Wrap on 2023

Hi all,

And welcome to the last NZTECHO of the year. And, it has been a hell of a year. Last time I sat down to write one of these, the strikes were still immobilising Hollywood and most of the western film making world. The election was still a few weeks away and - in Wellington anyway - it was freezing cold and pissing down.

Today, I'm writing this in a patch of sun on a deck, and stealing half an hour to do it in the middle of a flat-out day of location scouting and updating Crew Wellington with new CV's. The phone and email have been running hot for the last three weeks and everyone I speak to seems to be looking forward to 2024 actually being the sort of year we all hoped 2023 would be.

All I'm going to say, is that positivity and optimism are great, and we should all be enjoying this early-summer boom. The world is a shaky place these days, climatically, geologically and politically. But, as always, there's nowhere I would rather be, than right here in Aotearoa.

On another positive note, there's been a flurry of news stories in the last week about the film industry's rebate agreement. But, unlike two years ago, these stories have all been positive, in response to the very sensible idea of putting us on a level playing field with the nationwide Australian rebate rate.

If that means that overseas producers could start to view the Southern Hemisphere as a single destination, with locations and facilities in New Zealand and in Australia that could contribute towards big productions, would that be a good thing?

There will developments in this space in 2024 I guess. We have our fingers crossed that sound business decisions prevail, and that the rebate scheme stops being the political football it has been, so that we can all get on with making films - of all sizes - and generating wealth for the country. After all, we are bloody good at that.

In issue #99, you won't find any big articles about all of that. But, you will find pieces about the regional film offices and what they achieve, an ACC case study with plenty of relevance to all on-set workers, an update from the gang at Viva La Dirt League, a classic download from our man Waka - and a very special guest writer I have brought in just for this issue. As well as updates from around the motu, a brilliant new newbie for y'all to say hi to, and some stunning photographs from our gorgeous contributors.

And, with that, we wish you a peaceful, healthy and prosperous new year. We have all been through some tough times in the last 12 months, but a glance at a newspaper or the online news will tell you, that we all still have so very much to be thankful and grateful for.

Stay safe out there, be awesome whenever you can, and above average all of the time...

Love your work.