An empty studio at Auckland Film Studios in Henderson.
Photo: PHIL GREGORY
Auckland Council has sold the city’s biggest film studio to a private company.
Dozens of major films, including Minecraft and Predator Badlands, were filmed at the long running Auckland Film Studios.
Auckland’s mayor Wayne Brown confirmed Xytech, an Auckland lighting supplier turned major industry player, had bought the studios for an undisclosed price.
“This is a win for our region’s outstanding screen production industry. Paired with Auckland’s stunning scenery it will increase the appeal of Auckland to a global screen industry,” he said in a statement.
“This is a good move that also delivers for ratepayers. We’ll be handing this over to a seasoned operator, and that’s where it should be.”
Auckland mayor Wayne Brown
Photo: MARIKA KHABAZI / RNZ
The sale, which will be settled on 27 February, came after the central government invested $30 million in the studio to build a pair of new sound stages in 2022.
In a statement, the council said it couldn’t confirm the sale price, but said the government’s $30m contribution would come back to the council to be held in a fund to reinvest in further screen infrastructure.
The terms of the sale would also require the site to remain a film studio for at least 10 years.
Auckland-based Xytech has grown into a major supplier of lighting and other film equipment for productions in the southern hemisphere since its founding in 1997, and opened its own X3 Studios in Wiri in 2020.
‘Incredibly positive for the industry’ – line producer
Katie Kempe, the line producer on Amazon’s The Wrecking Crew which released this week and was partially filmed at Auckland Film Studios, said Xytech and founder Stephen Pryor had a very positive reputation in the sector.
“I think it’s incredibly positive for the industry. I think what Stephen has done is incredibly admirable, because it’s not without risk,” she said.
“You can see how much they believe in the industry and we need more supporters and advocates to help grow this infrastructure.”
She admitted being surprised by the announcement of the sale, but said she soon realised it was “a natural fit”.
“I don’t think that there’s any other group that has extended themselves so positively into the industry for the good of the industry.”
‘I have a deep passion for film-making in New Zealand’ – Pryor
Stephen Pryor told RNZ owning the studio had been a long term goal.
“I personally have been involved in the film industry for a little over 30 years and I first worked at what is now known as Auckland Film Studios on The Tommyknockers as a unit driver,” he explained.
“I started Xytech as an equipment rental company back in 1997 and we’ve grown to be one of the largest equipment suppliers to film and TV productions, and we’ve also had a long history with property and providing studio and property resources to the film industry.”
Pryor said he first bid on Auckland Film Studios in 2011, and had continued making offers since.
“It’s been a bit of a journey over the last 15 years, over that time I’ve put a couple of offers in to the council,” he said.
“[The council] started a formal process about four years ago where the film studios were put up for sale and they did a marketing campaign both domestically and internationally to find a studio operator with history in operating film studios that also had financial resilience.”
Pryor seized that opportunity.
“The main reason is I have a deep passion for film-making in New Zealand and studio infrastructure is very important for attracting international productions.”
But there were also financial incentives, he explained.
“It’s also very important, from our perspective, that in studios you need lots of lights, and we have lots of lights to put up in studios, so there is a natural synergy between the equipment rental side and also the studio infrastructure side,” he said.
Though the deal with Auckland Council only required the site to continue as a film studio for 10 years, Pryor intended to keep it running much longer.
“I’ve been in the film industry for 30 years, I have plans to celebrate my company’s 50th anniversary which is in about 20 years time and I fully intend to be running film studios and equipment rentals [then].
“Over time, and with the likes of AI and what-have-you, it may be that we have to re-look at things at some point in time, but I would certainly hope that in my lifetime it will continue to be run as film studios.”
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