Officials assign blame after Lord of the Rings show leaves New Zealand

The other week, we heard that Amazon was moving filming on its wildly expensive Lord of the Rings show from New Zealand — where Peter Jackson famously filmed his Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies — to the U.K., and this just as the studio was building hype for the show’s first season.

Naturally, the English are thrilled. “Delighted to hear that Amazon will be making their blockbuster second of ‘Lord of the Rings’ right here in the U.K.,” said Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden. “With our strengths in talent, production and the great environment created by U.K. Government initiatives including the creative tax reliefs and the Film and TV restart scheme, it’s clear that we are attracting the very best content makers in the world to our shores. Thousands of high-quality jobs all across the U.K. will be created and supported by ‘The Lord of the Rings’ television series so this is very exciting news as we build back better.”

Officials in New Zealand, on the other hand, were way less enthusiastic. “It’s a shame and I feel for everyone who has put their hearts into this production,” said David Strong, CEO of the New Zealand Film Commission. “Season two was expected to begin later in 2022, so our role now is to work hard to keep the Kiwi screen sector employed.”

Amazon leaves The Lord of the Rings crew in a lurch

According to Variety, Amazon had “indicated, but did not commit to” shooting season 2 of the show in New Zealand, and local crew on the show were told of the company’s decision to split 20 just 20 minutes before it was formally announced. And this turn hits very hard for New Zealand, since they’re so closely associated with The Lord of the Rings. They have a Hobbiton theme park. There’s a giant statue of Gimli in the Auckland Airport, for heaven’s sake:

The New Zealand Herald newspaper called Amazon’s exit a “tourism nightmare,” and everyone is pointing fingers over who’s to blame. Todd McClay, National party spokesman on economic development, blamed Economic and Regional Development Minister Stuart Nash, who just months ago had talked up how the production will bring in jobs and increase spending. “Stuart Nash has shown a lack of interest in negotiating with Amazon, despite the huge impact the production could have on our economy,” McClay said. “Stuart Nash needs to be transparent with Kiwis about why he didn’t even ask for future seasons of the show to be filmed in New Zealand.”

But of course, Nash has his own side of the story. “The Amazon Studios’ decision in no way reflects the capabilities of our local film industry or the talents of the people who work in it. This is a multi-national company that has made a commercial choice,” he said. “We’re an easy country to do business in and New Zealanders have a reputation for being highly skilled, innovative and creative. Our locations are legendary, and we have competitive incentives and infrastructure. This coupled with the government’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic positions us as an attractive partner for international productions.”

The Lord of the Rings leaves New Zealand for somewhere with looser COVID restrictions?

That note about COVID-19 is worth exploring a little further. If you hadn’t heard, New Zealand is very strict about COVID protocols, famously entering lockdown after just one positive COVID case was discovered in the country. Some speculate that Amazon left because it was too difficult to produce the show when the measures were this strict.

And they were leaving behind some nice incentives. New Zealand offers a 20% rebate scheme for film productions. And for especially productions that deliver long-lasting benefit to the country (The Lord of the Rings show would definitely qualify) , there is a discretionary additional subsidy known as an “uplift” equivalent to a further 5% of location spending.

Amazon voluntarily walked away from that, saying only that its decision “aligns with the studio’s strategy of expanding its production footprint and investing in studio space across the U.K., with many of Amazon Studios’ tentpole series and films already calling the U.K. home.”

Ultimately, it sucks that New Zealand is losing out on this opportunity, especially when they need it more than England, which has a more robust, diversified economy. And it sucks especially hard if they did it because of New Zealdan’s strict COVID-19 protocols — and that seems like the most likely reason to me — because it’s effectively punishing a country for trying to maintain public health.

There’s always season 3…

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