Draft 2 PhD Introduction - ResearchSpace@Auckland

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negotiating this final deal for three days, when at the last moment, unexpected
tax changes scared off our major investors. 744
The crew, who were already at work building sets and costumes for the films were
called together and told by Maynard, “This is the worst meeting I’ve ever had to call,
and I think it’s probably the worst meeting the industry has ever seen. The film has
fallen over and it has fallen over because of a direct Government policy which
discriminates against New Zealand film as a high-risk investment.”. 745 The policy that
Maynard was referring to was the National Government’s rescinding of the tax shelter
arrangement which had previously allowed some investors in the film industry to gain
more than one hundred percent in tax deductions even if the film did not show a profit.
In the case of The Navigator, which had a projected budget of four million dollars, a
substantial private investment was essential, but investors now preferred to invest in
other ventures. As Maynard pointed out at the time, The Navigator was the only New
Zealand feature film planned for that year, and six other planned films had failed to find
funding since the tax changes. By contrast, Australian investors in local film earned a
one hundred and twenty percent tax deduction and thirty Australian films were in
production that year. David Gascoigne, the Film Commission chairman, said of The
Navigator’s failure to secure private investment finance: “The Inland Revenue
Department has generated a climate of fear among corporations contemplating
investment in the New Zealand film industry.” 746 There had been an inflated boom in
local filmmaking because of the tax shelter, but in its reaction the government made no
attempt to distinguish between serious local films such as The Navigator and more
dubious projects; it was apparently not concerned about closing down virtually the
whole of the local industry.
Maynard stayed on in New Zealand for some months to try and resurrect the finance for
the film, but eventually he and Ward went to Australia where they spent another two
years trying to find funding. Fortunately, at that time, the Australian Film Commission
was looking for co-production opportunities, as a journalist for New Zealand Business
commented:
744 Ward, Edge of the Earth: Stories and Images from the Antipodes 90.
745 Chapple, "How It Feels When the Light Goes Out," 5.
746 Geoff Chapple, "Taxman Blamed for Film's Woes," New Zealand Times 15 June 1986: 5.