Resource type: 
Issue date: 
Thursday, 19 November 2020

Development and Production Financing 2019/20

In the 2019/20 financial year, the NZFC continued to support New Zealand feature film projects  through both direct and devolved funding for script development and production financing. The NZFC plays a significant role in supporting the production of diverse New Zealand feature films that are high impact, authentic and culturally significant. The NZFC aims to activate the production of between eight and 12 feature films a year. The exact number funded in any annual financial period depends on the quality of applications received and the allocation of available funds. 

The following figures compare the application volumes and funding amounts granted by the NZFC across development and production initiatives for the 2019/20 financial year. 

Application and Approval Volumes (2019/20)

Annual applications continued to trend upwards with 842 applications received and processed through development initiatives funded by the NZFC in the 12-month period to 30 June 2020. This number comprises of both direct and devolved funding and includes the Spooky Anthology and Seed fund which received over 250 applications each. 

Production financing offers were made to 10 new feature projects in the period including one feature project in Te Reo Māori. An additional $816K of equity investment was also offered in production financing to support six projects already in production. In total, $14.3M dollars in production financing was offered to during the period.  

The following graph shows an aggregated view of application and approval volumes across both direct and devolved initiatives for the 2019/20 financial year.  

Production Financing (2019/20)

Production Financing Application & Funding Volumes (new productions 2019/20)

The NZFC plays an important role in supporting the production of diverse New Zealand feature films that are high impact, authentic and culturally significant. The NZFC aims to activate the production of between eight and 12 feature films a year. The exact number funded in any annual financial period depends on the quality of applications received and the allocation of available funds.

The following graph compares the application volumes and funding amounts granted for production financing over the last five years. These figures include new production financing offers only and does not include additional equity investment offers. In the four years prior to 2019/20, the volume of projects supported was relatively stable with a minimum of 12 projects supported each year. In the 2019/20 financial year this figure (10) is slightly lower with fewer projects receiving offers of finance due to a higher average level of investment into projects. Despite the ongoing challenges facing the screen industry, supporting the production of New Zealand feature films remains a priority for the NZFC. This is evident in the increased funding that has been granted over the last five years. The NZFC made over $4M more in production financing offers in the 2019/20 year when compared to 2015/16.

Direct Development Funding (2019/20)

Core Development Application & Funding Volumes (Last 5 years)

Core development funds are funds administered by the NZFC that have been continuously available for the last five years. These consist of the Early Development Fund (EDF), Documentary Development Fund (DDF) and the Advanced Development Fund (ADF). There were additional development funding initiatives available throughout this period, however, these have been excluded from the following analysis as one-off initiatives causes spikes in application volumes.  

In the 2019/20 financial year, a total of 152 core development applications were processed compared to 125 in the previous year and doubles the applications received in 2015/16. What becomes clear is that there is a recognisable need for developmental support from the industry and this has been continuously increasing over the last five years. The following graph shows the application and approval volume trends over the last five years.  

Devolved Development Funding (2019/20)

Devolved Development includes development funding designed to support more than one project and is provided to producers or screen businesses with a slate of projects at varying stages of development. Such initiatives, like BOOST, are designed to accelerate the slates of active producers and enable successful screen businesses to build a feature film slate and move quickly into production. It also includes initiatives where funding assessment and administration is devolved to third parties, providing a wider range of access for potential applicants.

Comparison of Documentaries and Dramas (2019/20)

Breakdown by Fund

The following table provides a summary of the application and approval volumes for development and production initiatives administered by the NZFC during the 2019/20 financial year. Figures are separated by individual funding initiatives. An aggregated view comparing development to production is available in the second table below. You can use the search bar to filter by individual funding initiative. 

Funding by Initiative (2019/20)

Past Funding Decisions by Project

A list of previously funded projects with their corresponding funding amounts can be found here

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Last updated: 
Thursday, 3 December 2020