New Zealand’s Screen Sector Releases 10-year Strategy

Aotearoa New Zealand’s screen sector today launches the Screen Sector Strategy 2030, a 10-year roadmap designed to grow the sector’s resilience, collaboration and capability.

The development of the Strategy spanned more than 15 months, starting when the Prime Minister on behalf of the Government called for the creation of a 10-year strategy for the New Zealand screen sector. A facilitation group, made up of representatives from across the sector and led by an independent chair, came together to engage with the whole sector and to guide the strategy’s development. Consultation with the sector took place via a series of nationwide hui, many smaller workshops as well as hundreds of written submissions.

The 10-year strategic framework is built around five core long-term goals aimed at enhancing the sector’s collaboration, content, capability, contribution and culture.

Given the pace of change confronting local and global screen sectors, the Strategy also outlines an initial three-year plan which lays the groundwork for reaching the overarching goals. The three-year plan looks to:
 

• Strengthen existing, and secure new, funding and investment
• Work with the Government to modernise the regulation that shapes the sector
• Accelerate development and protection of home-grown intellectual property for local and global audiences
• Foster business growth and increased business acumen across the sector
• Identify and agree on a structure and establish a body for pan-sector representation
• Encourage greater coordination and consensus to strengthen the Government-sector relationship
• Develop a national screen infrastructure plan and create easier, clearer rules on access to filming locations
• Re-establish a survey for evaluating the sector’s performance and progress
• Boost the sector’s capacity and capability
• Refresh the sector’s environmental sustainability programme and create a social sustainability and wellbeing framework

Screen Sector Strategy facilitation group chair Miriam Dean says a number of strong themes emerged from the sector-wide engagement including the need for greater collaboration within the sector and between the screen sector and government; creating more home grown content for the international market and greater focus on intellectual property development; and growing screen sector businesses, infrastructure and the size, diversity and capability of the screen workforce.

While the disruption caused by COVID-19 highlighted the importance of a cohesive sector and the fragility of the sector to economic shock, it was important to focus on the long-term opportunities which the strategy highlights.

“A resurgent screen sector can play a key role in New Zealand’s much-needed economic recovery and future growth,” says Miriam Dean.

It was also important to note that the strategy is a starting point and not a finish line.

“This strategy is intended to be a living framework that can be updated, and its scope and ambitions expanded, as the sector matures and develops,” she says.

“We have been greatly encouraged by the level and depth of discussion, the liveliness and passion of the dialogue and breadth of feedback which the screen sector strategy process generated and are grateful to all those who contributed.”

Download the full Screen Sector Strategy 2030 here.

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