Designs for the Number 8 Studios in Pakipaki, outside of Hastings.
The studio was originally planned for Te Awanga after consent was granted in 2022, but the land owner wanted to go in a different direction by the end of 2024, leaving studio directors Tony Keddy and Daniel Betty seeking a new location.
Betty said the new studio would help diversify the region’s economy.
“We know that 60% of every film budget that comes into a region is spent locally. That means that our local suppliers, our accommodation providers, our construction houses, our hospitality and tourism industry will flourish once we have a film in.”
Keddy said they hoped to have the studio open by February 2028.
With the studio set to open in 16 months, the pair said there was “massive” interest from national and international productions.
Keddy had worked in the film industry for more than 30 years, including as a key grip with Sir Peter Jackson on The Lord of the Rings, King Kong and the Hobbit films, and with James Cameron on the first Avatar film.
“I‘ve spent a lot of time in studios, and I know what works and doesn’t work. So I’ve taken all the things that work and put that into the design of these studios,” he said.
Everything from the sustainable acoustic and thermal blocking cladding to the set-up of the studios was designed for efficiency.
“When you’re making a film, time is the thing you can’t make any more of, so you have to be as efficient as possible.”
Betty and Keddy said they’d consulted with the studio’s neighbours and local iwi.
“We’re not trying to do it in isolation. It’s a team event,” Keddy said.
Betty expected the studio to draw big names like Brad Pitt to Hawke’s Bay, with the studio nearly landing a film at the end of the year with “some very big stars attached to it”.
“If they can go to Queenstown, they can come to Hawke’s Bay.
“What people don’t know is that Brad Pitt was actually here looking and filming in Maraetotara.”
Keddy said once the studio was open, a massive weight would drop from his shoulders.
He wanted to acknowledge former Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst and former Hastings District Council chief executive Nigel Bickle – who died unexpectedly in August – for their support.
“Without them, I would have given up.”
People wanting to work at the studios could register their interest with Screen Hawke’s Bay.
Betty encouraged young people wanting to work at the studio to check out EIT’s screen production courses or Kahurangi Toi Ātea – National Screen Industry Training, which Betty and Keddy helped establish.
Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and has worked in radio and media in the UK, Germany and New Zealand.