Mate, ya streamin’: Push for major streamers to pay local content levy

The screen industry is lobbying for the likes of Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime to pay a levy on their New Zealand profits to go towards funding more locally-made screen content.

It comes after Australia proposed a new law that would mandate the largely unregulated streaming giants – worth billions worldwide – to reinvest some of their profits back into developing Australian screen content.

The streamers are likely to push back against the idea of a levy, but it has not stopped screen groups advocating off the back of moves in Australia and, earlier, the European Union and Ireland, which are also trying to appeal to the streamers to pay their fair share.

“They take revenue from this country, don’t pay GST, and don’t commission content from here. Local production needs more funding to develop [intellectual property] and take New Zealand content to the world,” said Tui Ruwhiu, executive director of the Directors and Editors Guild.

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Also being explored is whether the streaming giants should pay to reproduce local content from New Zealand’s free-to-air broadcasters on their platforms, which would help expose locally-made films and series to new, global audiences.

“The far better option would be for any funding from streamers to be distributed directly to our funding agencies,” Ruwhiu said, referring to New Zealand On Air, the Film Commission and Te Māngai Pāho.

Free-to-air television audiences, and, consequently, ad revenue, have been decimated by streamers’ presence in New Zealand.

This has, in turn, been challenging for our local screen funding bodies.

“Before this specific type of legislation could occur here, we would need to ensure that local content is better supported at home,” said Alice Shearman, executive director of the NZ Writers Guild.

Producers had been quietly lobbying for international streamers to contribute to the local industry for years, Screen Production and Development Association president Irene Gardiner said.

But Australia’s situation was unique, as its local broadcasters already had a local content quota, she said. This gives Australia something to attach its new policy to.

“They can go, our local broadcasters have a local content quota, so you international streamers should have one too,” Gardiner said.

New Zealand does not have a local content quota.

Things are made even more complex as Aotearoa is also part of an old international trade agreement called the General Agreement on Trade in Services, which would make introducing a quota difficult.

Officials need to urgently prioritise support for the under-pressure local screen industry now the RNZ-TVNZ merger is off the table, Gardiner said.

But the industry is worried that any extreme levy or wrong move could backfire and see the streamers pull out of the relatively small New Zealand market altogether.

“You’re a part of this country’s screen ecosystem, you’re taking from it, hurting parts of it. Come to the party, play nice and give some recompense. The Australian situation feels like a breakthrough,” Gardiner said.

While officials were watching outcomes in Australia closely, no immediate work was under way to introduce a levy or quota, Ministry for Culture and Heritage spokesperson Emily Fabling said.