Relocation boosts the local economy
‘Mr. Corman’s’ relocation to Wellington created more than 200 jobs in New Zealand. In fact, 47% of the cast, 88% of the crew, including 16 heads of departments and about 200 vendors, were Kiwis.
Crew from outside of Wellington and New Zealand stayed in houses, apartments, and hotels within the region for the duration of filming.
“Some of our crew stayed in hotels or apartments in the centre of Wellington and they loved being in the heart of the city and found it so accessible,” says Pamela.
“Being on the city end of town getting out to Avalon was so easy, they just jumped on the highway and were out there in 10 minutes, there were never any issues with traffic.”
Wellington’s own Empire of Genius was among the vendors used.
“In the opening of episode seven Juno is wearing her label, she’s a fantastic designer who brought Juno to life — there are a lot of things that are really special in ‘Mr. Corman’, things that wouldn’t have been had it not been filmed in New Zealand.”
The production also tapped into the local screen sector, the likes of Avalon Studios, VFX by Weta Digital, Cause and FX, and Park Road Post Production.
Screen Wellington was key too.
“I’ve had a long-running relationship with Screen Wellington, I knew we were in good hands when we brought ‘Mr. Corman’ here, I knew that we would have accessibility and that we would be able to do what we needed to do to make this show great,” says Pamela.
“A24 hadn’t been to New Zealand, Apple hadn’t been to New Zealand, so they had to have trust in coming this far, during COVID-19, and lockdown.”
“Having the backing of Screen Wellington, and knowing they’re real advocates of me, we had that support to take the next steps - just supporting that faith at the outset was key.”