Challenges for Local Production

With the summer drought in the northern region, we’ve found more of our crew able to enjoy the extended warmer (than normal) weather this year. But, unfortunately, not many local production companies have been taking advantage of the still, calm exteriors. I put this down to a variety of factors, the first being that our dollar is so extraordinarily high in comparison to the United States dollar.

Advertising as we know it is changing before our very eyes and television is now only one of many forms of media that bombards consumers every day. The competition is fierce, and budgets are getting smaller and smaller. Agencies and their clients want to squeeze in more for their buck.

The trend seems to be that as the Australian dollar is even stronger than ours, they are the ones finding it hugely beneficial to come to New Zealand to shoot commercials at the moment. They save money before even landing in the country. To get a piece of the pie, make sure your CV or details are easily accessible (by internet/showreel/webpage etc).

The Filmcrews office in Auckland has been much quieter than normal for this time of year, although heading into March things appear to be on the pickup. There are a couple of small features in the pipeline and South Pacific Pictures have ongoing work for the foreseeable future.

Sioux Macdonald, Guild vice president and executive committee member