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Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talk ZEDB. Follow

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Speaker 1: this and our Wide Ranger podcast now on iHeartRadio.

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Speaker 2: Very good afternoon. We're talking about film rebates. The latest

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Speaker 2: rebate that is in the news today is in regards

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Speaker 2: to the Avatar movie sequels, and part of that rebate

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Speaker 2: is an additional five percent which has had some criteria

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Speaker 2: attached to it. One of those criteria is having a

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Speaker 2: premiere in New Zealand, which I think we're very excited about.

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Speaker 2: But we've asked the wider question about film rebates. Are

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Speaker 2: you in favor of one hundred and eighty ten eighty?

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Speaker 2: Joining us now is Phil Smith. He is the owner

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Speaker 2: and executive producer at Great Southern TV. Get a Phil good?

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Speaker 3: How are you?

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Speaker 4: Very good? Thanks? So for one of the main economic

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Speaker 4: benefits New Zealand gains from offering this kind of rebate.

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Speaker 3: Well, it stimulates the economy, creates employment, and I think

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Speaker 3: the biggest misconception about the rebate is that this money

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Speaker 3: is given to a producer or a big production company

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Speaker 3: and sent off sure at the end, but the rebate

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Speaker 3: is spent one hundred percent on the project. So it's

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Speaker 3: called the multiplier effect. And so every dollar that the

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Speaker 3: government gives us. We estimate six dollars is spent in

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Speaker 3: the New Zealand economy and that six dollars is tax

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Speaker 3: because it's workers paying their tax as GST and so

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Speaker 3: it stimulates the economy greatly.

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Speaker 4: So as you because they talk about the qualifying New

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Speaker 4: Zealand production expenditure, so what does that cover? Does that

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Speaker 4: cover wages, does it cover rent does it Basically they

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Speaker 4: can only claim the rebate on money spent within the

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Speaker 4: New Zealand economy. Is that correct?

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Speaker 3: That's right, and listeners can be reassured that we're very

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Speaker 3: heavily audited at the end of the next production. I've

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Speaker 3: got two at the moment, both over ten million dollars

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Speaker 3: in terms of the total budget. So yes, that you

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Speaker 3: have to absolutely spend that money in New Zealand. So

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Speaker 3: as I say, that money goes into the budget and

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Speaker 3: is spent, and it's spent on rental cars, toilets, carpenters, cafes,

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Speaker 3: everything you can imagine. And that's part of our three

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Speaker 3: point five billion dollar industry. And just to reassure listeners,

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Speaker 3: this criteria is global. So if you look at white

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Speaker 3: Lotus and you wonder where it's going next. The first

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Speaker 3: thing they look at is the rebate. Why did it

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Speaker 3: go to Italy? The rebate? Why did it go to Thailand?

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Speaker 3: The rebate? Why do people come here the rebate? So

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Speaker 3: does the global phenomenon. It's not just us doing something silly,

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Speaker 3: and if we stop doing it, then the producers will

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Speaker 3: simply go to Romania or South Africa or Australia and

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Speaker 3: we'll lose a three point five billion dollar industry that

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Speaker 3: is projected to grow to five billion and be bigger

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Speaker 3: than wool and wood. So you know, it's a good thing.

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Speaker 4: So how does New Zealands instead of scheme compare to

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Speaker 4: those of the other countries.

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Speaker 3: Well, we're actually pretty similar our scheme it's very attractive,

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Speaker 3: but people want to come here for other reasons other

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Speaker 3: than the rebate. There's our crews and our scenery. Like

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Speaker 3: New Zealand is just seen as world class in terms

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Speaker 3: of what we offer. Spain has the highest, they sit

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Speaker 3: at about forty to fifty percent. New Zealand's it's mid table.

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Speaker 3: We're very similar to Australia, we're very similar to South

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Speaker 3: Africa and some colors, but we're mid table.

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Speaker 4: So just to clarify, so the government, you know, the

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Speaker 4: headlines are, the government commits five hundred and seventy seven

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Speaker 4: million to boost New Zealand's film and television industry. So

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Speaker 4: the company come here, they form what is a special

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Speaker 4: purpose vehicle, so that the company's offices are here and

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Speaker 4: it's a special company that's set up just for the production.

