Taika Waititi, well known Kiwi filmmaker and actor behind Jojo Rabbit and Thor Ragnarok, is helping promote tourism in new content created by Tourism New Zealand and Augusto.
While in New Zealand filming the second series of the HBO Max series Our Flag Means Death, Taika spared some time to support New Zealand tourism.
Directed by Jackie van Beek, ‘No Place Like It On Earth’ showcases a range of sights and experiences travellers can find in Aotearoa New Zealand.
“Tourism is an important contributor to New Zealand, it’s one of our top export earners and is supporting sector and country recovery. Competition for visitors is fierce and New Zealand needs to work hard to encourage visitation and stand out. We partnered with well-known director and actor Taika Waititi to create a piece of content that promotes Aotearoa New Zealand,” said Tourism New Zealand chief executive René de Monchy.
The content, in typical comedic Taika style, showcases a range of New Zealand locations and experiences including whitewater rafting in Rotorua, a scenic flight over Mount Tarawera, dolphin watching in Kaikōura and wine tasting in Auckland. It will be used across Tourism New Zealand and HBO Max channels.
“We are working hard to attract high quality visitors who will positively contribute to New Zealand’s culture, society, nature and economy and this content will target those audiences in key markets to get them thinking about destination New Zealand,” de Monchy said.
Waititi added: “I always tell people you can go surfing in the morning and then drive a couple of hours and be skiing in the evening [in New Zealand]. I don’t think there’s anywhere else on earth where you can do that. It has everything.”
Adam Thompson, executive creative director at Augusto, said: “This was a wonderfully dizzying experience, getting to collaborate with so many amazing people, from Tourism New Zealand to Taika and Jackie, on a campaign that shows off the wonders of New Zealand in a fun and silly way.”
Jackie van Beek, the film’s director and writer who also appears in the content, says, “I had a ball on this Tourism New Zealand campaign. There’s nothing I enjoy more than pretending to be myself bickering with Taika over what makes a good director.”
CREDITS
- Client – Tourism New Zealand
- Agency – Augusto
- Writer and Director – Jackie van Beek
- Stills – Graeme Murray
- Post Production – Augusto
- Sound – Bespoke Post
