Multinational giant Amazon annoyed New Zealanders. He decided to move the filming of the series from the world of The Lord of the Rings by writer JRR Tolkien from the island island 1,600 kilometers southeast of Australia to Great Britain.
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New Zealand filmmakers and the local government called the decision a disappointment.
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“The move from New Zealand to the United Kingdom is in line with the strategy of investing more in the UK. Many of Amazon’s key studio series and movies are home to Britain, “the studio said in a statement why the series is” moving “to the British Isles.
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The premiere of the first series of the series, which was filmed in Zealand, is scheduled for September 2022. It was one of the most expensive series in history. Amazon invested $ 465 million (roughly 10 billion crowns) in the filming and another 250 million cost copyright.
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Years ago, Peter Jackson’s film trilogies The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit were filmed in the country. This brought New Zealand money, among other things, thanks to the increased number of tourists who wanted to see filming locations, such as the film The Hobbit near the city of Matamata.
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Job loss for almost two thousand people
Filming a similarly popular and anticipated series means not only fame for the places where the story will take place, but above all work for hundreds of people in the film industry and related companies, such as gastronomy. That is what New Zealand will lose now.
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It’s a shock to everyone.
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The filming of the first series of the series from Amazon employed directly 1,200 people and indirectly another seven hundred, according to the Bloomberg server.
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“It’s a shock to everyone,” Denis Roche, director of Equity NZ, told the server. “I feel for small businesses that have invested with a view to further filming. No one had any idea about the end, “she added, adding that many people feel betrayed by Amazon.
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Tens of millions from taxpayers
The decision is also displeased with the New Zealand government, which has provided Amazon filmmakers with various incentives, in particular a tax rebate.
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According to Bloomberg, New Zealand’s taxpayers “donated” $ 92 million (two billion crowns) to Amazon for a 20 percent tax rebate. Amazon even negotiated another 5 percent discount four months ago.
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We do not regret that the government has given its support to this filming.
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New Zealand’s Minister for Economic Development, Stuart Nash, said the government was disappointed with the decision to relocate the filming and learned of it only the day before the official announcement. Therefore, it withdrew the offer for another 5% discount, yet Amazon “earned” the aforementioned tens of millions of dollars on previous discounts.
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“The international film sector is an extremely competitive environment with high mobility. We do not regret that the government gave its support to this filming, “said Nash.
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Amazon has announced the premiere date
The first episode of the television series Amazon airs on September 2, 2022. Amazon Studio announced that it has completed the filming of the introductory series of the series on August 2, and has also published the first an image. According to Amazon, the whole series should probably have five series.
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The story will follow new and already well-known characters as they face the long-feared rediscovery of evil in Middle-earth.
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The story takes place thousands of years before the events that Tolkien told about in his books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, whose film was also shot by director Peter Jackson in New Zealand.
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“The story will follow new and already well-known characters as they face the long-feared rediscovery of evil in Middle-earth,” said Amazon. Individual episodes of the series will be broadcast weekly and will be available to viewers in more than 200 countries and territories around the world, she added.
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“I can’t express well enough how excited we all are to take viewers from all over the world on a new fantastic trip to the Mediterranean,” said Amazon Studios boss Jennifer Salke.
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