Hon Carmel Sepuloni
Minister of Arts, Culture and Heritage
Hon Barbara Edmonds
Minister for Economic Development
· 5 percent uplift clearer and simpler to navigate
· Domestic productions can access more funding sources
· 20 percent rebate confirmed for post-production, digital and visual effects
· Qualifying expenditure for post-production, digital and visual effects rebate dropped to $250,000 to encourage more smaller productions
The Government is making it easier for the screen sector to access support in order to attract more domestic and international productions to help grow the economy.
“New Zealand is a globally renowned production location and the government is making sure our iconic New Zealand landscape and stories will remain on screen here and overseas,” Economic Development Minister Barbara Edmonds said.
“We are making it easier for the sector to access government support. This includes simplifying the additional five percent uplift rebate for international productions so it’s more accessible; and making changes to the post-production, digital and visual effects grant to improve its competitiveness and enable more smaller businesses to benefit from it.
“All domestic screen productions will be able to access the rebate alongside other government funding such as NZ On Air, Te Māngai Pāho and the New Zealand Film Commission, encouraging more local content that showcases New Zealand here and across the world.
“Having incentives that make New Zealand competitive and more attractive to production companies is an important part of our economic plan.
“The screen sector contributes more than $3.5 billion to the New Zealand economy each year and directly employs over 13,900 people. The sector also benefits other industries such as hospitality, construction and tourism.
“We’re also renaming the Screen Production Grant to the Screen Production Rebate to more accurately reflect that it is a rebate on spending in New Zealand by Kiwi screen companies and international production houses.”
Today’s changes wrap up public consultation carried out in late 2022 and concludes the review into the government’s investment in the screen sector.
“There were a range of views on the proposals for change presented as part of the review. We have listened to the industry and balanced elements of both options that were well supported,” Barbara Edmonds said.
Minister of Arts, Culture and Heritage Carmel Sepuloni said the Government will continue to support our talented screen workforce to be at the cutting edge of the industry.
“Through the public consultation, we heard that the sector would welcome continued work to explore how to best support skills and career development opportunities in the screen sector that align with existing and ongoing workforce initiatives,” Carmel Sepuloni said.
“We want to provide certainty to the people and businesses working in the screen sector that the Government supports your mahi and contributions to a successful Aotearoa New Zealand on the world stage.
“We are continuing to back this thriving sector to ensure it has a strong foundation for the future,” Carmel Sepuloni said.
Changes to the New Zealand Screen Production Grant:
- Redevelop the additional five percent ‘Uplift’ rebate to make the process more efficient and simpler to navigate, and the criteria clearer and more objective.
- The Post-Production, Digital and Visual (PDV) rebate will return to a flat rate of 20 percent, making it more competitive.
- The qualifying expenditure threshold for the Post-Production, Digital and Visual Effects rebate will drop from $500,000 to $250,000, enabling smaller productions to also benefit.
- All types of domestic screen productions will be able to access the rebate alongside other government funding such as NZ On Air, Te Māngai Pāho and the New Zealand Film Commission.
- The name of the New Zealand Screen Production Grant will change to reflect it is a rebate on expenditure undertaken rather than a grant.
Final details of these changes will be shared with the sector by the end of July.
Background on the New Zealand Screen Production Grant:
· Established in 2014, the New Zealand Screen Production Grant supports the screen sector by encouraging international and domestic production activity, with rebates on specified goods and services purchased in New Zealand:
- 20 percent for qualifying international productions
- 40 percent for qualifying domestic productions that have ‘significant New Zealand content’.
· A small number of international productions are invited to apply for an additional 5 percent Uplift rebate if they can demonstrate significant economic benefits to New Zealand. The Uplift is intended to incentivise a range of spill-over benefits such as raising New Zealand’s profile internationally, attracting high-value tourists and investment in infrastructure, and profiling our creativity and innovative people. This is in addition to the economic benefits to New Zealand which come from production expenditure under the 20 percent base rebate, which all eligible international productions can access.
· Since 2014, productions accessing the rebate (both domestic and international) have spent around $5.2 billion in New Zealand and received around $1.15 billion in rebates.
· Countries with strong and thriving production sectors have government funded screen investment schemes. These supports are commonplace around the world with countries like Australia, Ireland, the United Kingdom and Canada all providing support to their sectors through rebate schemes or tax credits.
More information about the screen sector review is available on MBIE website.
More information about the NZSPG is on the New Zealand Film Commission website.
