Central Otago may miss out on the shifting of the Amazon’s new Lord of the Rings production, but there are still productions with their eyes set on Central. 

Amazon Studios announced last week they would shift their multi-billion dollar production to the United Kingdom. 

The news comes just weeks after filming of season one finished, which looks set to explore the thousands of years before the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. 

Central Otago District Council (CODC) economic development manager Nick Lanham says it is devastating news to the local film industry and any local businesses which may have serviced the production. 

“While we don’t know if Central Otago would have featured in future seasons of the Lord of the Rings series the decision by Amazon Studios to film future seasons in the UK must be very disappointing for the NZ based industry.

“ We don’t know if or how much filming was undertaken in Central Otago for season 1.

“I don’t have an estimate of this as it really depends on the production budget, scale of filming and number of filming days in location. Film Otago Southland might be able to provide some expenditure figures for other series filmed in the region.

“The series will renew interest in the original films and that in turn could increase visitation to the district.”

Whether or not the Amazon series features Central Otago landscapes or not is not known, but it could be a lost opportunity to celebrate our landscape.

Tourism Central Otago general manager Dylan Rushbrook says the benefits of major film and television productions do have significant impacts on local tourism.

“We know when a NZ location is shown on a successful production, it can easily result in the development of visitor experiences (tours etc) and subsequent growth in visitation – particularly from international markets. 

“It would be difficult to determine if the change of plans by Amazon will have any effect, as we are unaware of any developments indicating visitors may wish to choose this region to visit as a result of any production activity to date.”

While the multi-bullion dollar Amazon production is shifting overseas, Dylan and Nick say there has been a lot of filming in the region so far this year such as Under the Vines and One Lane Bridge plus a number of TVC’s (commercials) and are optimistic about the future.