Spending in New Zealand’s post-production industry outperformed physical filming in 2018, with the country experiencing a movie slump after four years of growth.
By Nick Goundry 10 Apr 2019
Spending in New Zealand’s post-production industry outperformed physical filming in 2018, with the country experiencing a movie slump after four years of growth.
Post-production on a selection of big-budget Hollywood films that were shot elsewhere in the world grew 21% to NZ$764m, but revenue from physical production fell by nearly NZ$250m, according to figures from Stats NZ.
“Big-budget films such as Avengers: Infinity War, Mortal Engines and Alita: Battle Angel require large amounts of post-production work,” said Geraldine Duoba, business performance manager at Stats NZ, in a statement.
“Increased post-production revenue in 2018 follows a big year for production in New Zealand in 2017.”
While Mortal Engines was filmed entirely in New Zealand – due in large part to Peter Jackson’s involvement as a producer and co-writer – Avengers was shot in the US state of Georgia and Scotland, and Alita: Battle Angel used Texas as a base.
Duoba noted that while fewer features were shot in New Zealand in 2018, those that did were very high-profile and included Mission: Impossible – Fallout (pictured) and Disney’s live-action remake of Mulan.
Filming incentive programme the New Zealand Screen Production Grant recently had its funding almost doubled to NZ$96m, which could help attract more overseas producers.
Production figures for 2019 are also likely to be impacted by live-action filming for James Cameron’s big-budget Avatar sequels, which have previously committed to spending hundreds of millions of dollars in New Zealand.
See KFTV's production guide for more on filming in New Zealand.
Image: Paramount Pictures
“Big-budget films such as Avengers: Infinity War, Mortal Engines and Alita: Battle Angel require large amounts of post-production work,” said Geraldine Duoba, business performance manager at Stats NZ, in a statement.
“Increased post-production revenue in 2018 follows a big year for production in New Zealand in 2017.”
While Mortal Engines was filmed entirely in New Zealand – due in large part to Peter Jackson’s involvement as a producer and co-writer – Avengers was shot in the US state of Georgia and Scotland, and Alita: Battle Angel used Texas as a base.
Duoba noted that while fewer features were shot in New Zealand in 2018, those that did were very high-profile and included Mission: Impossible – Fallout (pictured) and Disney’s live-action remake of Mulan.
Filming incentive programme the New Zealand Screen Production Grant recently had its funding almost doubled to NZ$96m, which could help attract more overseas producers.
Production figures for 2019 are also likely to be impacted by live-action filming for James Cameron’s big-budget Avatar sequels, which have previously committed to spending hundreds of millions of dollars in New Zealand.
See KFTV's production guide for more on filming in New Zealand.
Image: Paramount Pictures
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