MPICS Is Back In Business, With New International Links

Judith McCann is back in business with MPICS, her highly-regarded international consulting firm, which is now based in Wellington. She brings with her the five-year track record of the MPICS Group which she led from Canada until her appointment as CEO of Film New Zealand in July 2004 – a position from which she stepped down in September having ensured that the industry-led national film office was positioned to take on its new strategic directions.

MPICS Group (NZ) offers a range of established networks and services successfully delivered to New Zealand, Canadian, Australian and other international clients in government and the private sector. Employing the international corporate management and consulting experience of Ms McCann and her associates, the Group provides government and public sector organisations with policy and governance advice, targeted research and analysis, programme development and implementation, and evaluation services. It also brings its screen industry creative and business expertise to its work with clients seeking co-producers or negotiating overseas contracts for their projects, developing marketing strategies and identifying broader markets and growth opportunities within the global entertainment media industry.

MPICS Group (NZ) also offers a unique new relationship with Nordicity, a leading international consulting firm specializing in economic and financial analysis, business strategy solutions, and public policy and regulatory affairs, with whom Ms McCann has worked previously. The firm is led by Peter Lyman, co-founder and, from 1998 to 2002, national lead partner for the Information Communications and Entertainment/Media practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting.

“Having enjoyed a break after leaving Film New Zealand, it is good to be back in the business groove again,” said Judith McCann. “I’m already working with clients in New Zealand, and also in Australia and South America, on strategic and creative projects. Alongside the associates I can call on for their expertise, the newly-established collaborative arrangement with Nordicity adds serious heft and credibility for more complex work in economic impact analysis and business solutions in entertainment media and related sectors. It adds a new multi-faceted dimension to a New Zealand-based international consulting business.”

Judith McCann has over 25 years’ international experience in the screen industries. Born in New Zealand and educated in Canada, she began her career within the Canadian Government, moving to Telefilm Canada where she rose to Deputy Director and served as acting CEO. In 1989, she was appointed Executive Director of the New Zealand Film Commission and, in 1994, CEO of the South Australian Film Corporation. Based again in Canada from 2000, she worked as a consultant and launched MPICS Group with associates in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, before being appointed as CEO of Film New Zealand. In that role, she extended her network of international contacts among key entertainment media decision-makers and her in-depth understanding of incentives for production.

Nordicity has offices in London, Toronto and Ottawa. It is renowned for its compilation of data and authoring of Profile, the annual economic report on Canada’s screen production industry for the Canadian Film & Television Production Association/Association de Producteurs de Films et de Télévision du Québec and Department of Canadian Heritage. Nordicity has undertaken numerous economic analyses in the music, book publishing, animation and visual effects, film and television broadcasting industries including the Canadian film or video tax credit programme. Established 30 years ago, it is active in a wide range of sectors covering culture/content, telecommunications, tourism, and information and communications sectors.

ENDS