International partnerships
Introduction |
Background |
Sister cities |
Friendship cities |
Strategic alliance |
Strategic environment |
Key themes |
Covec report |
Brisbane |
Busan |
Fukuoka |
Guangzhou |
Hamburg |
Los Angeles |
Shinagawa |
Tomioka |
Study visits
| Features
Features
Auckland strengthens film industry bonds with Korea
Oh Seok Geun, director, Busan Film Commission, and Michael Brook, executive manager, Film Auckland, signing the MOU.
On 9 October, Film Auckland and Busan Film Commission signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) in relation to their respective screen production
industries. This builds on the film co-production agreement signed in September
2008 between New Zealand and the Republic of Korea.
"This memorandum highlights the close relationship that has developed between
Auckland and our sister city Busan," comments Auckland City Council
international relations manager, Caroline Lassiter. "The Auckland screen
industry contributes $2.2 billion to our economy and makes up more than
three-quarters of New Zealand's screen industry revenue. We welcome future
opportunities to work in partnership with filmmakers from Busan."
MOU negotiations first started during visits to Busan International Film
Commission and Film Industry Showcase (BIFCOM) by Film Auckland executive
manager, Michael Brook, in 2008 and 2009. Film Auckland received assistance
during these visits from Auckland City Council.
"It is encouraging to see this positive initiative put in place to aid
filmmakers and to offer another avenue for them to explore," says Michael Brook.
The signing of the MOU took place at BIFCOM, Asia's premier event for promoting
the film industry.
For more information on the opportunities for collaboration this presents,
please contact Michael Brook on michael@filmauckland.com.
Auckland animations come alive in Hamburg
Hamburg Animation Award 2010
Three students from Auckland's Media Design School were put forward for a top award at the Hamburg Animation Award.
Hellspital by Kane Tizard, Kurt Griffiths, Ming Jang and Linhan Ye was nominated by judges for the audience award.
Michael Brook, Film Auckland executive manager, attended the Hamburg award ceremony on 5 July and explains:
"The competition offers great opportunities to profile Auckland's animation potential and cash prizes of over €10,000, as well as a workshop with a leading Disney character designer."
One fifth of all entries submitted in the 2010 competition were from Auckland. A local jury of representatives from Flux Animation Studio, Film Auckland, Auckland Museum and The Big Idea judged all the Auckland entries. First prize in the Auckland competition was awarded to Drop Fish by AUT University student Sebastian Trujillo Benavides, who received a prize from Flux Animation Studio. The Auckland competition runner-up prize went to Slightly Fishy by a group of Media Design School students.
Last year Time to Fly, an animated short film by Auckland's Media Design School students, was awarded third place at the prestigious awards.
"Auckland has again risen to the challenge and it is great to see this level of commitment and enthusiasm from local industry and education institutes," said Hon. John Banks, Mayor of Auckland city at an event hosted by Auckland City Council to celebrate all entrants to the 2010 Hamburg Animation Award.
"We are proud to facilitate opportunities for the creative sector through our strategic alliance with Hamburg."
In 2007, Auckland City Council formed a strategic alliance with Hamburg to support opportunities for key sectors, and annually promotes the Hamburg Animation Award within the city.
From the outset of the relationship, a special focus has been placed on the screen production industry. In 2009, New Zealand featured as the
'Deluxe' country at Filmfest Hamburg, showcasing our wider screen production industry to an international audience in Hamburg. Other activities include a guest speaker from Hamburg at the 2009 DOCNZ Summit and a best practice videoconference on creative industries between experts from both cities.
Statistics New Zealand found that feature films earned $220 million revenue in Auckland, and in television production, $372 million.
Selected Auckland entries will be available for a public screening at Auckland Museum's LATE series on 2 September.
School's out for Guangzhou delegation
Guangzhou education agents during their visit to Auckland Grammar School (images courtesy of the school)
Guangzhou Service Centre for Scholarly Exchange (GZSCSE), a local government agency based in Auckland's Chinese partner city, recently led a six-person education agent delegation to the city.
The purpose of the delegation's visit was to discover eleven of Auckland's top education providers. These included Academic Colleges Group, Epsom Girls Grammar School, Rosmini College, Westlake Boys High School, Westlake Girls High School, Birkenhead College, Western Springs College, Taylors College, Worldwide School of English, Auckland Grammar School and Massey University. It is hoped that the agents will promote Auckland as an education destination to Guangzhou students.
Study Auckland organised a five-day programme for the delegation that included school visits, city orientation and hospitality. Auckland City Council facilitated the connection between GZSCSE and Study Auckland and also supported the programme by hosting several activities including a mayoral welcome.
"We were delighted to facilitate this connection between top education providers in Auckland and Guangzhou agents. Study Auckland is the region's leading education marketing agency and international education brings a wealth of economic benefits to the city. We always welcome students here and especially those from our partner cities such as Guangzhou," says Caroline Lassiter, international relations manager, Auckland City Council.
The international partnership with Guangzhou was established in 1989 and has been very active over the last 21 years. Education is a strong focus of the relationship. From our eight international partner cities, Auckland benefits by around $53 million from international education each year, according to a Covec report.
