Cloud 9

Screenwriter Ray Thompson is no stranger to success. During a career in Hollywood and London he produced such well-known dramas as Howard's Way, House of Elliott, Casualty and Between the Lines. He made money, lots of money, and lived in tax exile. During a working visit to New Zealand in 1995 he was impressed by the quality of location and talent here and decided to stay. Since then, his studio Cloud 9 has developed into a successful $18 million business making family drama shows, including The Tribe, Atlantis High, Swiss Family Robinson, the Enid Blyton series, A Twist in the Tale and Treasure Island. Between them, the shows have chalked up well over 300 episodes and 25 telemovies, screened on 100 different channels worldwide and captured an audience in the millions. They also made Cloud 9, a joint venture between Thompson and the London-listed entertainment group Sanctuary, something like $6 million profit in 2001.

So why have we heard nothing about Thompson and his shows in New Zealand? Basically, TVNZ won't have a bar of any of Thompson's stuff. TV3 plays cult hit The Tribe, but the state-owned broadcaster treats him like the Leper of Lower Hutt.

It's all a bit odd. The English love Cloud 9. The New Zealand-based company is the most prolific producer of family drama in Britain, and Atlantis High is Channel 5's highest-rating daytime show. The Americans and the Europeans love Cloud 9. Through the company's international distribution arm, Cumulus Distribution, Thompson sells to Disney and a variety of channels across Europe. But the Kiwis …

Thompson shouldn't care. Does it matter what TVNZ thinks if you are selling to Disney? But Thompson does care. Ask him about our biggest broadcaster and his handsome face darkens. The smile lines and easy charm look battle-drawn. It isn't the money that rankles, he says, it's the fact his new homeland's own network want nothing of him. He wants to grow his domestic base, to receive recognition locally and have the work of the 500 or so New Zealanders he employs each year seen on screen in their own country.

"We can do well without [TVNZ]," he tells Unlimited. "There is an arrogance within the broadcasting world in this country … Some broadcasters have to wake up and realise that they have a fantastic restaurant with nothing on the menu. [But] to build our domestic base we need a positive and constructive ongoing relationship with domestic broadcasters. Cloud 9 is continually courted by other countries - not just broadcasters, but all manner of entities who value the company's business and potential. We are not after subsidy, but relationships. That drives business. Without relationships one may as well close the business doors."

TVNZ says Cloud 9's product is not "must-have" programming. Only a tiny handful, around 5–10%, of all proposals put to the network get through the approval process, says TVNZ spokesman Glen Sowry. "There are an enormous number of programmes on offer. Cloud 9 has to compete." True, Cloud 9 is just one of around 50 New Zealand producers from whom the network could buy programmes. But most local producers - save heavyweights like Communicado-Screentime, South Pacific Pictures and The Gibson Group - could be bought and sold with Cloud 9's coffee money.

So, what's the problem? First, a history of bad blood between the two companies over Cloud 9's first production, the Enid Blyton series. TVNZ and Cloud 9 were partners in the venture, but things didn't quite work out. Both sides are circumspect about the reasons. Sowry, only a year into the TVNZ job, can't comment but doesn't believe it was a question of politics or personalities. Thompson talks about "problematic areas" with regard to early production, and fault on both sides.

There was also the issue of Thompson being initially keen to buy TVNZ's production facility Avalon Studios. For whatever reason, TVNZ wouldn't sell. "It could have been an $80 million building now," says Thompson, who instead based Cloud 9 in the Peter Jackson-owned Film Unit in Lower Hutt.

Is Thompson an arrogant foreigner pushing himself and his products on New Zealand? Others in the industry don't think so. Producer Dave Gibson of The Gibson Group says there was some initial scepticism when Cloud 9 first came to New Zealand, "because they didn't do things the way we did". But Gibson welcomes the money and infrastructure development Cloud 9 has brought the industry. "They've got a sales company and an international aspect to their business which is a pleasant change to the local companies."

Similarly Jane Wrightson, chief executive of the Screen Producers and Directors Association, welcomes the professionalism and capital Cloud 9 has brought. "They're a terrific company. They haven't come in, shot and disappeared. They've come and settled. They're very well connected and they've helped train people. They've lifted the industry a notch."

An independent producer who didn't want to be named believes the troubles with TVNZ are born of jealousy and rivalry. "TVNZ haven't been able to sell drama overseas. They've behaved badly, like jealous brats. It's mean-spiritedness on their part," he says.

Sowry disagrees. "I would strongly refute the mean-spirited comment. We would like to be able to commission more local production, but it doesn't fit the schedule." The "doesn't-fit-the-schedule" argument rankles Thompson. He decries the onset of reality television and the dearth of story telling; the endless need for stunt-filled movies that have forgotten the charm of character, plot and dialogue. He wants to build a catalogue of Disney-class, kid-oriented content.

Ironically, it is a foreign offer - this time from Queensland, where inducements were being dropped like timeshare deals - that may bring about a melting of the ice between TVNZ and Cloud 9. When Thompson threatened to leave New Zealand for Australia, politicians and bureaucrats were galvanised into action. The world-renowned producer had, after all, tipped more than $100 million into the economy since he set up base here. After calls from the local mayor, among others, Thompson decided to keep Cloud 9 in New Zealand - for now.

Since then, meetings have taken place between the two sides; meetings Sowry calls "amicable" and "constructive" and which Thompson says give him cautious optimism that a relationship may evolve. "It is absurd for TVNZ and Cloud 9 not to work together. A successful relationship will not only benefit both parties but the New Zealand television and film industry as a whole. We all play for the same team - New Zealand. And we should not commit friendly fire," Thompson says.

John Bowie
bowiejohn@scs.vuw.ac.nz

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