Seasonal Shifts in Film Work
Autumn. Hmmmm….where did summer go? A lot of crew have managed to spend a fair bit of time out in the sun this season as work was a little slow up north this year. After a little investigation, it seems that the Film Commission funding has been a little slower in presenting itself, and as a result, there hasn’t been terribly great news for crew who normally work on the long-form projects, as well as a deflated TVC market since the elections last year. The one saving grace has been that television commercial line productions have been the busiest we’ve seen in several years, with some of the largest TVCs ever shot in New Zealand taking place over the summer months. We must be on the map regardless of our high dollar, which is encouraging.
One thing I think is pretty obvious, though, is that there seem to be the same few companies being awarded the majority of the large budget commercials, which is fine in itself, but where the problem lies, is when they only employ the same one or two teams of camera, lighting, grip, costume, and makeup people. This leaves a highly skilled network of people who are not able to survive financially, unless they too are getting some of the pie/crumbs/cake (insert whatever food group you feel like here). We’d like to encourage those who are Heads of Departments to remember that although their loyalty to their teams is fantastic, if at all possible, give another crew member that extra half day, or grab a hand in prep from someone you haven’t seen in a while. Every little bit of diversity helps keep the industry thriving. I don’t want to see a repeat of 2013, when New Zealand lost some wonderful people, some with a full complement of equipment and trucks, to overseas, or worse yet, completely out of the film and television industry. If people can’t afford to stay in our industry, they have no choice but to look elsewhere to survive, and I can’t help but feel that isn’t it better that everyone do a little bit to help out by sharing some of the work around, rather than us shipping crew in from overseas when it does pick up because we couldn’t keep our local people afloat?
Some of you know that I am part of the new Government’s film industry working group, representing the below the line (behind the camera/production technicians), that has been put together to come up with some constructive ideas for the Hon Minister of Workplace Relations and Employment, Iain Lees-Galloway. The group has met several times, and we feel that we are moving forward, and that any change to what is known as the ‘Hobbit Law’ will be considered and well thought through, bearing in mind the employment practices and requirements for all the different facets of the industry from producers to actors to technicians and post-production teams. The key will be coming up with concepts that support contractors and employees while also continuing to encourage large budget productions to film in New Zealand, as well as keeping our local industry thriving.
Anyway… phones ringing… might be a big job to book some crew on….
