![\"Terminator](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/terminator-director-james-cameron-WLIURHDETJDYHGZ6XWIQPVROWE.jpg\")
<\/p>\n“Targeted updates” to the International Screen Production Rebate will ensure New Zealand retains its edge as a competitive and attractive place for film, television, and streaming productions, the Government says.<\/p>\n
The rebate, which has been in place since 2014, allows film companies and producers to receive money back from spending in New Zealand during production.<\/p>\n
Currently, New Zealand’s rebate rate is 20%, increased to 25% if a project is found to bring wider benefits to the country.<\/p>\n
Competing rates include Australia (up to 40%), Ireland (32%), the United Kingdom (29%), and Canada (up to 29%).<\/p>\n
Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis said the changes responded to industry feedback and are designed to maintain New Zealand’s edge in an increasingly competitive global market.<\/p>\n
“Global competition for large-scale screen productions has intensified, and the settings we inherited were putting New Zealand at risk of missing out.<\/p>\n
“These updates modernise the rebate to attract a broader range of productions, create more consistent work for local crews and businesses, and encourage greater foreign investment in our creative industries.”<\/p>\n
Under the changes, the minimum qualifying spend for feature films would lower from $15 million to $4 million to allow more productions to access the rebate.<\/p>\n
The threshold for the 5% increase would lower from $30 million to $20 million to allow for more mid-budget productions, while eligibility for the 5% uplift would expand to post-production, digital and visual effects-only projects.<\/p>\n
A cap on above-the-line costs, such as director, producer, principal cast and screenwriter fees, will be removed to align with international practice.<\/p>\n
The updated settings, which take effect from January 1, 2026, were funded by the $577 million allocated in Budget 2025, bringing total funding for the International Screen Production Rebates to $1.09 billion over four years, Willis said.<\/p>\n
“These changes ensure New Zealand remains a serious contender in an increasingly competitive global screen industry.”<\/p>\n
The screen sector supports around 24,000 jobs nationwide and contributes $3.5 billion to New Zealand’s GDP. The rebate returns $2.40 on every $1 invested, the Government says.<\/p>\n
Films such as Avatar, Minecraft, The Hobbit, Mulan, and Deadpool & Wolverine have all qualified for the rebate, among dozens of others.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Terminator director, James Cameron. (Source: Bang Showbiz)<\/p>\n
James Cameron to attend Avatar: Fire and Ash premiere in Wellington<\/p>\n
Award-winning director James Cameron has announced he will attend the New Zealand premiere of his new film Avatar: Fire and Ash at Wellington’s Embassy Theatre.<\/p>\n
The 71-year-old director best known for his Titanic and Avatar films became a New Zealand citizen earlier this year, having lived with his family in South Wairarapa since 2012. <\/p>\n
In a statement this morning, it was announced Cameron would attend the Avatar: Fire and Ash premiere at the Embassy Theatre in Wellington on December 13 alongside other special guests. <\/p>\n
The first Avatar film, released in 2009, grossed approximately US$2.92 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film of all time.<\/p>\n
The second film thrust New Zealand and our screen industry into the spotlight, with Wet\u0101 Workshop at the heart of the ground-breaking movie with its underwater visual effects.<\/p>\n
Avatar: Fire and Ash will show in New Zealand cinemas from December 18, 2025.<\/p>\n
The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including dozens hurt in Rotorua bus crash, a new summons for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, and a pricey slice of high country luxury. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“Targeted updates” to the International Screen Production Rebate will ensure New Zealand retains its edge as a competitive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121857,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[409,111,43,139,69,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-121856","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-movies","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz","13":"tag-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}