Figures released today by Statistics New Zealand’s 2013/2014 Screen Industry Survey showing revenue remained fairly solid at $NZ3.2 billion are in line with industry expectations.
Screen NZ, the virtual screen sector agency of the New Zealand Film Commission, Film New Zealand and NZ On Air, has welcomed the comprehensive data from Statistics New Zealand.
In terms of the value added to the economy, the screen industry added $NZ1.1 billion which equates to almost half a percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Revenue streams continue to be dominated by feature films which contribute over half of all production and post-production revenue.
The survey captures data to 31 March 2014, and showed a $NZ7 million increase on the previous year. Employment information from 2013 reported for the first time shows the majority of screen businesses (96%) were engaged in production and post-production work with a total of 15,500 people employed by the industry earning $NZ742 million in wages.
“The NZFC welcomes the results from the 2014 Screen Industry Survey. This year looks like a bumper year for film with a wide range of local and international projects in production across the country. We look forward to next year’s survey so we can see the impact of incentives schemes introduced in April 2014 on the industry,” says NZFC CEO Dave Gibson.
Philippa Mossman, Film New Zealand’s Director, Business Development and Enquiries says The Screen Industry Survey is a valuable tool in showing trends over time. “The numbers provide a useful snapshot of the industry prior to the introduction of the New Zealand Screen Production Grant in April 2014. As expected, North America continues to be our strongest international market.”
“We are pleased to see that in a constrained environment TV production is stable in this survey, which reflects our experience. We find this data valuable for understanding employment trends within our sector,” says Jane Wrightson CEO of NZ on Air.