Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefWhether or not “The Power of the Dog” wins the big prize at the Academy Awards on Sunday, David Strong, chief executive of the New Zealand Film Commission for the past eight months, is guaranteed to be an in-demand visitor to Los Angeles over the next week.With the Jane Campion-directed film handily showcasing New Zealand’s talent, locations and craft strengths, the country has now reopened its borders to international visitors.
Also sweetening the deal are more studio spaces.Ahead of Strong’s flight to Los Angeles, where he has a week of meetings set up with Hollywood decision makers, he spoke to Variety about what New Zealand has to offer going forward.What has been the impact of “The Power of the Dog” and its Oscar nominations? It’s already been a big success story for us.
The New Zealand government put $8 million into “The Power of the Dog” and, along with the Netflix money and the co-production with Australia, made it a big success story in many ways.
In a year of COVID, because it was filmed in 2020, it invested directly into our economy and supported service industries. We had over 600 crew and extras working on it, from Auckland down to Otago, recreating Montana in New Zealand.If we talk about Jane Campion, in particular, it’s a remarkable achievement by a world-leading filmmaker who’s been in industry for nearly 40 years.
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