THE PRESS TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 1977. Independent film-making

Press, 30 August 1977, Page 20

THE PRESS TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 1977. Independent film-making

New Zealand clearly needs a healthy film-making industry. More New Zealand-made programmes on television would deepen the country’s sense of national identity and diminish the impact of often undesirable influences from overseas. A stock of short dramas and feature films made and set in New Zealand, available for sale overseas, would “advertise” New Zealand as effectively as the travelogues and documentaries at which the National Film Unit excels.

The country, of course, already has a number of film-makers at work, independently and as employees of the National Film Unit or the television channels. But their work is not well co-ordinated and the independent filmmakers lack regular sources of money. The hand-to-mouth existence of independent film-makers has meant a loss to New Zealand of people of talent and skill. The establishment of a new government body to co-ordinate all filmmaking in New Zealand and to provide competent independent film-makers with the financial support they need to get their projects under way and with assistance in promoting, distributing or marketing their films would both make the industry more efficient and foster the steady development in New Zealand of the many skills which are needed to make even a simple film.

If efficiency were the only aim. the best course would be to ensure that all competent film-makers in the country found jobs with the National Film Unit or with one of the television channels. But if the individual initiative and creativity which are vital ingredients of a successful film are to be fostered, the independent film-makers must be given opportunities to work on their own. Independent film-makers can do some jobs better and more cheaply than the television channels or the film unit because they have stronger personal commitments to the subject and a larger personal financial stake in the film than the employees of a large organisation.

Numbers of people with film-making skills have left the film unit because they have wanted to pursue special projects of their own which the unit has been unwilling to sponsor. Even TVI, which has made a point recently of proclaiming its intention to develop its own film-making units, has not ruled out commissioning a film if an independent film-maker comes up with an idea which the channel could not do properly itself The National Film Unit and the television channels are able to make films and sponsor projects which would be beyond the ability of an independent film-maker and both are likely to continue to enjoy public largesse, as they reouire it, for such purposes The independent film-makers are entitled to similar support for the films or projects which they are specially competent to make or handle. An independent body with some funds to dispense to independent film-makers is needed to ensure that the independent film-makers are not at the mercies of the television channels or the film unit for commissions or reliant on the requirements of private companies or the enthusiasms of organisations like the Education Department This independent body cannot be expected to indulge any extravagant whim of an independent film-maker or

to depart too far from sound commercial practices. A probable market for a proposed film must be demonstrated, which may require independent filmmakers to concentrate, in the immediate future, on documentaries, short dramas, and television serials rather than full-length feature films There will alwavs be a risk—money “granted” or “lent” an independent film-maker may be money down the drain if the film which the monev has made possible cannot be sold either within New Zealand or overseas But this is a risk worth taking to ensure the full flowering of the independent film industry which New Zealand needs.