New Zealand Industry Slowdown

Although the New Zealand industry has seen a significant slowdown in terms of feature films and television drama currently being produced here, the TVC market has suddenly spiked again. It’s mainly with thanks to current line productions making the most of our snow and extreme landscapes, which are ideal for upcoming opposing season advertising. Unfortunately, with the recent announcement by the Government not to increase the screen production incentive from 15%, coupled with the high New Zealand dollar value, we have noticed an obvious impact on the ability of many producers to be able to get some offshore productions ‘across the line’ and have them shot here. Whether this is going to be a permanent situation or just a very large blip in our workflow is yet to be seen. Auckland has also felt the full force of the lack of work coming in for those of you who regularly work on feature films or dramas. Power Rangers and Spartacus are now over. Many crew are back out there competing for work with lots of crew diversifying and branching out from the film industry. They’re looking at other ways of earning incomes, whether it’s through part-time work or getting qualifications in other areas. This is to be encouraged and can only be a good thing whenever the local industries are not able to support everyone all at once. We all know, this industry can be somewhat seasonal and sporadic, so why not have a backup option?

There has been an increase of Australian production companies shooting on our shores, which is fabulous, as many of them are successfully running offices there for preproduction and then here for the shoots. Whilst we welcome any productions shooting here, it’s important that crew don’t feel pressured to discount their rates too drastically unless it is for an extra special cause. If you are approached for a ‘deal’, don’t be afraid to ask which other crew have agreed to the same deal before saying yes. This is also a great time to discuss with the other crew who will be your crew representative on the job. Lately, some crew have called the Filmcrews office asking for advice about The Blue Book conditions. Whilst we welcome this and encourage crew and producers alike to recognize terms of our code of practice, I am consistently surprised by these calls from non-guild members wanting invoicing advice in regards to ‘midnight loading’, ‘overtime’, ‘per diems’ or various other questions. It seems strange to me that non-guild members feel they should enjoy the benefits of being part of a group that have successfully negotiated these conditions, but don’t want to pay to be a member. More than ever, I have realized over the last couple of months just how important the Techos Guild (or the NZFVTG) is for NZ freelance technicians, be that editors, production crews or behind the camera teams.