By Film New Zealand

05/06/2010 A new Screen Production Guide and series of Fact Sheets welcoming filmmakers to make New Zealand their next production location had its international launch at the 25th Locations Trade Show in LA mid-April 2010.

The film and television world know New Zealand for its association with some of the highest grossing films of all time including The Lord of the Rings trilogy and most recently Avatar, as well as current major activity such as Yogi Bear and television series Spartacus: Blood and Sand and Legend of the Seeker.

Film New Zealand's CEO, Gisella Carr says that "the enhanced Guide and Fact Sheets underpin our assurance to international projects that ‘you're welcome' to come to New Zealand and to make the most of our incentives, infrastructure and support. New Zealand has proved to be a winning base for overseas film, television and commercial production, and we're delighted to host, and help, anyone who may want to benefit from the significant advantages of bringing their project to our country."

The Guide and Fact Sheets, along with a brand new stand, form the core of Film New Zealand's marketing programme for 2010, and represent a change from one larger Guide to a more compact highly visual publication together with a series of informative Fact Sheets. The change reflects responsiveness to what offshore companies and projects want to find out and in what form. Strong visuals are also a feature. The Guide features a number of images of New Zealand-based productions provided by producers including among others Avatar, The Lovely Bones, District 9 and Kaitangata Twitch.

The Fact Sheets cover topics from financial incentives, production and postproduction to living and working in New Zealand and will be printed for offshore trade shows, as a package or as one-off items, depending on the nature of the project or enquiry.

All information is also available on the Film NZ website: www.filmnz.com/production-guide/factsheets.html as downloadable pdfs and in giveaway USB stick form.

Gisella Carr says Film New Zealand considered what would be appropriate and sustainable as well as effective when it came to determining the marketing mix this year.

"We want our marketing tools to work really well for our diverse clientele. We recognise that for some, the gift of a printed Guide is still important. However, trade show experience tells us that concise print options focusing on particular aspects of doing business in New Zealand as well as downloadable PDFs will be welcome as well as easy to carry and environmentally friendly."