Spring Brings Renewed Crew Demand

Spring is just around the corner and we’ve certainly noticed an upturn in long-form bookings coming in for freelance film crew around the Auckland region. It’s pretty cool to be able to say with great confidence that we anticipate this summer season is going to see yet another shortage of crew as most will be working on dramas and features around town, all the while upskilling and putting some much-needed cashflow back in the bank again!

It’s not, of course, all smooth sailing because even though it’s great that crew are working and productions are coming, we are still experiencing a bottleneck of studio availability and locations in The North. At the moment everyone seems to be playing nicely, and dates for long-term projects are slipping in behind each other but it does magnify the serious needs we are facing, and it is quite obvious that the Auckland film industry needs the support of local Council and Government to at least point us in the right direction towards addressing this issue.

As a country we are still producing world-standard television and feature film work, and it’s been wonderful to see our crew travel all around the world this year working with some huge names, and very experienced teams, bringing home new skills and experience to our shores. We’re looking forward to seeing crew working on another season of Ash vs Evil Dead, Shannara, Power Rangers, Filthy Rich and possibly another season of 800 Words, not to mention the large production Meg that will be continuing work into the summer. In the meantime, we can’t stress enough how important it is to keep looking out for the young enthusiastic crew that are wanting to work with you, or learn from you. Keep them under your wing and teach them well, as we’re going to need them when things get super busy!

Sioux Macdonald, Guild vice president and executive committee member