The Screen Production Emergency Relief Fund is a fund of last resort to support NZFC-funded and NZSPG-New Zealand productions impacted by a COVID-19 Event, once all other funding sources have been exhausted.
What we fund
The Fund of $1million will support NZFC-funded and NZSPG-New Zealand productions in extraordinary circumstances and to avoid abandonment, where the Screen Production Recovery Fund and the Extended Screen Production Recovery Fund, indemnity, insurance, completion bond, other Government support mechanisms or any other funding source (including third party financiers or investors) are not sufficient to manage the costs of COVID-19 Events from 17 August 2021.
Your project must have commenced production and have been shut down, delayed or otherwise impacted by the COVID-19 Events.
For the purposes of the Fund, COVID-19 Event means:
- Any delay or disruption to the project caused by COVID-19 alert level restrictions; or
- Any delay or disruption to the project caused by restrictions under the COVID-19 Protection Framework; or
- Any delay and/or disruption to the production caused by cast or crew members testing positive for COVID-19 or identifying as a close or household contact of someone else with COVID-19 and therefore having to go into isolation.
As the industry has adjusted to filming within revised protocols and practices associated with mounting a production in a COVID-19 environment, applicants can only apply for additional costs that are explicitly attributable to the latest COVID-19 Events. Many other COVID-19 related costs are considered “business as usual” and are excluded from this Fund.
Eligibility criteria
To be eligible to apply for Funding, a production must:
a) be a New Zealand based screen project that had commenced production prior to 17 August 2021;
b) have incurred additional costs due to COVID-19 Events being put in place from 17 August 2021;
c) due to extraordinary circumstances have been unable to manage the full extent of these costs with funding available from SPRF, indemnity, insurance, completion bond, other Government support mechanisms or any other funding source (including third party financiers or investors);
d) not have been abandoned and must, in the NZFC’s opinion, have a reasonable likelihood of being completed;
and
e) fall within one of the following categories prior to 17 August 2021:
i) be receiving production funding from the NZFC. This may be evidenced by the production having a signed funding agreement with the NZFC; and/or
ii) have registered on the NZSPG-New Zealand registration form; and/or
iii) have applied for a provisional certificate for NZSPG-New Zealand; or
iv) have been issued a provisional certificate for NZSPG–New Zealand.
How to apply
Please register your intention to apply via email on relief@nzfilm.co.nz.
Please read the Screen Production Emergency Relief Fund Guidelines before registering for an account to apply online at https://funding.nzfilm.co.nz/.