New Zealand awards Amazon an additional 116 million grant for the “Lord of the Rings” TV series
WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand said on Friday it had agreed to give Amazon additional compensation for its expenditures for filming the “Lord of the Rings” TV series in the country, hoping to reap several years of economic and business returns. Tourist benefits.
The government said in a statement that Amazon would receive an additional 5% from screen production subsidies, in addition to 20% already eligible production support.
It is estimated that Amazon will spend around NZ $ 650 million ($ 465 million) on filming the first season of the series, which it will broadcast on its streaming platform Amazon Prime, which means it will be eligible for a refund of about NZ $ 162 million ($ 116 million). .
“The deal with Amazon … creates local jobs and creates job opportunities for local companies,” Economic and Regional Development Minister Stuart Nash said in a statement. “It will allow a new wave of international tourism and the promotion of this country,” he added.
The first season began production in Auckland last year and employed more than 1,200 people. The government said about 700 workers were working indirectly by providing production services.
Officials at Amazon, which are based in the United States, were not immediately available to comment outside of normal business hours in that country.
(1 dollar = 1.3976 New Zealand dollars)
(Praveen Menon report; edited in Spanish by Lucila Segal)
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