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Film and television producers at their annual meeting have been discussing the threat of an exodus of talent across the Tasman as the Department for Culture and Heritage mulls over the merits of another subsidy to the screen industry.
In August the Australian Government announced a generous new rebate where it repays its producers 40 per cent of the money spent locally on film and 20 per cent of what they spend on television.
It is a boost for the Australian production sector and - in theory at least - makes Australia a lot more attractive for foreign investment.
Australian producers with that country's Screen Production Association and some in New Zealand believe it could realign the two countries who have seldom co-operated in the past .
Some in this country believe it could create a boom across the Tasman and draw away our most talented film and TV talent.
And the production industry is encouraging the New Zealand Government to match the incentives.
The push for a new subsidy looks like the famous scene where Oliver Twist asks: "Please sir, can I have some more".
But the industry body, the Screen Production and Development Association, insists the biggest subsidy - the Large Budget Screen Production Grant - is out of reach for locals.
At the Spada conference in Wellington on Friday, president Richard Fletcher made a plea to the newly appointed Broadcasting Minister, Trevor Mallard.
Fletcher said in his speech New Zealand producers needed secure financing to make films and TV shows that sell overseas.
Broadcasters needed to put more money into production and "integral to that is a film rebate on a par with the one for our neighbours across the Tasman".
Fletcher is coy discussing the status of the rebate issue and whether the industry is enjoying its traditional favoured status with politicians
"We know that officials have been looking at it and it is being considered, but I can't say any more," said Fletcher.
The call is occurring at a pivotal time for the film and TV production industry. The entertainment industry is in the middle of global upheaval with corporate media jostling for position and small content producers seeking to secure intellectual property rights.
Spada will argue this is a bad time for the New Zealand industry to slip behind Australia.
The lobby group representing the bigger producers is concerned too.
"We think the Government is receptive [to a similar scheme] but there is an element of wait and see," says Screen Council executive director Tim Thorpe.
He says the industry should be cautious about making assumptions about the effects of the Australian 40 per cent and 20 per cent rebate scheme.
"Why would we rush in rather than wait to see how the Australian scheme settles down there," he said.
It was true that the new Australian rebates were aimed at the domestic industry while the big rebate scheme in New Zealand was aimed at Peter Jackson, Hollywood movies and the industry that services them.
"But you have to be careful judging our support. We have direct Government funding through New Zealand On Air which Australia do not have."
Producers here also kept intellectual property rights to TV shows where in Australia that tended to fall with the broadcasters. The Government has increased funding to the New Zealand Film Commission and handed over the bulk of intellectual property rights for taxpayer-funded shows.
Producers at the Spada meeting had raised the prospect of an exodus to Australia, Thorpe said. But some pointed to CER and co-production treaties. "These could allow joint Australian and NZ ventures to enjoy grants on this side of the Tasman as well as the new rebates in Australia," he said.
