By WAYNE THOMPSON
Waitakere City's plan to be New Zealand's film-making centre may lead to links with the Sundance Institute founded by Hollywood star Robert Redford.
Mayor Bob Harvey said Waitakere had the studios, actors and locations, and should now move to become the centre of film-making, script and studio training.
the city's business arm, nte It has been proposed that Enterprise Waitakere provide a centre along the lines of the Sundance Institute.
The institute, based at Redford's ski resort in Utah, has programmes for supporting fledgling film-makers in developing feature films and documentaries.
It offers a chance to work with Hollywood professionals in the acting and production fields.
Sundance also has a special programme for film-making by Native Americans.
Mr Harvey said film training was a way to "close the gaps" for young Maori and Pacific Islanders.
Waitakere chief executive Clyde Rogers said discussions had begun with the Sundance Institute.
The city was also talking to several groups, including the University of Auckland and Auckland University of Technology, about developing an international-standard film course.
In August, the Film and Television School in Wellington took its first intake of 10 students.
Director Ruth Jeffery said she did not see any threat in the Waitakere proposal.
In March, Mr Harvey and Wellington Mayor Mark Blumsky went to Los Angeles to persuade Hollywood film-makers that New Zealand was a great place to make movies.
Mr Harvey said this week that an American film company would make a $12 million movie, Her Majesty, in the region.
Also in the pipeline was a multimillion-dollar American children's telemovie, to be shot this summer.
Disney had chosen a Henderson factory as a location for its movie Zenon.
Waitakere develops film-making links
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