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NZ Film Industry Looks Towards $1b

Earnings from making the movies Lord of the Rings and The Vertical Limit could push New Zealand's annual film earnings towards a billion dollars this year.

The Screen Producers and Directors' Association says its latest survey showed earnings would top $307 million to March 2000, up 50 per cent on the 1998-99 fiscal year. Its survey, however, did not include Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings (estimated to be worth more than $350m) nor The Vertical Limit (estimated at $120m-plus) as filming did not take place within the survey period. --NZPA