It is an industry worth $3 billion to the nation every year, yet the Bay of Plenty sees just a sliver of the pie. Zizi Sparks talks to the three women now at the helm of the Bay of Plenty's screen media development agency – Film Bay of Plenty -
Bay of Plenty film industry booming, three women appointed to head film agency
The three women at the head of Film Bay of Plenty are Elysia Gibb (left), Jade Kent and Tracy Hampton. Photo / Supplied
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Elysia Gibb, Tracy Hampton and Jade Kent were already working for Film BOP when Gibb became marketing manager while Hampton and Kent became film office executives, for the Western Bay/Tauranga and Eastern Bay/Rotorua/Taupō respectively.
Kent said replacing one chief executive with three people was a chance to expand and ensure the whole region was involved and to take advantage of each of their strengths.
She said one of Film BOP's goals was to ensure there was consistent work in the industry and enough experienced crew to service big productions.
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"There's more opportunity here than there has ever been and the more people coming the more opportunities they bring with them as well with their connections.
"There are definitely more people wanting to move closer to home."
She said the region was an attractive place to film for a number of reasons.
"A lot of its to do with ease of business plus there's been such a huge influx of filming in New Zealand across the board that Auckland and Wellington and other places seem to be overflowing.
"If you drive into Rotorua you're two hours from anywhere. You can be at the snow, at the beach ... these areas that are easy to get to make it easier for productions to meet their time frames."
Gibb said the region's geothermal location and Māori culture made it unique.
As marketing manager Gibb, who has worked on the likes of the Hobbit and Wolverine, hopes to grow the agency's online presence so it can reach international markets.
"I'm slowly working away at that to get us on the map a bit more and also making the film community in the Bay of Plenty cohesive so we are a force to be reckoned with and we are a desirable destination."
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Hampton believed Covid-19 had put New Zealand on the map as a safe place to continue filming and they were noticing more commercials, television shows and movies being filmed here and a larger pool of crew.
"The stronger the crew here ... it helps grow the region and bring productions here. It's all building the infrastructure."
Hampton likened the trio to Charlie's Angels, without Charlie.
"When you've got something creative it's so good to have that sounding booth and talk about ideas and develop it and it gives you more strength to build off each other."
Film BOP board co-chair Glenn Dougal said the trio brought a "wealth of diverse yet complementary experience and knowledge".
"The new structure reflects our evolution in finding better ways to meet the growth aspirations of the local film industry and to capitalise on the predicted national growth as well as supporting regional economic prosperity."
The three women are set to take advantage of an already growing industry.
The $4m spend in the previous financial year was made up of $2m for the Vegas television show, $1.5m for show Kairakau and $500,000 for Muru, a film based on the Tuhoe raids.
Figures provided by the Tauranga City Council show in the 2019/20 financial year it approved five filming permits.
The following year there were 28, including nine in the fourth quarter.
This rise played some part in the establishment of an arts and culture team at the council headed by manager James Wilson.
Wilson hoped professionals in the sector would be able to work where they grew up.
"We have some of the best technicians ... who get snapped up or want to work internationally but people want to work where they grew up. With a studio in the region and large productions, we can sustain careers here.
"I'd love to see people don't feel like they have to leave to work in the field."
Wilson said the council had allocated $100,000 to screen production in its 2021-2031 Long-term Plan.
This would be used to put together a plan about what the sector could or should look like locally.
"In the Long-term Plan more than 10 per cent of submissions were about arts and culture. The community has stood up loudly and said they value the role of arts and culture in their lives. It's up to us to realise that potential."
A Rotorua Economic Development communications staff member denied a request for an interview with the chief executive or comment about what the growing film industry meant for the regional economy.
However, the other economic development agencies in the region Toi EDA for the Eastern Bay and Priority One for the Western Bay spoke to NZME.
Nigel Tutt, chief executive of the Western Bay of Plenty's economic development organisation Priority One, said the screen industry was growing worldwide and that was trickling down to New Zealand.
"It's a good industry because it is diversifying us from traditional industries, it's a good way to promote the area and also pays reasonably well."
Tutt said the $3b the industry was worth nationwide rivalled the kiwifruit industry.
"If we can get a chunk of the $3b that would be good. It's an exciting industry."
Toi EDA general manager Karl Gradon said the Eastern Bay had been home to filming for Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Boy as well as a yet-to-be-released Cliff Curtis film.
He said these films put the area on the map and built a positive brand for the region which led to tourism opportunities.
He said the Cliff Curtis film saw 100 people employed on-set and hotels were full to the brim.
"We're a pretty small economy, 52,000 people, to get these filmed here is huge for our economy and our people.
"We've got some big talent here in our region."
Piripi Curtis, director at Waiariki Film Studios and chairman of Steambox Film Collective, agreed the region's diverse scenery was a drawcard for productions and said the other attractive part was the growing and established industry.
He was involved in Tohea, a film and television apprenticeship course funded by the Ministry of Social Development. The course saw 30 young people trained in the industry and then working on the likes of the Vegas production.
"Rotorua is one of the best outside of the big cities because we have an active industry and also a large base of industry living in Tauranga and working in Auckland."
"It's a very strong Māori film industry here and one of the goals of Steambox is … to generate a Māori creative hub so we get to start telling our stories from a Māori perspective. The world is waking up to the history of colonisation and people … want to know more about indigenous stories."
James Ashcroft, a Tauranga-based film director said he loved living in the region and had been bringing scriptwriters here to develop scripts for several years.
"It's a great place to bring people because I think it's really important with the development of work you get away from your home and distractions and immerse yourself in that work."
Ashcroft largely works in Auckland, Wellington and overseas. His latest film Coming Home After Dark launched on August 12 and was filmed in the capital but he said he would like to bring a project here.
He is working on an adaptation of Devolution, a Max Brooks novel, for Legendary Entertainment, a company behind The Dark Knight, Godzilla and Jurassic World.
"That could easily be set in the locations the Bay of Plenty has on offer so I'm putting together a proposal to Legendary to gauge their appetite about moving that here," he said.
He said the Bay of Plenty Film industry did need infrastructure in order to grow.
"The more it [the industry] grows the more opportunities there are for finding collaborators, developing collaborators rather than losing them to other regions, but the world is changing. You don't have to be based in LA or Auckland or Wellington to be part of the film community.
"It would be great to have the Bay of Plenty as a place where people can have their lives as well as their work lives based here. That comes back to a need for infrastructure and sustainability of work which is difficult in this industry for any region."
Information provided by Rotorua Lakes Council's communications team showed it issued seven permits to film in the forest in the 2019/20 financial year and 12 the following.
The permits only relate to council-owned or managed spaces.
It had bookings for What Now in Kuirau Park, filming of the television show Vegas and other permits relating to advertising or promotion.
Film Bay of Plenty is one of nine regional film offices nationwide and is funded by local government as well as BayTrust, TECT and RECT.