For more information on Study Auckland please visit
www.studyauckland.com.
Guangzhou delegation makes the cut at Documentary Edge
The Guangzhou delegation meeting Mayor Banks at the networking function
Documentary Edge, formerly known as DocNZ, is Australasia's only competitive
film festival. The festival took place across the country from 27 February to 28
March and the industry forum, held in Auckland, showcased the best international
documentaries from 1-3 March.
The country focus for this year's Documentary Edge Forum was China, with a
particular emphasis on Guangzhou, Auckland's sister city of 21 years. The focus
on China provided an opportunity for Guangzhou filmmakers and producers to
showcase Chinese documentaries to an international audience. It also helped to
profile
Auckland's international partnership with Guangzhou.
The Guangzhou International Film Festival (GZDOC) was instrumental in
securing the Chinese sourced films and a Guangzhou delegation visited New
Zealand to participate in seminars and to lead a panel discussion. Auckland City
Council organised a networking function on 1 March at which Hon. John Banks QSO,
Mayor of Auckland city, highlighted the importance of the creative sector in
Auckland.
"Networking opportunities such as this are a great way to connect industry
representatives, both nationally and internationally. We are delighted the
delegation from Guangzhou attended and participated in our forum at this year's
Documentary Edge Festival", said Alex Lee, Documentary Edge Co-director.
The focus on China reciprocated the New Zealand focus at GZDOC in December
2009. An Auckland delegation, comprising Documentary Edge, Film Auckland and
other New Zealand filmmakers and producers attended to profile the region's film
capability and showcase upcoming talent.
View more information regarding the
Documentary Edge.
For information on Chinese film co-production and other collaborative
opportunities, please contact Film Auckland's Michael Brook
michael@filmauckland.com.
International interest in Auckland's education
sector
Auckland showcasing its appeal as a study destination
The annual Auckland City International Education Local Agent Forum aims to connect education agents and schools in order to grow the international education sector across Auckland. Hosted by Auckland City Council and organised by Study Auckland, the event on 18 March 2010 was an excellent opportunity for local education providers to promote Auckland to international students.
This year's event saw over 40 locally based education agents from Brazil, China, Thailand, Japan, Korea, India, Russia, Latin America and Taiwan learn about Auckland as a study destination.
Twenty-eight Auckland city education providers from primary schools, tertiary institutions, English language schools and private training establishments were on hand to market their institutions to forum attendees.
Valuable new contacts and business opportunities were made throughout the forum, which was opened by Hon. John Banks, Mayor of Auckland city. After a successful afternoon of networking and learning, attendees left well equipped to promote Auckland to overseas students as a great place to study and live.
Auckland benefits significantly from international students with nearly 57 per cent of international students in New Zealand enrolled in the Auckland region. This amounts to more than $1.2 billion in foreign exchange for Auckland's economy. Auckland City Council's eight international partnerships, and in particular the sister city relationship with Guangzhou, bring annual financial benefits to the city's economy of around $53 million through international students alone.
In addition to hosting this forum, Auckland City Council is the principle funder of Study Auckland and financially supports the annual international student welcome.
Reel success for Auckland and Guangzhou
The Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival (GZDOC) is the largest documentary film festival in China and last year the Documentary New Zealand Trust (DOCNZ), with support from Auckland City Council and Film Auckland, secured New Zealand as the focus country.
Auckland and Guangzhou formed an international partnership in 1989 and achieving this outcome is testimony to the collaborative work that is being done to support sectors such as creative industries.
The New Zealand focus at GZDOC included profiling at key events during the festival, promotional material for the 400 delegates, speaking engagements and other networking opportunities.
"GZDOC was a great opportunity to profile Auckland's film industry internationally. We have received a number of enquiries as a result and it has built a strong foundation to create coproduction opportunities," commented Michael Brook, Film Auckland executive manager.
The country focus was reciprocated at the Documentary Edge Forum
(formerly DOCNZ summit), which ran from 1-3 March 2010. The China focus featured a spotlight on Guangzhou.
"This year's films
were thought-provoking and carefully curated. For our China focus, we were greatly assisted by GZDOC organisers, who helped
source some of the films," remarked Alex Lee, Documentary Edge Festival Co-director.
A networking function, organised and
hosted by Auckland City Council, allowed local filmmakers, producers and directors to meet eminent international contacts such
as Ms Lei Hong and Mr Shaowen Ho from GZDOC. Other international guests included Wendy Levy (The Producer's Institute USA), Julia Overton (Screen Australia) and James Franklin (Pixeco UK).
View more information regarding the Auckland-Guangzhou international partnership
and Documentary Edge Forum and Film
Festival.
Guangzhou media make a splash in Auckland!
The primary focus of the media's visit was to produce a TV programme and newspaper supplement showcasing Auckland. Together with Tourism Auckland, the international relations team at Auckland City Council organised a two-day programme for the visiting media.
The programme included visits to the Sky Tower, Voyager New Zealand Maritime Museum and a Pride of Auckland sailing cruise, which the group particularly enjoyed.
