Wellington and Auckland as Australasian media cities

Abstract

Increasing scholarly attention is being paid to the places within which film and television production occurs to capture the geographical dimensions of screen production. This article considers New Zealand's two media cities, Auckland and Wellington, in terms of their screen production activity, their relation to each other and their relation to Australian and international screen media industries. Between them, Wellington and Auckland are responsible for nearly all New Zealand film and television production. Distinctly different screen media production possibilities exist in each city with these cities exhibiting distinct relations of complementarity. Wellington is New Zealand's main centre for post-production and digital graphics, animation and international production. Auckland, by contrast, is the principal centre of broadcasting, TV programming and independent film and TV production, with the TV stations based there as well as much of the advertising and independent production industry. This study places the two media cities within both the global production context and the under-examined regional dimensions linking Australia and New Zealand.

Funding

This work was supported by the Australian Research Council [grant number DP130101455].

Notes on contributors

Dr Alfio Leotta is a Lecturer in Film Studies at Victoria University of Wellington. His primary research interests focus on New Zealand and contemporary Italian cinema. His book Touring the Screen: Tourism and New Zealand Film Geographies (Intellect, 2011) examines the representation of landscape in a number of New Zealand film productions that have subsequently been used as marketing tools to attract tourists to the country.

Tom O'Regan is Professor of Cultural and Media Studies in the School of English, Media Studies and Art History at the University of Queensland, Australia. He is the co-author of Local Hollywood: Global Film Production and the Gold Coast (with Susan Ward and Ben Goldsmith, 2010), The Film Studio (with Ben Goldsmith, 2006) and Rating the Audience (with Mark Balnaves and Ben Goldsmith, 2011).

Notes

1. Wellington and Christchurch have long vied for the title of second-largest NZ city. With the 2011 Christchurch earthquake leading to a decline in its population, Wellington replaced Christchurch as the second-largest city.

2. The parallel with Melbourne is especially notable here as it faced a similar eclipse by Sydney in the same sectors over the 1980s and 1990s, and likewise felt the need to better formulate and plan for its future.

3. In the same period in Australia, Sydney caught up with and then rapidly moved ahead of Melbourne as Australia's corporate head office, business and finance centre, and consolidated its media and creative industries lead.

4. This distinction between a hedonistic Auckland and a serious Wellington is replicated in a similar Australian distinction between Sydney and Melbourne.

5. Currently, Auckland Film Studios is owned by the new Auckland City Council and consists of five sound stages complemented by six large multipurpose buildings, offices and a range of business services on site.

6. The cooperation between the two cities is particularly apparent in major international productions. In the 1990s Peter Jackson and Weta Workshops contributed to the making of the Auckland-based TV shows Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess. Similarly, in the early 2000s Peter Jackson drew upon Auckland expertise for The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

7. It was Wellington producer, Dave Gibson, who led the late-1990s NZ challenge to Australian content regulations in what became known as the ‘Blue Sky’ case in the Australian High Court.

Additional information

Funding

Funding: This work was supported by the Australian Research Council [grant number DP130101455].