Wellington film industry added $260m to economy in 2017, provided 2500 jobs - report

Thursday, 6 December 2018

Weta Digital's chief executive says the multi-million dollar benefit of the film industry to Wellington is 'not surprising'.

Wellington has long been regarded as a film-making mecca, and now new figures show just how big the benefits are for the capital.

Government subsidies may have cost New Zealand taxpayers $550m since 2010, but a report prepared by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research shows film-making has created thousands of jobs in the region, and added an estimated $260 million to the capital's economy last year alone.

The report found that in 2017 the business of bringing things to the silver screen provided about 2500 jobs and generated $705m in revenue for Wellington-based film-making businesses.

Nearly two-thirds of that - $449m - comes from post-production work.

* Wellywood hits a winter lull but the goldrush will come again

* Govt warning: Without multi-million dollar Hollywood subsidies, film work will dry up**

The report, commissioned by the Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency (Wreda), coincides with the opening of Mortal Engines, a film entirely shot in Wellington.

That film provides a snapshot of the wider benefits of film-making to the region, providing 5000 hotel nights for cast and crew, using 1500 vendors, and involving 926 crew members and 800 digital artists.

Without films like Mortal Engines being made in Wellington, the capital could lose hundreds of millions of dollars.

Wreda spokesman David Perks said the report wasn't able to measure the flow-on impact on tourism.

But figures showed paid visitors on the Weta Studios Tours at Weta Workshop in Miramar had risen from 48,873 in 2013 to 149,579 in 2017.

Weta Digital chief executive David Wright said the report's findings were 'not surprising'.

Mortal Engines visual effects were made by 800 Wellington-based visual effect designers.

Wright has worked in the industry for 10 years, but said his understanding of its local value was more abstract than its dollar amount.

He said on his commute into Miramar he could spot a billboard for a film that involved 18 months of post-production work at Weta Digital, pass hotels where rooms had been booked by the industry 'essentially every day for the last 10 years', and pass a hologram start-up company founded by former Weta Group employees.

The film industry was a 'very competitive market', Wright said.

'London, Vancouver, Australia - increasingly Asia - are all places where work can be done and all those economies are trying to attract those clients to bring work to their economy simply because it's such high-value work.'

Graeme Tuckett, who has run crew-sourcing sites Crew Wellington and Crew Auckland for about six years, said working as a film technician could be a full time job in a way it never used to be.

But he said those just entering the industry could still struggle with job security year-on-year.

'If you go back to 2016, those lower-level technicians would have had work 12 months of the year, in 2017 and 2018 probably 6 months.

'In 2019, those technicians will probably have work 10 months of the year with Avatar.

'Ever since Lord of the Rings went into production, film became a viable career path for a lot more people, rather than being for a very talented select few.

'It's still extraordinarily competitive, but there is a way now you can start at the bottom and work your way up to the top in a way you never could have 20 years ago.'

Wright said the presence of the Weta Group in Wellington 'goes back to the owners' preference to build a business in this city', but warned that government support was vital.

Those subsidies , long controversial, have seen some projects getting up to 25 per cent paid for by taxpayers.

More than $550m has been given to film companies since 2010, supporting huge Hollywood studios and local movie makers alike.

In the past four years, the Government has paid a combined $177m to production companies - $36.6m to Kiwi producers, and $140.5m to global movie giants.

Wright said the screen industry in New Zealand was still 'very small'.

'We won't succeed unless we have local government and central government supporting us with the screen grant subsidies scheme, and rebate schemes.'

Mortal Engines showing the way

Mortal Engines, which was released on Thursday, was entirely filmed and produced in Wellington.

Directed by Christian Rivers, the screenplay is by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson.

The film, based on a Philip Reeve book, was shot over 86 days, with 61 second unit shooting days, across 67 Wellington sets.

It involved 926 crew members and 800 digital artists, with 2247 kilograms of coffee and $16,000 worth of milk consumed.

Key Wellington screen industry figures

- $3.5b in gross revenue generated between 2013 to 2017

Weta Digital chief executive David Wright says Wellington needs government support to compete with top film-making cities like London and Vancouver.

- $705m in gross revenue generated in 2017

- $449m in post-production revenue generated in 2017

- 19.9 per cent of total New Zealand screen revenue generated in Wellington in 2017

- 2500 people working in the Wellington screen industry in 2017

* Source: NZIER- Economic impact of Wellington's screen industry