so please, if you are in a position to train any young and keen blood up, do! The industry is in short supply at the moment.

Sioux Macdonald, Guild vice president and executive committee member