Taking Auckland to the world of film

By IRENE CHAPPLE marketing writer

The film industry's new marketing campaign received a Herculean leg-up this week with Waitakere City Council's announcement that it had all but sealed the deal to create a new film studio.

The announcement was made by Mayor Bob Harvey during Tuesday's launch of Film Auckland, a partnership between Waitakere and Auckland City Councils aimed at promoting the regional film industry.

Purchase of the studio, expected to be officially confirmed next week, is the proverbial cherry on top for the marketing initiative, which is based around a promotional DVD created by Zoomslide Media.

The DVD would be used as part of Film New Zealand's international marketing strategy, said executive director Jane Gilbert.

To have a studio in West Auckland (with 11,000sq m of floor space, second only to Wellington's Avalon Studios) made it easier still, said Gilbert.

"You can't just market a shell. It's got to have a pearl inside it."

The DVD would be available to local producers and Gilbert said she would take it to film trade shows and international film festivals.

"The great thing about it is the Auckland region have committed to work together under the banner of Film Auckland and market themselves as a film centre.

"That makes it incredibly easy for us ... no one is interested in council boundaries."

The partnership, said Gilbert, "seriously signals that Auckland, for example, is wanting to encourage and see screen productions in its regions".

The DVD features clips from films such as Once Were Warriors and The Piano, music videos and advertising clips.

It is introduced by actor Cliff Curtis and carries interviews with people prominent in the industry.

Viewers can select what they want to see through the main menu.

Zoomslide Media's Adam Jones, who produced the DVD, said the concept had grown from an in-house idea that had gathered momentum with the support of the Waitakere and Auckland City Councils and Enterprise Waitakere.

The project, which was worth about $300,000, had cost only about $50,000 because people in the industry had given time and footage, he said.

About 300 of the 2200 DVDs produced had already been given out.

Jones has received inquiries from New Zealanders with film industry contacts in Germany and the United States who are keen to see the DVD.

The concept has also attracted attention from the Government, which had already identified film as a growth industry.

Foreign investment in film and screen production, for example, has grown from $44 million in 1994 to $486 million.

Jim Anderton, the Minister for Economic Development, set up a screen production industry taskforce in May.

Its members include industry big-hitters such as John Barnett of South Pacific Pictures, Touchdown Productions' Julie Christie and TVNZ head Ian Fraser.

The taskforce aims to increase the film industry's foreign exchange earnings from around $200 million to $400 million in the next five years.

Anderton, who spoke at the DVD's launch, recalled visits to movies with his grandmother.

"As an avid fan," he said, "I look forward to seeing more shots of Auckland and Waitakere in the background of internationally released blockbusters."