Te Puna Kairangi - Premium Fund Interim Production Funding Round

An extra opportunity for funding for the screen industry, supported by the guilds has been announced by funding agencies Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC), Te Māngai Pāho and Irirangi te Motu (NZ On Air). 

Intention: 
The Interim Round intends to distribute money quickly to stimulate the domestic screen industry to recover from COVID-19 and generate employment. It is for projects that can clearly demonstrate ‘production readiness’ while maintaining the overall purpose of the Fund which is to ‘deliver high-quality New Zealand stories for international audiences’.  

How much funding is available?: 
Around $8.4 million dollars has been returned to the Fund from Round 1 as underspend and will now be made available through the interim production funding round for Te Puna Kairangi -The Premium Fund. The precise amount to be funded will be determined by the Panel (comprised of two Board Members from each Agency and an independent Chair) based on the needs of the projects recommended to them by the CEOs of the three Agencies.  

Application process: 

1. Register your intention now to apply to this Interim Round by completing the online form here. This includes details on the ‘production readiness’ eligibility criteria that you will need to meet at the time of application. 
2. Shortly, the Interim Round Production Guidelines, Submission Checklist, FAQs and updated Terms of Trade will be issued and a webinar held to answer questions. 
3. The application portal will open in the week of the 6 September to all potential - or registered - applicants. 
4. Application deadline will be around 27 September (exact date and time to be confirmed in Guidelines) 
5. Applicant, content and production readiness eligibility will be checked by Staff at the New Zealand Film Commission. These requirements must be judged as satisfactory by the NZFC (as administrators of the Premium Fund) in order for the project to progress to the assessment phase. 
6. The project will be assessed against the five key objectives of the Premium Fund in context and on its own merits and in light of the totality of all applications. 
7. The final decisions will be made by the Panel in early / mid November based on the five key objectives, the overall purpose and intended outcomes of the Premium Fund; the number of applications and call on the amount of funding available. 

Planned final Production Funding Round

Te Puna Kairangi -The Premium Fund Round 2 will open for applications as planned in early 2022, date still to be determined. The Interim Round will not significantly impact the amount available in Round 2, which will be upwards of $20 million.  

Mai i te Kāhui Ārahi Kaupapa

Kei aku rangatira, huri noa i ngā tōpito o te motu, tēnā koutou. Tēnā koutou, i roto i ngā tini āhuatanga o te wā torokiki mai o te Mate Urutā. Ko te tūmanako ia e noho haumaru ai koutou i ō koutou ake kainga. Mauriora!

A primary objective of Te Puna Kairangi is to stimulate screen production amidst the challenges of a COVID-19 landscape. To support this primary objective, Minister Sepuloni has approved an additional funding round (Interim Production Funding Round). This represents an extra opportunity for those of you with projects that are genuinely, ‘shovel ready’, (key creatives, cast, and viable financing plan in place) to apply to Te Puna Kairangi for funding. Being able to demonstrate production readiness as well as quality and scale will be an advantage.

Please direct any enquiries to Blake Ihimaera, Pou – Ārahi Kaupapa | Head of Content blake@tmp.govt.nz