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New Zealand has
gained a reputation as a centre of innovation, creativity
and talent in filmmaking. This is exemplified in the
multi award winning The Lord of the Rings trilogy. We
offer you full production options and our doors are
open to service your specific needs.
New Zealand has shown the world its own stories through
such productions as Whale Rider, In My Father's Den,
The World's Fastest Indian, Eagle Vs Shark, The Piano
and Once Were Warriors.
We have also told the world's stories in a host of film
productions such as Avatar, The Chronicles of Narnia:
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Bridge to
Terabithia, King Kong, 10,000 BC, The Last Samurai,
30 Days of Night, Boogeyman and The Warriors Way. We
also have stood in for many countries, cities or places
of fantasy in a wide range of television productions
including The Legend of the Seeker, Lucy, Hercules:
The Legendary Journey's, Ike: Countdown to D Day, Power
Rangers, and Xena: Warrior Princess.
New Zealand has vast experience in hosting international
productions of feature films, television programmes
and commercials. We have the highly experienced crews,
creative talent, diverse accessible locations, world
class post production and digital and visual effects
facilities.
Productions choosing New Zealand enjoy a secure environment
that offers an internationally renowned quality of life.
Added to this, New Zealand offers value through a range
of fiscal factors that can make international production
budgets even more competitive.
New Zealand ranks ninth out of 178 nations (UK ranked
12, Canada 25, Australia 41 and the USA 76) in the Paying
Taxes 2008 report for the World Bank on the easiest
places for businesses to pay taxes.
New Zealand
supports the screen industry through:
Incentive for Large Budget Productions including
PDV
A Large Budget Screen Production or Post, Digital
& Visual Effects (PDV) Grant of 15% is available
under specific criteria for film and television. Qualifying
expenditures include labour and other costs. Details
are available on: http://www.nzfilm.co.nz/RegulatoryApprovals/LargeBudgetGrantScheme.aspx
The grant is not taxable and is usually paid within
3 months of completing the application process.
Incentive for Domestic Productions
The Screen Production Incentive Fund is available
to eligible New Zealand feature film, television and
other format screen productions deemed to have significant
New Zealand content with a 40% rebate for film and
20% rebate for television. Qualifying expenditures
include labour and other costs. Details are available
on: http://www.nzfilm.co.nz/DevelopmentAndFinancing/Screen_Production_Incentive_Fund.aspx
Goods & Services Tax (GST)
GST is a value added tax levied at 12.5% on the supply
of goods and services in New Zealand.
GST is intended to be a tax on the end user of goods
and services. Therefore businesses that incur GST
in the course of making their taxable supplies can
claim back that GST from the Inland Revenue. All productions
will incur GST on goods or services received. Productions
will be required to register for GST in order to claim
back this GST cost, thereby effectively neutralising
the effect of GST on the cost of production. New Zealand's
GST is charged at 0% on the export of goods and services,
including films, television programmes and TVCs.
No Sales Taxes
There are no regional, state or provincial sales taxes
in New Zealand.
NZ Dollar Exchange Rate
Exchange rate for the New Zealand dollar gives added
value with one New Zealand dollar delivering the same
purchasing power as one US dollar but costing approximately
USA$0.74 cents (as at November 2009). New Zealand
has a floating dollar so it is important to check
for the current rate through a financial institution
or visit
www.filmnz.com/production-guide/taxation.html#incentives
On top of this,
the New Zealand production environment has:
No Fringe Benefit Costs for Labour
Production labour costs in New Zealand are estimated
to be:
20% less expensive than Australia, UK and Ireland;
25% less than Canada; and
Up to 33% less than the USA due to the absence of
fringes and other on-costs.
Source: PWC 2006
Fringes include,
for example, employee benefits (pension, health, holidays,
etc.), payroll taxes, and levies. (Fringe rates in
other territories may vary by state, region or province
and are subject to applicable union terms). New Zealand
offers a 'fringe-free' zone through:
No payroll taxes are charged on New Zealand
labour.
Accident
liability coverage: no-fault insurance is administered
by the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC). All
New Zealand resident workers are covered by the ACC
regulations. Overseas residents will have a different
status according to the length of their stay in New
Zealand and their status as employees of, or contractors
to, the production company. More details are available
at: www.filmnz.com/production-guide/insurance.
Labour
employment status offers advantageous conditions:
New Zealand crew members are generally considered
to be self-employed independent contractors. As a
result, there are no compulsory fringe benefit tax
obligations, personal benefits (such as holiday pay
and health), government levies or union dues payable
by the production.
New Zealand is currently a non-SAG/DGA country thereby
relieving producers of overseas industry union issues.
Union membership is voluntary in New Zealand.
Overall, we provide you with an environment where
you can maximize international production budgets
for features, television programmes and TVCs.
What's more, we are not that
far away from you. New Zealand is located southeast
of Australia, in the South Pacific Ocean, It is comparable
in size to Japan, the United Kingdom or Australia.
While it is predominantly made up of people of European
decent, New Zealand has a large indigenous Maori population
which makes up approximately 15% of the population.
Asian and Polynesians add to New Zealand's diverse
racial mix.
It is easy to get to New Zealand and, once here, you
will benefit from the favourable time differences
and you will continue to connect with home through
the latest in communications technology.
Source:The New Zealand Screen Production Guide
(Third Edition)
- Film New Zealand, page 47
A direct flight from Los Angeles to Auckland takes
less than 13 hours. This makes us closer than Australia,
Argentina, the Czech Republic or South Africa. And,
we have sophisticated airports to cater for all of
your needs.
New Zealand has a full package of advantages and
Auckland Film Studios can provide you with the infrastructure
to make your production a success.
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