A national "screen desk" and closer ties between the Department of Conservation and Film New Zealand have been welcomed by Doc Wakatipu and Film Otago Southland.
Film New Zealand said this week a joint effort by the government department and the independent industry-led national film office to improve the permit process had streamlined the code of practice for filming on public conservation lands.
The director-general of Doc, Al Morrison, said the code would help clarify responsibilities, and he wanted to "fast track" applications for permits to film.
The acting chief executive of Film New Zealand, Sue Thompson, said the office was keen to develop a "long-term strategic relationship" with Doc, so the screen production industry could demonstrate its commitment to environmental protection.
The office had proposed Doc set up a national "screen desk", to create a nationally consistent framework for concessions.
Film Otago Southland had been leading the way in forging closer ties, according to its executive manager, Kevin Jennings.
The group had held annual round-table discussions between Doc management and personnel and film industry professionals.
The next discussion would be after the review of the Mt Aspiring National Park management plan "gets further down the road", Mr Jennings said.
The round-table discussions were "really more information-sharing than anything else, and it gives us an opportunity to educate Doc on the issues we face when doing our jobs; and it's good for Doc to know what considerations they have to take when processing applications".
Mr Jennings said the relationship with Doc Wakatipu staff was great; the staff "go out of their way to accommodate the film industry in the short time frames".
"We're a unique user group, in that we're not a concession that operates 365 days a year," he said.
The speed at which film permits were processed by Doc depended on the complexity of the applications, he said.
He applauded the efforts of Film New Zealand and Doc in creating a screen desk.
"One of the issues is the rules and implementations of them vary so much between conservancies.
"Ideally, it's going to help cut through that layer of bureaucracy, as opposed to adding another one."
The community relations programme manager of Doc Wakatipu, John Roberts, said the area office welcomed the update of the 2005 code.
Doc Wakatipu had an "excellent" working relationship with Mr Jennings, film-makers and location scouts, he said.
The department took only a week to process the permit for the manhunt thriller Tracker to shoot around Moke Lake, the Kawarau marginal strip, at Gibbston, and the Reese marginal strip, near Glenorchy.
Mr Roberts would not disclose how much money was raised from the film permit, as it was a commercial arrangement, but said permit revenue would fund conservation work.
Smaller scale permits were turned around in one or two days, Mr Roberts said.
"We take quite a bit of pride in the Queenstown office in processing those applications as quickly as possible, because we do realise how important they are for the local economy."
