Creative

Over 55,000 people work in Auckland’s creative industries. Not only is it New Zealand’s creative hub, Auckland ties with Sydney for the greatest concentration of creative employment measured in the southern hemisphere. Auckland is the driver of New Zealand’s exceptional global creative reputation.

Creative sub-sectors

We classify our creative industries in the following sub-sectors :

design (including graphic design, architecture, advertising and designer fashion)
publishing (including books, periodicals and newspapers)
music
performing arts
visual arts, crafts and photography
screen production and radio (including film, television, video and digital media – see Film Auckland).

Small country, giant reputation

For many years now, New Zealand’s, and particularly Auckland’s, reputation in the global advertising industry has been remarkable. On a per capita basis, no country comes close. For example, here’s how Campaign Brief tallies the top of the global creative scorecard*:

1. United Kingdom 1466
2. United States of America 1372
3, Australia 1080
4. New Zealand 632
5. France 473
6. Canada 351

It’s a similar story in the design sector, with Auckland playing the leading role in a New Zealand industry that punches well above its weight internationally. New Zealand design is respected for being abreast of, not blindly following, global trends and adding its own distinctive edge.

*Every TV ad in the Week's Best scores two points, every print outdoor, radio and interactive scores one. Source: Campaign Brief 2011

Winning global audiences

The list of productions created in Auckland is endless, including long-running shows like Hercules and Spartacus, films like The Piano and much of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. One of the most recent Auckland productions winning awards and audiences around the world is Fan Boy and Chum Chum.

This CGI animation has been a hit all over the world and is a collaboration between Auckland-based animation company Oktobor Animation and Nickelodeon Studios.

Oktobor Animation has a staff of 135 artists and producers, and produced more than 180 minutes of animation in its first year of operation, including other hit series like Emmy Award winning Penguins of Madagascar.

New Zealand’s film and TV production sector is heavily concentrated in Auckland. It’s an industry with a worldwide reputation as highly creative, innovative and flexible, simultaneously offering the highest cinematic standards with exceptional cost-effectiveness. Not to mention having some of the world’s greatest locations on its doorstep.

Creative concentration

The creative sector accounts for 8.7 per cent of Auckland’s employment, the same as Sydney and way ahead of cities such as Brisbane or Perth. It contributes over $1.8 billion to Auckland’s GDP, or nearly 7 per cent, with creative employment generating almost $3 billion each year in direct wages and salaries.

Fast growth

Between 2001 and 2006, 11 per cent of all new jobs in Auckland were in the creative sector. Growing at 5.5 per cent per annum, it was significantly ahead of the sector nationally 4.7 per cent and growth in the total workforce (3.3 per cent). Around 51per cent of all creative jobs created in New Zealand were in Auckland.

Get the big picture

For all the detail on Auckland’s creative workforce, download the 2010 report Auckland’s Creative Employment.