Screen Auckland - a Profile

Auckland’s regional film office is called Screen Auckland – a specialist team within Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED), which is the region’s economic growth agency and an Auckland Council-controlled organisation.

From the start of the unified Council in 2010 until October 2014, Screen Auckland shared the name ‘Film Auckland’ with the region’s member-based industry representative body, Film Auckland Incorporated. Film Auckland Incorporated had been in existence since 2003 and agreed to let the newly formed ATEED use its name for the region’s film office function.

Screen Auckland Manager Michael Brook, a 30-year industry veteran, says the 2014 name change was for two main reasons: "It reflected the industry’s evolution and use of new technologies such as digital and transmedia, and new distribution methods; and a need to differentiate ATEED’s growing facilitation, attraction, and advocacy roles from the important industry voice of Film Auckland Inc."

Since 2014, the two organisations have retained a close and positive working relationship, including Film Auckland Inc acting as an advisory group to Screen Auckland.

Screen Auckland’s roles

Screen Auckland’s most public face is as the unit responsible for all film Council permitting on public spaces in Auckland. Its team of facilitators works with productions to meet their needs as much as possible, while balancing the interests of the region’s communities and business owners.

But as Michael Brook says, “we have a number of other crucial roles supporting Auckland’s screen industry, as much as possible in partnership with the industry.”

Attract

The team also includes ATEED’s screen attraction specialist, Jasmine Millet, who works alongside key partner New Zealand Film Commission to attract international screen productions to Auckland, through marketing the region’s screen production proposition – its unique and diverse locations, skilled production crews, and infrastructure.

Senior ATEED managers attend conventions and industry events internationally – usually alongside industry – to ensure Auckland grows its presence in key markets such as the US West Coast and China.

Screen Auckland’s recent achievements include involvement bringing feature films including The Meg, Adrift, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – Sword of Destiny to the region, along with TV series such as Ash vs Evil Dead, The New Legends of Monkey, The Shannara Chronicles, and Power Rangers.

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Manage

Last year, ATEED also took over the management of Council-owned Auckland Film Studios, and privately owned Kumeu Film Studios (profiled in the last NZTECHO). It has a two-person team which manages the studios’ day-to-day operations while other options for long-term management are being considered.

Connect

Another function Screen Auckland performs is to build Auckland’s global relationships through screen agreements and other connections. Michael Brook says: “Over the years, we have forged fruitful long-standing relationships with places such as Busan, South Korea, and two regional governments in China. Several are backed by official memorandums of understanding around screen production.”

Michael Brook is a highly respected figure internationally, including being an elected board member of AFCNet – the Asian Film Commissions network, and the Asia-Pacific equivalent of the Association of Film Commissions International with 60 members from 20 countries. The AFCNet secretariat is based at the Busan Film Commission.

Screen Auckland is also a member of AFCI – an international network of film offices working towards best practice in fostering economic development and screen attraction.

Advocate

Screen Auckland is a member of the national organisation Regional Film Offices of NZ (RFONZ) – which Michael Brook chairs – and represents Auckland’s interest in wider industry discussions.

ATEED is also an important advocate for the industry, Michael Brook says: “For example, when it became clear that an increasingly uncompetitive government grant system was having a serious impact on Auckland’s screen production industry, we worked with Film Auckland and industry to lobby the Government, and the result was a revised, more competitive grant scheme coming into effect from 2014.”

Michael Brook accepted an invitation to be on the Government’s working group currently discussing potential amendments to the labour laws related to the screen industry.

Inform

Screen Auckland helps the industry understand how changes to rules and regulations, such as the rules relating to drone use and the introduction of closures within the Waitakere Ranges and Hunua Ranges due to kauri dieback, will impact on it.

Information on Screen Auckland’s activities – and the current online film permitting process – can be found within ATEED’s website at www.aucklandnz.com/screen. Industry members who want to join Film Auckland Inc and get involved in its activities will be able to do this via www.filmauckland.com.