Why Wellington
2:08
Visual: A black screen. A small word appears in the centre. It says “Rome”.
In quick succession, the word changes and gets bigger each time.
Lodz, Sofia, Busan, Bitola, Gdynia, Galway, Mumbai, Santos, Sydney, Cannes, Bristol, Potsdam, Qingdao, Bradford, Sarajevo, Terrassa, Yamagata, Valladolid, Cluj-Napoca.
Wellington New Zealand appears in big metallic-looking letters, as a shimmer goes across the words.
“City of Film” appears in the same text. The UNESCO logo appears on the screen with “Member of the Creative Cities Network”.
A black screen. Then “Ext. Wellington — Night” is typed out in typewriter font. The word “night” deletes and is replaced with “day”.
An aerial shot of Wellington city and harbour takes over the screen.
The shot turns to a sketch. Zooming out, hands pick up the sketch on a piece of paper. A man gets up from his office seat and pins the paper to a wall.
We zoom in on another piece of paper pinned to the wall. And the shot changes to a sword being hammered and ground.
Sir Richard Taylor of Wētā Workshop appears on screen in a workshop and slices the air with the sword.
Audio: Sir Richard Taylor says, “Fantastic!”
Visual: He walks down the hall of Wētā workshop, sword in hand.
Cuts to people adding a sword to a person wearing a suit of armour. A wide shot of a woman in a suit of armour, grinning and slicing with the sword, while photos are taken. She turns, and holds the sword high in the air, yelling, as flames appear in the background and playback monitor information surrounds the frame.
The camera cuts to an outside film set, zooming in on a truck as the rear doors close. We follow the truck into Stone Street Studios. It cuts to follow the truck at Lane Street Studios. Avalon Film & Television Studios sign appears on the screen, and we pan to the truck driving through the studio.
The camera zooms into a truck headlight and cuts to a film set light, zooming out, as we see the woman in a suit of armour slice the sword through the air.
Cut to a colour panel in front of a green screen, zooming in. The colour panel merges into concrete pavers and pans up on Park Road Post Production.
The camera zooms in through the doors of Park Road and goes to white.
In a hallway, Sir Peter Jackson is walking towards the camera with a coffee cup in hand. He turns to the left.
Audio: Sir Peter Jackson says, “Let me get that for you.”
Visual: He opens the door to an editing studio of Avatar. James Cameron turns around.
Audio: James Cameron says, “I’m making all my films here now.”
Visual: Cuts to black and the words “Wellington City of Film It’s all here” appear on screen in the metallic font.
Quickly cuts to a succession of clapboards snapping:
- “Paranormal Unit”.
- “Mortal Engines”.
- “Millie Lies Low”.
- “Not Even”.
A black screen again with the words “Wellington is a city where creativity flowers with surprising tenacity.” Dame Jane Campion.
A quick succession of shots:
- Aerial shot of outdoor film set surrounded by trees.
- Classic cars skidding on a snowy street.
- Fire burning in a studio.
- A director giving instructions.
- Film crew.
- Orchestra recording.
- A scene from Mr Gorman.
A black screen with the words “An astonishingly great place to live and work.” Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
A quick succession of shots:
- A person in a motion capture suit.
- Police crew from Wellington Paranormal.
- Film set screens and crew.
- A film crew running.
- Filming a car.
A black screen with the words “The crew’s passion and talent brought us back for the Avatar sequels.” Jon Landau
A quick succession of shots:
- A person holding a boom mic behind a person running to a car.
- People testing the light.
- Makeup person putting make-up on an actor.
- A camera dolly panning across water.
- A conductor and orchestra.
A black screen with the words: “Wellington is mean as.” Taika Waititi
A quick succession of shots:
- A green screen in a studio with people handling a camera.
- A miniature set with “LAPD” on it.
- People in an editing suite.
- A person recording sounds.
- Peter Jackson filming on set.
- A camera dolly in a studio with a green screen.
A black screen with the words: “Make it here. ScreenWelington.com” in yellow. Cuts to the Screen Wellington logo. Fade to black.
UNESCO recognises New Zealand’s creative capital as a City of Film for its rich and diverse screen activity. Combining creativity and technology, Wellington’s screen industry drives positive change for the city, its communities, and the next generation of filmmakers. With a range of accessible, unique locations, abundant local expertise, and award-winning production facilities, you’ll find everything you need in Wellington.
“Wellington is a city where creativity flowers with surprising tenacity.”
The region’s accessible and compact nature makes for a convenient film-making experience. Everything is within easy reach. The city is host to unique filming locations, world-class studios, and purpose-built sound stages. Paired with award-winning crew and talented locals, it’s a one-stop shop for productions of every size.
Unable to render element
Wellington is ideally located in the middle of New Zealand. Surrounded by a harbour and hills, the city’s landscape provides abundant opportunity. Urban, coastal, and rural locations are all within an hour’s drive of the airport. Steep cliffs, lush forests, and historic buildings are all on offer, and easily accessed. Find Rivendell in Upper Hutt, or 1920s New York in the central city.
The city has a long-established reputation as a hub of film. Many film and television projects have featured on the international stage. Award-winning projects such as ‘Avatar’, ‘King Kong’, ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy, and ‘Wellington Paranormal’ were all made here.
With a mix of culture, history, nature, and cuisine, work and play are both taken care of. From large, international productions to local series, Wellington makes for an easy film-making experience.
“The crew’s passion and talent brought us back for the Avatar sequels.”