The announcement that Vote Arts, Culture and Heritage have allocated $67.4m of their budget to support the New Zealand Screen Production Rebate (NZSPR) over the next two years is great news for the screen industry, the New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC) and New Zealand as a filmmaking destination. This initiative provides funding to meet existing demand from eligible New Zealand productions for the NZSPR.
The NZSPR is funded through a multi-year appropriation (MYA) which tends to be set for five-year periods. The current MYA is for the period 2021/22-2025/26. 2025/26 are the last two years of the current MYA, so the commitment from the government reflects business as usual. While the MYA is set at a base level, it is common that ‘top up’ funding is added over time as demand for the NZSPR evolves, and to ensure sufficient funding is provided to meet anticipated obligations under the NZSPR – International.
The NZSPR incentivises international studios to locate their screen production activities in New Zealand, providing exciting opportunities for our local cast and crew, and drawing on the expertise of our world-renowned Post-production, Digital and Visual Effects businesses.
Our screen sector contributes more than $3.5 billion to the economy each year, creating work for around 24,000 people, with flow on benefits for other industries, such as hospitality, construction and tourism.
As forecasted the NZFC baseline funding has been cut by 7.5%. New administration funding of $200K brings total baseline funding to $5.196M for the FY24/25 – FY 25/26. The difference in the reported FY23/24 allocations includes a washup of Covid recovery funds. These were timebound funds and not part of the NZFC baseline. Lottery Grants Board funding will be $22.875M F24/25.
The current NZFC restructure will address back-office savings along with some changes to available funding. Plans for the next year (Statement of Performance Expectations 24/25) and high-level plans for the next four years (Statement of Intent 2024-28) will soon be available.