[News] 紐西蘭退稅迎阿凡達

紐西蘭政府以退稅招來Fox Entertainment和J. Cameron，條件是簽署長期合作與本地製作投資協定。

New 'Avatar' Trilogy to Be Filmed in New Zealand
5:22 PM PST 12/15/2013 by Pip Bulbeck

New Zealand is set to move from being the "home of Middle-earth," as it has become known with The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings films, to "the place where Pandora was brought to life."


James Cameron's follow-up trilogy to his record-breaking blockbuster, Avatar, will be made in New Zealand, with confirmation of a deal announced Monday worth over NZ$500 million ($412 million), outlined in a memorandum of understanding between the New Zealand government, Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.

The MoU underpins changes to New Zealand's range of incentives, announced at the same time, with Lightstorm and Fox getting 25 percent rebates on their spend in the country – an increase of 10 points on the current incentives available. Live action filming and visual effects will be done in NZ.

The MoU outlines spending of at least $412 million on production activity in New Zealand, including most of the live action shooting and visual effects; employment and skills opportunities for New Zealanders, including in head of department roles. Around 90 percent of live action crew are expected to be New Zealanders. Alongside this, an internship programme will be supported.

The MoU also outlines: New Zealand is hosting at least one official red carpet premiere, and a featurette on New Zealand being included in DVDs and Blu-rays; an offer by James Cameron and Jon Landau to serve as founding members of a new screen advisory board, which will provide advice and guidance to New Zealand screen and film makers looking to succeed internationally; marketing and promotion of New Zealand and its film industry alongside the three Avatar films, transferring technological know-how to New Zealanders, and retaining screen production infrastructure in New Zealand that could be used for industry training.

There is also a commitment by both parties to grow the screen sector in New Zealand and to building a long-term and productive relationship between New Zealand and Lightstorm/Twentieth Century Fox.

Cameron, who has been writing the films from his base on farmland that is a 20-minute helicopter ride from the NZ capital of Wellington, called the announcement a "historic day" for the film franchise.

"We had such a wonderful experience here making the first film, and obviously the result of all of the talent in New Zealand speaks for itself. It's a great pleasure for us to recreate that winning combination," local media quoted him as saying.

The confirmation that the new Avatar films will be made in New Zealand followed Prime Minister John Key's announcement that incentives available to both big budget studio fare and local productions will be increased, with a single fund to cover all available production incentives.

The rebate on international film and television production rises from 15 percent to 20 percent, with an additional 5 percent available to international productions that will deliver "significant economic benefits" to New Zealand.

New Zealand's producer offset – a tax rebate of 40 percent for local productions will be extended to larger budget TV productions.

A two tiered system means rebates will be given on film and TV productions up to NZ$15 million qualifying New Zealand production expenditure (QNZPE) and equity will be provided on productions between $15m and $50 m QNZPE.

The existing Screen Production Incentive Fund and Large Budget Screen Production Grant will be combined to form the New Zealand Screen Production Grant, an uncapped fund. Qualification for the incentives will be made on a points test, the details of which will be announced by the time the new incentives come into effect on April 1, 2014 after consultation with industry.

"These changes will help ensure a screen industry that is more sustainable, brings greater long-term economic benefits to New Zealand, and avoids the peaks and troughs that are solely dependent on large international productions," New Zealand economic development minister Stephen Joyce said in a statement.

"To support and develop our screen sector, the Government is altering our screen production incentives to both encourage more mid-sized locally-driven productions and attract more international productions while our own domestic industry develops – without engaging in a 'race to the bottom' mentality," he added.

"These changes will enable larger scale New Zealand productions to be made as well as encouraging more New Zealand stories to be seen on screen," New Zealand Film Commission chair Patsy Reddy said.

"This sends a strong message internationally that New Zealand is competitive and that the screen sector is backed by the New Zealand Government," added Film New Zealand chair Julian Grimmond.

But while the focus of the announcements is on the Avatar films, with the expectation that they will be based in Wellington, where the first film was shot, industry members say the whole country should be able to benefit from the agreements with the downturn in production biting hard in the country's largest city, Auckland.

"Film Auckland's Advisory Board are delighted that the government has recognized the current problems faced by our industry and have increased the incentives," Pete Rive, chairman of Film Auckland Inc. and president of Mili Pictures Worldwide said.

"We would like to ensure that the government going forward will consult fully with us and take advantage of our offer to advise on screen related matters and how to grow and sustain our industry," says Rive. Film Auckland Inc., has been engaged with a broad cross section of the industry and have felt the pain of those companies and contractors whose businesses have been failing.

The announcements came as the second of Peter Jackson's Hobbit films, The Desolation of Smaug, also made in New Zealand, topped the U.S. box office with an opening weekend total of $73.7 million.