Filming of a scene from the Power Rangers in Mills Lane, near Queen St Auckland. Photo / File
Filming of a scene from the Power Rangers in Mills Lane, near Queen St Auckland. Photo / File
As a kid growing up watching Power Rangers, Jack Mensah would never have guessed that one day he would be working on the set of the show.
But thanks to a new partnership between the TV series producers and Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (Ateed), that is exactly wherethe 20-year-old spent his university internship.
Mensah, a recent Auckland University of Technology (AUT) graduate of the Bachelor of Digital Design, spent four weeks working at Studio West on Power Rangers.
The placement was part of a pilot skills development and job pathways programme, which coincided with the start of production on the upcoming season of Power Rangers Beast Morphers - which will screen in 2019/2020.
Mensah, who finished his three-year degree this month, worked in the prop making department and said it was thrilling to peek behind the scenes.
"I hadn't seen [Power Rangers] for quite a while so it was interesting to see how it had changed. I was really excited to be able to work on set of something that I had actually grown up watching," he said.
Jack Mensah, 20, spent four weeks working at Studio West on the Power Rangers TV series. Photo / Supplied
"I was at a stage in the production where most of the props were physically made so we were down to essentially painting finishing touches and fixing things that had to be tweaked.
He first dabbled in prop-making at high school creating pieces for drama productions. "It was always something I was interested in.
"I chose to study a digital version of that because it was a little bit more accessible. But having this opportunity to come back and actually do some physical prop-making and set work was really good.
"It reignited that interest in me and helped me to understand each part of the pipeline process that goes into working on a TV show."
Students from AUT, SAE, and Unitec are involved in the programme to help produce the type of skilled workers the industry needs and to continue to attract talent to the industry – which often finds it hard to fill vacancies for highly skilled positions.
Five workshops run by industry experts also delve into production, locations, health and safety, camera, lighting, directing and post production.
"Only a traineeship like this could provide the practical exposure I got. Having made great connections, so many opportunities are now simply a phone call or email away. Those personal connections are so important with this industry," Mensah said.
Now he has graduated, Mensah said he will be looking to get a job as quickly as possible.
"The Power Rangers experience really reignited my interest in prop-making so I will be looking at considering as many as those sorts of jobs as I can, but obviously I want to exercise my degree so anything along the editing and post-production lines," he said.
"I think everything about the experience was something that anyone in my situation would be incredibly lucky to have and I encourage anyone in that situation to take the opportunity."
Auckland's bustling screen industry
Pam Ford, general manager economic development at Ateed, said the screen production and post-production sector in Auckland earned more than $1.1 billion a year in gross revenue last year, and the wider screen sector supports more than 7400 jobs.
Auckland is by far New Zealand's dominant region for television production and post production, with $420 million gross revenue in 2017 – 84 per cent of the national total.
"Power Rangers has been a significant and valued contributor to our region's growing screen industry for the best part of two decades.
"For us to continue to attract productions such as Power Rangers to our region, we need to keep producing and retaining the skilled talent to work on them," she said.
"We are delighted that Power Rangers Productions agreed to partner us on the programme, because the kind of experience the students will gain is so valuable. It is unprecedented access to real world professionals and production."
Of the 25-odd seasons of the popular series, 15 have been shot in Auckland so far.
In the past three seasons, Power Rangers Productions has worked with more than 1000 Auckland vendors – spending more than $100m; in that time, it has contracted more than 1800 people, paying wages of more than $43m.
Power Rangers executive producer Chip Lynn said they were excited to open their doors to collaborate with Ateed.
"We hope to continue to be a part of growing Auckland's talent pool as the city continues to assert itself as the premier region for TV production," he said.
