September - October 2020 Snapshot

In August and September New Zealand films excelled at the New Zealand Box Office and as of the end of September Savage remains in the top spot for the second week in a row. This Town is still in the top twenty as it enters its eighth week in cinemas. Both have achieved ticket sales well above estimates. Congratulations to all the cast and crew involved with these and the other New Zealand films currently in theatrical release. It is fantastic to see that New Zealand films are drawing audiences back into cinemas. Some good news in challenging times.

COVID-19 continues to impact the screen sector disrupting jobs and livelihoods. The pandemic has affected every part of the industry and this year has been tough for everyone. While streaming services had already led to significant changes to the industry, the pandemic has accelerated this, forcing us to adapt new ways of working - and to significant new risks - at speed.

New Zealand was among the first countries in the world to develop protocols for creating a safe environment for the screen industry to get back to work and its rapid response in this area has been internationally recognized. The Screen Industry Aotearoa Guild and Screen Sector COVID-19 Action Group developed the ScreenSafe’s COVID-19 standards and protocols supported by NZFC funds. The toolkit has been shared with international studios and independent producers, demonstrating New Zealand’s commitment to best practices.

There are currently three New Zealand feature films shooting, and several series dramas. It’s now a time of high production activity in New Zealand. In addition, five major international productions are underway. NZFC worked closely with MBIE to promote the value in having screen production considered in the critical worker category for border exemptions. International productions have provided jobs for thousands of crew on shoots mostly filming in the final quarter of this year and into the first quarter of 2021.

The number of enquiries from international productions wishing to locate in New Zealand grew significantly throughout winter 2020, with location, budgeting and production research at peak levels. New work has been secured for Wellington, with a series well underway before Christmas and several other productions are working through their consideration of New Zealand as a production destination for 2021. Incentives, exchange rates, availability of infrastructure and access to quality creative and technical expertise are still the key factors clients weigh up, with New Zealand’s highly effective COVID-19 management now an additional positive consideration.

This ability to pivot and get back to work despite what could have been perceived as unsurmountable restrictions is critical. In 2019 it is estimated the film production and distribution sector worldwide was worth US$177 billion. In New Zealand the screen sector is valued at around $3 billion per annum and employs over 16,000 people across more than 29,000 jobs. The economic impact of the screen sector is not limited to those working directly on film sets, but also in spill-over spend benefits for accommodation providers, catering businesses, tourism, and more.

Throughout the period when productions were forced into hiatus, the NZFC launched new and existing programmes - such as Boost, Boost up, Mentorships and global producer speed meetings - to support the screen sector to gear up for a new wave of production in a COVID/post COVID environment. The NZFC made substantial investment into business and project development programmes to ensure a pipeline of production-ready projects continues to flow. Other programmes such as mentorships were enhanced by the move online as it allowed a far larger pool of experienced global mentors to be gathered - with geography no longer a consideration.

In July the Government’s $13.4M Screen Production Recovery Fund was introduced to allow short and feature productions impacted by COVID-19 to be completed, delivered and screened, and to help rebuild New Zealand’s screen industry to ensure New Zealand stories continue to reach audiences.

The fund has been open for just over a month and to date, 13 complete applications have been submitted, and seven have been approved. We are keen to see more applications underway and have been encouraging productions to register their interest in applying to the Fund.

Another programme within the Government’s Screen Sector Recovery Package is the $2M that has been allocated over two years to support cultural capacity. This funding will support the screen sector to develop the necessary industry, technical and business capability to meet the challenges of a post COVID-19 environment. Managed by the NZFC’s Talent Development team, the funding will focus on three key areas to ensure the support is across the sector – Guilds and associations, strategic training and short film funding. The first two strands of this funding have just opened to applications. Industry partners and screen sector organisations may apply for funding to either enhance and/or expand existing programmes or deliver new bespoke programmes of skills and talent development. NZFC’s existing programmes will continue to run as usual.

The funds for guilds and associations will support the vital work that New Zealand screen sector organisations and guilds undertake, enabling them to continue to provide services to their membership and the wider industry. The sector wide skills and industry development programmes will meet the current and developing needs of the sector that will enable talent to develop, upskill and flourish in a COVID-19 and post COVID-19 world.

The NZFC continues to review and deliver its existing programmes and work with government to ensure new or expanded programmes trigger and maintain sustainable employment for people across the industry and to keep New Zealand films on cinema screens for New Zealand audiences to enjoy.