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Speaker 4: Once they spend all the money first. Is this correct?

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Speaker 4: They spend all the money first, and then and then

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Speaker 4: they get the rebate back as opposed to a grant

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Speaker 4: being given to them at the start of the production.

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Speaker 3: It's not a big fat cat hand, that's right. They

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Speaker 3: get given they're kind of given a preliminary approval saying

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Speaker 3: that yes, if you are projected to spend that money,

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Speaker 3: at the end, will audit you, and if you provedly

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Speaker 3: spent that money in New Zealand will be debated. But

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Speaker 3: the money has already been spent in our economy, so

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Speaker 3: it's been spent everywhere. So at the end, there's no

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Speaker 3: check that goes to Hollywood. And that's the misconception that

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Speaker 3: everyone has is that at the end, someone goes, great,

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Speaker 3: here's the rebate, We're sending it off to Los Angeles.

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Speaker 3: Doesn't happen. It's already been spent here in all those

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Speaker 3: people we know in our families and we know around

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Speaker 3: New Zealand who are working within the production.

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Speaker 2: Great answers for what would you say, because we're gtting

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Speaker 2: a few texts to this regard that we get the

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Speaker 2: film rebate, and you've explained very well, while that's of

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Speaker 2: immense value to New Zealand, but why shouldn't other industries

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Speaker 2: get rebates as well? In the same vein.

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Speaker 3: Well, I think that the rebate in terms of the

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Speaker 3: New Zealand film industry, it's a competitive environment and the

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Speaker 3: simple fact is if we step out, we will be

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Speaker 3: an outlier. And New Zealand has to decide no be

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Speaker 3: seize us because if we've stopped making film and television here,

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Speaker 3: we might as well float to Antarctica, because I'll tell

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Speaker 3: you they'll go somewhere else and we'll be out. The

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Speaker 3: moment we cancel them, people around the world will just

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Speaker 3: simply go it doesn't matter. We'll just go and shoot

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Speaker 3: in the Nordic countries. We'll just go there where they

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Speaker 3: offer fifty percent. So honestly, no one will come here.

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Speaker 4: We're talking to owner and executive producer at Great Southern

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Speaker 4: Film and Television. Phil, what about say boat building or

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Speaker 4: or you know, cloud storage, or you know a car manufacturing.

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Speaker 4: Is it significantly different from that in terms of the

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Speaker 4: competitive environment.

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Speaker 3: It is. It simply is you either have them or

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Speaker 3: you don't. Like FIGI has them and they use them

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Speaker 3: progressively as well, so we're not exactly just one country

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Speaker 3: doing something crazy. In terms of the competitive aspects, I

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Speaker 3: think it's up to each industry to lobby and to

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Speaker 3: explain where they lie. This is our ground zero situation.

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Speaker 3: They exist everywhere in the world. You either have them

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Speaker 3: or you don't. You're either in or out. And that's

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Speaker 3: the situation our industry finds itself, and it's found itself

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Speaker 3: out to be a three point five billion dollar industry.

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Speaker 3: And the thing is, if you turn them off, you

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Speaker 3: turn off the industry. And that's an industry. As I

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Speaker 3: say that, it's now competing with the big ones.

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Speaker 4: And finally, Phil, is there any discussion or any further

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Speaker 4: developments or any ramifications for all this around Trump's threaten

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Speaker 4: threatening tariffs against productions made outside of Hollywood.

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Speaker 3: I don't think even within the Trump administration they have

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Speaker 3: a single clue as to how they'd implement it because

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Speaker 3: they'd end up taxing themselves, and there hasn't really been

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Speaker 3: a lot going forward. It's certainly made people unstable, but

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Speaker 3: in fact the way to make it work would be

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Speaker 3: so complicated that it would take over two years just

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Speaker 3: to work it out, and by that time Trump, well,

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Speaker 3: most people believe, will have been very well distracted and

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Speaker 3: moved on to other targets.

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Speaker 2: Phil, really great to get your insights. Thanks so much

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Speaker 2: for giving us some time. That is Phil Smith, executive

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Speaker 2: and owner, executive producer, rather and owner at Great Southern TV.

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