SPADA has welcomed the Government’s announcement on lowering the Screen Production Incentive Fund (SPIF) threshold…

Changes to a production funding scheme will see more New Zealand feature films in production over the next two years , says Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Chris Finlayson…

The following is the text of the address that Minister of Broadcasting Jonathan Coleman made to the annual industry conference organised by producers’ organisation SPADA (Screen Production and Development Association) on 12 November.

Minister of Arts, Culture and Heritage, Hon Chris Finlayson, will be the guest speaker at the 10th birthday celebrations of The New Zealand Film and Television School in Wellington this Saturday.
The Film School was established in Wellington in 2000 by a group of senior Wellington filmmakers including Robin Laing, Alun Bollinger and John Reid, concerned with the lack of practical training for those entering the film industry.

The text of the letter that Attorney-General Chris Finlayson sent to the producers of The Hobbit and NZ Actors’ Equity on29 September, which states that the Commerce Act 1986 effectively prohibits competing independent contractor performers from negotiating or entering into a collective contract.

It will be months before the Government acts on any of the recommendations in the NZFC review – and it won’t be providing more funding for their implementation.

Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Chris Finlayson has already met briefly with the NZFC over the report and will discuss it next with MCH officials.