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July 2024
CHAIR'S INTRODUCTION
Kia ora tātou,
No matter how necessary, change can be difficult, and a restructuring is challenging for everyone involved. I want to recognise the stress caused by the changes that have occurred recently and to sincerely thank NZFC staff for their patience, tolerance, professionalism and hard work throughout.
Everything that has happened is to align the organisation to a new strategy recently published in our Statement of Intent (SOI) and Statement of Performance Expectations (SPE).
The aim has been to simplify these documents and more clearly define the vision for the NZFC going forward.
The board has listened carefully to feedback from across the sector and is looking forward to seeing the impact of a sharper direction unfold over the months and years to come.
Mānawatia a Matariki
Alastair Carruthers CNZM
CEO WELCOME
Ngā mihi o Matariki ki a koutou katoa. Warm Matariki greetings to you all.
Matariki is a time of reflection, acknowledgement and planning, and this month marks my first year in the role. It’s been an eventful year, underpinned by an urgent need for change and modernisation so that NZFC can serve our industry well, now and in the future.
Our new organisational structure commenced on Monday 1 July, and this week we have a number of staff transitioning into new roles. I would like to acknowledge those of our kaimahi who are moving on, some to new roles elsewhere in the industry, and others to completely new pastures. We wish them all the very best and offer our sincere thanks for their service to the kaupapa or purpose of New Zealand film.
Shortly we will announce our new Head of Funding, and several other appointments will follow. To give our teams time to adjust to the new structure there is now no development funding deadline on 22 July, with more details below. And in response to industry feedback, we have made a significant change to the Feature Film Production Investment cap, details also below.
This week we are really pleased to share our strategic planning with you. Every four years we are required to set out our strategic objectives and how we intend to achieve them in a Statement of Intent (SOI). Every year the Statement of Performance Expectations (SPE) sets out specific targets that we aim to achieve in the year ahead, and how our performance against those targets will be measured and reported on. These documents can be found here and here.
Ngā Mihi Nui
Annie Murray
FUNDING DECISIONS
At the June meeting, the NZFC Board made a conditional offer of equity investment to one film, an additional offer to another, and a non-recoupable grant to another.
Caterpillar (Feature Drama) - Up to $1,707,602
Logline: When dementia arrives and shatters their delicate balance, a dysfunctional maternal line must learn how to love - before they lose it all.
- Producers: Georgina Conder, Andrew Marshall
- Writer/Director: Chelsie Preston-Crayford
Additional equity investment for Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant of up to $196,491 (total equity investment of $1,980,000 including previously awarded equity of $1,783,509).
A non-recoupable grant of up to $250,000 for Moana 2 Reo Māori (reversioning).
Note: All equity investments are based on the applications received and must be contracted within a specified timeframe. Funds committed but not contracted within the specified timeframe are written back and distributed in future funding rounds.
INDUSTRY LED TALENT DEVELOPMENT
The request for proposals for industry led talent development resulted in 17 applications seeking $7.3 million. The 17 projects are contesting a fund of $1.2m. Given the quality of applications, we are currently looking at how we might be able to support more than we had originally planned, and at this stage we are on track to communicate decisions on or shortly before the advertised date of 22 July.
FUNDING CAP REVIEW
In response to feedback from industry, and in the context of inflation and rising costs, the Board has agreed to raise the standard funding cap on Feature Film Production Investment from $2 million per film to $2.5m, effective from 1 July 2024.
We have received a range of other feedback from industry stakeholders, which we are considering and will be discussing with our new Head of Funding when that appointment is made. We will then be consulting further with industry as we review our funding processes and terms of trade over the next six to 12 months.
FUNDING UPDATE
For the financial year 24/25 The Ministry for Culture and Heritage has confirmed NZFC baseline funding of $5,195,925. This equates to the FY23/24 baseline of $5,401,000 reduced by 7.5%, plus an additional allocation of $200,000 for the administration of the domestic rebate.
The Lottery Grants Board funding has been confirmed at $22,875,140 per annum for the next four years. This funding is 3.4% less than in FY22/23 ($23,681,061). This change follows negotiations with the Lottery Grants Board on a new funding methodology which meets the revised legislative framework.
CANNES FILM MARKET
Around 60 New Zealanders joined the NZFC at the Marché du Film in Cannes including 10 producers supported by Producer International Travel Fund grants. We delivered a programme of meetings, networking events and speed dating sessions with co-production partners, financiers, sales agents and other industry partners.