"The Waitemata Harbour cruise was the highlight of the visit for us. In China, sailing is an exclusive sport that only the very rich can afford. However, here families can enjoy the waterfront at relatively low cost," said Ms Dong Xiaohui from Guangzhou Daily newspaper.
The newspaper's circulation is in the top 30 in the world, while Guangzhou TV has viewing figures of 2 million.
The visiting media programme also included interviews with key city representatives, such as Hon. John Banks QSO, Mayor of Auckland city, Graeme Osborne, Tourism Auckland chief executive officer, local Chinese community members and representatives from Study Auckland and Film Auckland.
"It was a wonderful way for us to showcase Auckland to Guangzhou residents. We hope that such media exposure may encourage more visitors to come to Auckland and New Zealand, and to spend longer in both," Graeme Osborne commented.
The Chinese tourism market has remained relatively strong even in the face of the global downturn.
For the year ended December 2009 New Zealand hosted 102,000 arrivals from China, making China our fourth largest source of inbound arrivals, ahead of Japan.
Both publications will be available in Guangzhou later this year.
Auckland's wine and islands profiled in the United States
Award-winning Los Angeles travel journalist, Rosemary McClure, was in Auckland last year following an invitation from Auckland City Council to join Tourism Auckland's visiting media programme.
Auckland and Los Angeles have a long-standing international partnership, and the media programme is seen as a great way to promote Auckland as a tourist destination to American readers.
Rosemary was particularly interested in Auckland's wine industry, and following her visit to a number of local vineyards, compiled a feature article for the Los Angeles Times in November last year.
The story provided a glowing report of Auckland's wines and island life and was also picked up by The New Hampshire Union Leader (Boston), The Province (Vancouver), The Olympian and The News Tribune (Washington), with a total circulation of 1 million people.
Rosemary also produced a second feature article, focusing on the beauty and uniqueness of the Hauraki Gulf Islands, which appeared in the Los Angeles Times in January 2010.
Read both articles - Rosemary McClure
articles (50 kb) PDF
Rosemary's visit reciprocates an annual journalist fellowship held in Los Angeles, in which two Auckland journalists have participated (2006 and 2008).
The partnership with Los Angeles was Auckland's first international pairing. Signed in 1971 to coincide with Air New Zealand's new service to Los Angeles via Honolulu, the current focus of the relationship is on projects in the sectors of tourism and film.
Upcoming film industry opportunities in our partner cities
Auckland's sister city, Los Angeles, is offering a great opportunity for the film industry:
- Action/Cut 2010 Short Film Competition, Los Angeles
The Action/Cut Short Film Competition is a unique industry-based international competition offering over 125 substantial career development prizes, valued at USD50,000. Call for entries closes 15 June. The winners will be announced 1 September 2010. For more information visit
www.actioncut.com.
Building relationships leads to future sister city
business
Auckland journalist Peter Parnham, Pusan International Film Festival
Director Mr Kim and Film Auckland Executive Manager Michael Brook
The visit was arranged by Auckland City Council's international relations team and hosted by the Busan Foundation for International Activities, part of the Busan Metropolitan Government. The two cities have a sister city relationship spanning 13 years.
Busan, or Pusan as it is known in Korea, is South Korea's second largest city. The population has grown to almost 4 million, living in the valleys between steep pine clad hills or in modern developments near sandy beaches.
Busan boasts one of the five biggest ports in the world and is home to some of the largest ship building yards.
In recent years the city has moved in another direction, positioning itself as the showcase of Asian film-making through the Pusan International Film Festival, a 355 film, 70 country film festival that draws audiences approaching 200,000.
A highlight of the visit was a meeting, filmed for the Korean News Network, with Mr Dong-Ho Kim, the Film Festival Director who explained plans to expand the festival in the future.
"It was a rare opportunity to meet with the founder of the festival," says Michael Brook, Executive Manager of Film Auckland, "these occasions are an important part of building Auckland's profile in Busan."
Associated with the film festival is the Asian Film Market, a place where film makers, buyers and sellers do business. More importantly for Film Auckland was BIFCOM (the Busan International Film Commission and Industry Showcase), a trade show where destinations like Auckland seek to attract film shoots.
Film Auckland collaborated with Film New Zealand and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise's Korean Trade Commission to build a stand for attracting producers and it brought results, says
Michael.
"We have a strong lead for a major Korean film production for Auckland," he says, "these kinds of productions bring in millions of dollars, create employment and lift Auckland's profile as a great place to shoot."
Not all business was conducted on the stand, as Michael and Peter met with counterparts and film industry business leaders from Busan.
"We had discussions about business to business collaboration, training, and work experience exchange programmes," says Michael. "These are the kind of links that bring us closer together."
For his part Peter, deputy chair of Film Auckland, says building relationships is what will lead to future business. "The sister city relationship helps us build contacts that we can bring to the industry here in Auckland," he says, "there is already very positive feedback about Auckland, thanks in part to the number of young people who spent time as students here learning English. If we can build on this further, it's good for both cities."
Updated August 2010
