Relationship building has given a Dunedin-based production company exclusive rights to film three of China's recent architectural accomplishments.
NHNZ had been involved in China for more than seven years, and its work had been vindicated with the commissioning of three China-focused programmed for National Geographic Channels International, NHNZ managing director Michael Stedman said.
The three-hour shows form part of National Geographic's Megastructures series, and featured the construction of the Shanghai Super Tower, China's ultimate port and Beijing Water Cube.
Recognising the potential of China, the company established an office in Beijing in 2002, "because you can't just walk through the door and begin filming".
"We were prepared to take our turn to get to know people and we weren't in a hurry like some of the American companies. And, importantly, we were there to learn."
NHNZ was the largest company of its type making films in China, and "the regard we are held in is disproportionate to our size".
More than 20 staff worked on the Megastructures' series at any one time, and it was worth more than $US300,000 an episode to the company, he said.
It was a privilege to be able to film some of the work occurring in China because it documents "some of the greatest engineering on planet Earth", he said.
The three projects are. -A National Aquatics Centre, dubbed the Beijing Water Cube.
The building, will feature when Beijing hosts the 2008 Olympic Games and has 22,000 steel beams, which support pillows of high-tech plastic.
The Shanghai World Financial Centre, which is the tallest building in China, with 101 floors. It required 60,000 tonnes of steel and 260,000cu m of concrete. More than 2000 workers were involved in its construction.
The Yangshan Deep Water Port, which is 30km out to sea and connected by the world's second-longest ocean bridge.
The port allows the world's biggest container ships to dock and includes 20km of quays and 50 berths.
The series will screen on the National Geographic Channel, on Sky, from next Tuesday at 9.30pm.
