We are establishing an annual fund of $200,000 from 1 July 2014 to support New Zealand filmmakers working to develop feature films as official co-productions with China.
Up to $50,000 will be available to defray intended actual and reasonable costs associated with the creative and project development of a feature film intended to be an official co-production with China. These costs could include script development, travel to and from China, linguistic support in China and the cost of securing professional advice in China, e.g. on regulatory, legal or accounting matters.
To qualify, the film must:
- be likely to qualify as an official New Zealand-Chinese co-production;
- be intended for theatrical release in both New Zealand and China;
- be of sufficient quality and promise to justify development assistance, as assessed by the NZFC.
“China is a challenging market for New Zealand but one that the New Zealand screen sector cannot afford to ignore if it is to grow the scale and skills to engage internationally. This fund is a small, but significant, step in assisting New Zealand filmmakers realise that potential”, says Chief Executive Dave Gibson.
Consistent with the highly dynamic nature of doing business in China, pre-approval for assistance under the fund will be made within 10 working days of an application being made (assuming full information has been provided).
Funding will then be able to be drawn down as costs are incurred, up to the amount that has been pre-approved.
The fund comes into effect from 1 July 2014 and is expected to operate for at least three years.
Further details will be made available on our website in June.