Chris Finlayson should ask if the Wot Wots and their kin really need to suckle on state handouts

We can expect to hear much bleating from the film industry, in light of a proposal to tighten access to one of their troughs.

The plan will require movie makers to stump up a bit more of their dosh (or the dosh of a private investor) before they can expect to slurp into public money.

The NZ Herald brings news of what’s afoot this morning –

Government officials are expected to recommend keeping a film fund which helped pay for local movies such as Boy and Under the Mountain, but make it more business-focused and require film makers to raise at least 10 per cent of the funding.

Papers obtained by the Herald show that the officials’ draft recommendations for the Government’s screen sector review include requiring films funded through the Screen Production Incentive Fund to get at least 10 per cent of budgets from private investors, despite the drop off in private investment in film since the global financial crisis hit in 2008.

To the contrary, Alf reckons if private investors aren’t putting in the money, there is probably a bloody good reason, and if there is a bloody good reason, then the public should not be putting money in.

Indeed, Alf would pull the plug on all handouts to film-makers and TV producers.

The casting couch won’t work for Gerry – maybe that why he’s giving millions to movie moguls?

And if we can come up with another $100 million, they will let me play Henry VIII.

Alf finds it hard to fathom what’s going on in the Beehive nowadays.

Mean, lean Bill English is banging on about the need for fiscal rigour (although he is apt to forget this when throwing money around for Polynesian employment projects)

Generous and chubby Gerry Brownlee, on the other hand, is doling out millions of dollars to American movie moguls – the sorts of people who can count their profits in billions.

The long-suffering taxpayers of Eketahuna North accordingly are confused.

Today they have been pressing Alf for explanations, after the Sunday Star-Times disclosed that the public purse bankrolled blockbuster film and TV productions to the tune of $75 million over the past two years.

Gerry and the film-makers – or how to grovel to keep The Hobbit from emigrating

Betcha Gerry will come up with a bigger subsidy if I threaten to stick this up him.

Size does matter, of course, and if you are big enough you can get the Key cabinet to turn all sorts of tricks for you.

Especially when Hollywood movie moguls are involved, Alf’s Nat mates are eager to perform – and to please.

Want new labour laws?

Yep. We can fix it.

Want bigger subsidies?

Yep. We can fix that too.

Great stuff for Fox but what do Kiwi taxpayers get back for their investments in a blockbuster?

A bloke called Luke Malpass raises a bloody good question in the Sunday Star-Times today: it’s whether taxpayers should be pumping money into our film industry.

Malpass is a Policy Analyst at The Centre for Independent Studies.

His question is something that Alf tried to bring up with Gerry Brownlee, our Minister of Economic Development. He didn’t get far.

The question was triggered for Malpass by news that the film Avatar had overtaken Titanic to become the highest grossing movie in history by raking in about $US2 billion.