John Barnett: New Zealand could handle Lord of the Rings TV show

An iconic New Zealander producer does not think there is much to worry about when it comes to Lord of the Rings filming here.It has been reported that Amazon Studios held meetings with the New Zealand Government over filming the new television adaptation of the fantasy series here. However, there are concerns that a lack of studio space could prevent the show from being filmed here.John Barnett, who has produced four of New Zealand's top 10 movies, says that it would be a good thing for the country.However, he told the Weekend Collective that he does not think that there is much of a "crisis" to this story."I think that the headlines today have been a little bit of slow news day." Barnett says that it was likely a regular meeting that would otherwise be handled by the regulatory body.He says we have not lost it because no one has said that the series would be filmed here. "The regime that we have with regard to foreign production coming here is very friendly and very conducive to this kind of production." Barnett says things are tight when it comes to studio space, but we do have an "elasticity" in this industry that could handle the scale of the production.LISTEN TO JOHN BARNETT TALK WITH THE WEEKEND COLLECTIVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.