Hollywood celebrities filming in New Zealand is helping bring in more than $1 billion to Auckland’s economy.
The latest film in the works is action comedy The Wrecking Crew starring Jason Momoa, Morena Baccarin, and Dave Bautista.
A Piha campground was the latest to get the Hollywood treatment, with a landscape of a few birds and tents being transformed into a bustling movie set.
Campground kaitiaki Fiona Anderson told 1News there were up to 150 crew cars coming through daily and 30 trucks on site – as well as a string of trailers for actors, makeup, and wardrobe.
“The catering was amazing. They had two or three catering trucks here with a massive marquee all set up beautifully like a dining room. The food was just so lovely,” she said.
“It wouldn’t have been out of place in Hollywood.”
More than 1400 local cast and crew have also been employed on the blockbuster.
Anderson said the film crews coming to the seaside village west of Auckland “was like a gift from the gods” after a rough five years due to flooding, cyclones, and the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It really was the last five years out here running, trying to run this camping ground and, you know, earn a living from,” she said.
“It has been utterly brutal and to receive a payment like this from this company, it was just that the financial pressure that it’s taken off me.
“My bills are paid, the taxes paid, the rent is paid. I can employ staff.”
While Auckland’s scenery has been attractive to international film producers, so too is the international screen rebate.
While it comes at a cost for the taxpayer, proponents say the benefits will outweigh the costs. The film industry is now worth $1.7 billion to Auckland’s economy – cash which then flows on to the rest of the country.
Tātaki Auckland Unlimited chief executive Nick Hill said it’s “critical that we have a competitive film screen rebate”.
“Without that, there would be no international industry here.”
The weak Kiwi dollar and expertise developed over countless productions also makes Aotearoa an attractive location.
Michael Urban, the co-founder of Mt Albert movie production company The Rebel Fleet, said the knowledge “enables us to push the boundaries with our technology and equipment, then that builds up our inventory of skill and freelancers and people, and equipment that we’re working with”.
There is also a “big flow-on effect” for local businesses whose items – such as furniture and cables – are bought for the film, Urban said.
The key is keeping up the momentum, Hill said.
“The New Zealand dollar is very strong at the moment and then the reputation, which has always been here, has really meant that this is a place that those productions look at very closely.”
