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MEDIA RELEASE
Wednesday 15 July, 2026
For Immediate Release
SPADA LAUNCHES ELECTION 2026 POLICY BLUEPRINT
FOR NEW ZEALAND'S SCREEN INDUSTRY
With the General Election just months away, the New Zealand Screen Producers Guild (Spada) has released a comprehensive policy blueprint outlining the reforms it says are needed to secure the future of one of New Zealand’s most significant creative industries.
Titled Election 2026 and Beyond: Screen Industry Challenges and Solutions, the document sets out five interconnected policy priorities presented today to all Members of Parliament and political parties ahead of November’s election.
Representing independent screen producers across Aotearoa, Spada says the blueprint is designed to support constructive engagement with all political parties as they develop their arts, media and economic policies for the next Parliamentary term.
“The screen industry is operating in a fundamentally different environment to the one that existed even five years ago,” said Spada President Irene Gardiner. “Global streaming platforms, rapid technological change and shifting audience behaviours have transformed the way screen content is financed, produced and consumed. Our policy settings now need to evolve to reflect that new reality.”
The New Zealand screen sector generates more than $4 billion in annual economic activity, supports approximately 25,000 skilled jobs, and delivers economic, cultural and international benefits through exports, tourism, intellectual property creation and the telling of New Zealand stories.
The blueprint identifies five priority areas for the next Government:
- modernising regulation for the streaming era
- strengthening long-term public investment in screen production funding agencies NZ On Air, NZ Film Commission and Te Māngai Pāho
- ensuring the New Zealand Screen Production Rebate continues to support both international competitiveness and domestic production capability
- improving access to private investment and growth capital for New Zealand screen businesses
- developing balanced AI and copyright settings that protect creative rights while enabling innovation
Spada says the framework is designed as an integrated policy response to structural changes affecting the sector.
“This is not a list of isolated policy requests. It is a long-term roadmap for ensuring New Zealand continues to create world-class screen content, retain highly skilled jobs, attract international investment and tell our own stories for generations to come.”
Gardiner says the sector should be seen as central to New Zealand’s broader economic strategy.
“The screen industry shouldn’t be viewed simply as an arts portfolio issue. It is an economic development issue, an export issue, an innovation issue and a jobs issue. We want all political parties to recognise the role this sector can play in New Zealand’s future prosperity if the right policy settings are in place.”
Spada says the recommendations are intended to inform political discussion as parties finalise their policies ahead of the election.
“We know there are competing priorities in every election. Our aim is to ensure the future of New Zealand’s screen industry is part of that national conversation, and that whichever parties form the next Government have a clear understanding of both the opportunities and the challenges facing our sector.”
Spada will continue engaging with policymakers throughout the election campaign.
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