Fears Jackson will deliver harsh verdict

Peter Jackson accused the New Zealand Film Commission of treating directors and writers like "second-class citizens."

Never mind Peter Jackson's remake of The Dam Busters.

The New Zealand director's report with Australian academic David Court on the New Zealand Film Commission is expected to deliver bombshells.

Arts Minister Chris Finlayson expects the government-commissioned report to be delivered next month - possibly in time for the annual production industry conference from November 12-13.

Court is respected by New Zealand film producers, who rely on the commission as a foundation financier for their projects.

But the Jackson name carries a lot more weight.

It would be difficult for a politician or bureaucrat to reject the findings or recommendations.

"That is the slightly scary thing about the report," said Dave Gibson of the Gibson Group, who has two film projects in development.

"The slight worry is that the politicians like the sound of what he says so much.

"Peter has done some amazing things but the reality is that he has not worked at the level [of] the rest of the industry for a very long time," he said.

Barrie Everard owns the Berkeley Cinema chain and was chairman of the commission from 2002-2004.

He clashed with Jackson, who called for the commission to cover debts for the Kahukura Productions movie Crime Story owed to Jackson's company The Film Unit when Kahukura went broke.

But Everard has no doubts about Jackson's value to the commission review.

He is optimistic Jackson's experience will be valuable for the rethink and says his greatest value is in recognising talent.

Back in 1994, when he was an emerging talent, Jackson provided Kate Winslet with her film debut in his 1994 hit Heavenly Creatures.

Everard said he aimed - and hopefully succeeded - in shifting the commission and film-maker focus from craft to business.

A key decision was the scale of projects.

"We can make movies with low budgets and one in 10 will do very well - like the Topp Twins film and Once Were Warriors."

Everard also locked horns occasionally with former chief executive Ruth Harley but says the commission has moved ahead.

"I am encouraged by the fact that the commission appointed [chief executive] Graeme Mason with a lot of experience selling films on the international market," Everard said.

Earlier this year Jackson launched a broadside at the commission, claiming it had made the past 10 years "the most disappointing in our 30-year-old modern film industry".

He accused the body of creating a producer-led industry and treating directors and writers like "second-class citizens".

The commission's dual role of financing and then selling and marketing New Zealand films as the sales agent in New Zealand has been heavily debated in the industry.

Mason has told film-makers he intends to run the sales agency side of the business.

However Finlayson's office insists there have been no promises that the sales agency role will remain, or that any change is off-limits.

"I think he is taking the right approach, going ahead and making his changes [rather than] sitting wondering about the review," said Gibson, a screen industry veteran who supports the commission's keeping a sales agency role.

Gibson said some small New Zealand movies would be forgotten in a portfolio for an overseas-based sales agency.

Some film producers have been bitterly opposed, noting the commission almost requires the film-makers to hand them the sales agency role in return for taxpayer finance.

John Barnett of South Pacific Pictures, maker of Whale Rider and New Zealand's most prolific screen producer, is the commission's most strident critic.

He says only communist countries still have a government agency in the sales role.

Penelope Borland, executive director for the Screen Producers and Development Association (Spada), said that a lot was resting on the Jackson-Court report.

It was likely to be a big topic at the Spada conference in Wellington on November 12 and 13.

"There have been a lot of questions about the processes," Borland said.

"There were some quite strong opinions that the commission was too hands-on. There is a need for more clearly defined objectives about what they would and would not fund. The processes were seen to be unclear and very subjective."

Another issue has been over the type of films that are being funded and a debate over whether the commission should focus on financing movies with a New Zealand cultural element, or more overseas stories made by New Zealand principals. Co-productions Dean Spanley and Vintner's Luck are both part of that trend.

SCREEN GRABS
New Zealand box office for local film releases 2007-2008

Show of Hands - $97,883
Apron Strings - $251,032
Rubbings of a Live Man - $9252
Rain Of The Children - $352,785
Second-Hand Wedding - $1,912,330
We're Here to Help - $161,126
Perfect Creature - $212,252
The Tattooist - $553,017
The Devil Dared Me To Do It - $223,091
Eagle vs Shark - $847,993
Black Sheep - $809,178