NZFC key goals in 2024 were to deliver targeted and impactful support and events that directly lead to financing, production, sales and distribution outcomes for New Zealand features and to ensure that New Zealand is top of mind as a production and/or post-production destination for the world’s leading producers, production companies and studios. To this end we delivered the largest ever programme of NZFC events at Cannes, partnered with Variety on its Global Conversations Summit, and Annie was a judge for the Screen International Global Production Awards 2024.
We have received very positive post-Cannes feedback and interest and are confident that the connections facilitated will bear fruit for feature film projects and that New Zealand’s reputation as a leading filmmaking destination is even more firmly established on the world stage.
AIFF
This event runs 11-13 September 2024 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
An application portal for producer project submissions and non-producer registration is now open here with a deadline of 29 July.
2024 is the second and final year of the two-year New Zealand Spotlight.
CHANGES TO NZFC INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL FUNDING FOR FILMMAKERS
There have been two key changes to the Producer International Travel Fund (PITF), and NZFC international travel funding more generally, to ensure the funding that is available goes as far as it can and achieves the strongest possible outcomes.
1. Reduction in the annual allocation of PITF for FY2024/25 from $200,000 in the last financial year, to $150,000 in the coming year.
2. NZFC no longer funds filmmaker travel to Australia via the PITF or other NZFC international travel funding sources.
In relation to 2) we will continue to pay a partnership fee for 37 Degrees South but will not be accepting applications from NZ filmmakers for contributory travel support for MIFF/37 Degrees South or any other festivals/markets/conferences in Australia. We communicated this to the MIFF team in Cannes recently.
You can find further information here on our website.
FILM LAUNCHES
On 27 June we celebrated the launch of Ka Whawhai Tonu - Struggle Without End. Set in Aotearoa New Zealand in 1864 the film tells the story of a pivotal battle in the first New Zealand land wars in the Waikato region. A battle fought with impossible odds between Māori and the Colonial forces.This heroic conflict is told through the eyes of two young teenagers forced to take control of their own destiny amidst the chaos of the battle and their escape. The film is directed by Michael Jonathan, produced by Piripi Curtis and Thomas Toby Parkinson with the screenplay written by Tim Worrall.
STAFF CHANGES
We are very pleased to confirm the following appointments into the new NZFC structure effective 1 July 2024:
- Karen Larsen – Chief Financial Officer
- Philippa Mossman – Head of Attraction and Marketing
- Chris Payne – Head of Co-Production and Incentives
- Te O Kahurangi Waaka – Manukura | Chief Advisor Māori (we have changed the Māori title of this position)
- Dana Youngman – Strategic Advisor to the Chief Executive
- Jo Smith – Industry Support Lead
- Olivier Leroy – Project Manager, Terms of Trade Review
- Christina Andreef – Funding Executive
- Jaunnie Ilolahia – Funding Coordinator
- Amanda Heatley – Materials and Deliveries Executive
- Nicola Lemberg – Attraction and Marketing Coordinator
- Jennifer Wilton – Co-Production and Incentives Executive
- Stella Inkpen – Co-Production and Incentives Coordinator
Departing staff include Rosie Hole who has accepted a role at Hinterland as Commerical & Business Affairs Manager, Dale Corlett will head to Script to Screen as Executive Director and Leanne Saunders crossed the ditch to SAFC as Head of Production and Development. Also departing are Joel Rudolph, Kath Graham, Jude McLaren, Rachel Corley, Dominique Fromont and Leah Macmillan. Earlier this year we also said goodbye to Virginia Ng and also Tom Kelly who is returning to film production. The NZFC wishes everyone the best with their new endeavours.
Appointments to new roles are under way and will be announced shortly.
OFFICE UPDATES
Wellington Office - The NZFC has joined forces with the BSA and NZ On Air to undertake a physical security review of the Wellington office. While this is under way, the lifts are swipe card access only. Please ensure when arranging to visit that we have your contact details for the day of your arrival.
Auckland Office – We have moved to our new location at Level 1, 14-16 Maidstone Street, Grey Lynn. It is a larger space with meeting rooms and better pedestrian access and parking. Feel free to have your next meeting with our people in person at the new office.
UPCOMING FUNDING DEADLINES
As the 2023/24 financial year ends and we reset to our new organisational structure on 1 July, we have made a change to one funding deadline: specifically, there is no development deadline on 22 July.
This has been a time of significant change for our staff, so we appreciate the short breather to be able to reset processes and get up to speed. We apologise for any inconvenience.
