Wellington film sector gets back to work

Wellington film sector gets back to work – Media release

12 April 2017

New Zealand film production revenue doubled in 2016 to more than $1 billion, Stats NZ said today. A bounce-back from a quiet 2015 by Wellington's movie sector was mainly responsible.

Overall, the total revenue of New Zealand's screen industry businesses increased 3 percent in 2016. Total screen industry revenue had been stable at just over $3 billion for the previous three years. However, 2016 saw a 15 percent increase in revenue from businesses involved in production and post-production.

“Wellington is the powerhouse in feature film production in New Zealand,” business performance senior manager Daria Kwon said. “Film production revenue of $644 million was recorded for Wellington businesses in 2016, more than double that from a relatively slow year in 2015.”

Total expenditure on screen productions remained stable, at $767 million; down 1 percent from $771 million in 2015. Almost 90 percent of this expenditure was in Auckland or Wellington ($681 million total). For location-based production, crew costs are allocated to the region the crew usually lives in. Businesses spent $25 million in Canterbury and the West Coast, the third-largest region for expenditure; $20 million was spent on production activity by New Zealand businesses in overseas locations.

Total government funding received by screen industry businesses was $190 million in 2016, up 15 percent from 2015. Funding and financing from the private sector and broadcasters decreased 6 percent and 31 percent, respectively, leading to an overall decrease of 2 percent in total domestic funding and financing received for producing.

In 2015 (the most-recently available data), the screen industry employed 14,000 people, who cumulatively worked in 24,700 jobs, or contracts. These jobs or contracts can last from one to 365 days, and be full-time, part-time, or fixed-term. Total earnings from these jobs increased 6 percent from 2014, to $751 million in 2015.

Rachel Musther and Laura O’Leary explain the Screen Industry Survey results.

The annual screen industry data release covers about 3,000 businesses that take part in production, post-production, distribution, exhibition, and broadcasting activities. It includes information about screen industry revenue, expenditure, production activity, and employment.

Ends

For more information about these statistics:
• Visit Screen Industry: 2015/16
• Open the attached files

si1516tables.xlsx

ScreenIndustrySurvey1516.pdf

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