New Zealand as a Venue
Film-makers around the world have become attracted to New Zealand as a venue, particularly over the past five years, for several reasons.
1. The diversity in scenery from desert-like to snow, to sea, to grassy, green pasture. The country has mostly sparsely populated landscapes, which feature a volcanic central plateau, miles of coastline, lakes, rivers, rugged mountains, high country sheep stations, vineyards, boatyards and forested wilderness. All are packed into one compact area, with New Zealand being 1930km (1200 miles) long and having a population of 3.8 million.
2. The wealth of New Zealand acting, technical and behind-the-scenes talent available.
3. Everywhere around New Zealand, there are reminders of other places, from English gentility to San Francisco, pure Art Deco or the Scottish highlands. New Zealand can stand in for a variety of places from Afghanistan to Switzerland, Korea to Ireland.
4. The competitive foreign exchange rate gives foreign producers the opportunity to extend the potential of their projects. A recent example of this was Vertical Limit, directed by Martin Campbell and starring Chris O'Donnell. It was shot on Mount Cook in the South Island. On the Vertical Limit website, photographer Lloyd Phillips has put a series of photos of the areas in the South Island where the movie was shot - quite spectacular pictures. Of one scene he capture on film in The Remarkables area, he says: ‘This image captures New Zealand; alive with history and culture.’
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