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12 March 2003 A government appointed task force looking into New Zealand's multi million dollar film industry has recommended big tax breaks which will double total foreign exchange earnings to $400 million inside five years. |
A central plank of the plan calls for tax breaks for those production companies which use local firms and tradesmen in the making of their films. The proposals also include the creation of a Screen Council which would be responsible for offering training and teaching business skills to local film-makers in the hope that they can create better deals and enjoy a larger share of profits from publicly funded ventures.
The government is unlikely to implement such changes however, especially in the light of the removal of a key tax perk last week which will hit overseas film-maker hard in the pocket. According to the New Zealand Herald, the government abruptly withdrew tax free allowances for stars and local film crew employed by the foreign firms, a move which has angered the nation's film industry, which was not consulted about the change.
The Herald report revealed that Tom Cruise vehicle, The Last Samurai, was the first production to be affected by the new rules. The producers of the NZ$170 million project have since revealed that they were not informed that daily payments and accommodation allowances for cast and crew should be treated as taxable income until after shooting had started.
"A few trees and a lake isn't enough any more," said Julie Christie, a member of the task force. "If it is our goal to grow our industry and be competitive with the likes of the United Kingdom or Canada, which I believe we are absolutely capable of being, then we must have some sort of tax incentives," she explained, citing the example of New Zealand filmmaker Matthew Metclafe who took his $6 million debut production to Canada to exploit tax breaks offered there.
However, the government's actions last week hardly gave the impression that it intends to subsidize the New Zealand film industry in any form, and it seems highly unlikely that any such proposals will be given the green light. Economic Development Minister Jim Anderson intimated in press reports that the film industry was low down the government's list of priorities. "Once you start that, then you could say why don't you offer every company incentives? Why just the film industry?"
