Star spotters come out in force, others queue to be extras, and food and accommodation and supporting businesses reap the benefits.
With careful planning, inconvenience is kept to a minimum.
In Oamaru, this month the town has been abuzz over the filming of part of the seven-episode Netflix adaptation of John Steinbeck’s best-selling 1952 novel East of Eden. Pre-production work had been going on in the town since late November.
It has been described as the biggest film production seen in Oamaru, with more than 600 people involved, providing a welcome fillip to the local economy.
It is another reminder of the value of Oamaru’s Victorian Heritage Precinct to the district, and of the foresight of those who fought to preserve it.
A recent report on the precinct, commissioned by the Waitaki District Council, found it was the key sightseeing destination for the district and a key economic contributor.
It described the area as one of "the best remaining complete Victorian streetscapes in Australasia".
Money received by the Oamaru Whitestone Civic Trust for the use of the location was described by the trust as a vital income stream and will be used for further restoration of the buildings.
Dunedin, Ranfurly and Naseby (a set is being built near Falls Dam) will also get a slice of the East of Eden action.
The region is looking forward to another big production later this year when a blockbuster American movie, Heart of the Beast, expected to star Brad Pitt, starts filming in Queenstown in March.
Such interest from international film-makers does not happen magically. There is fierce competition with countries around the world, all also offering incentives to attract film crews.
Here, the effort of many bodies in recent years, including Film Otago Southland, must be acknowledged.
It helps that we have a great variety of locations which could be attractive to film-makers — including majestic alpine settings, wide-open almost desert-like scenery, fabulous coastal spots, and our heritage buildings in Oamaru and Dunedin.
There are, however, some limits to what can be done here without having a fulltime large studio facility.
Plans for a multi-million-dollar mega studio on the outskirts of Wanaka, which many regarded as fanciful from the outset, fell through last year.
The screen industry pumps more than $3.5 billion into the economy each year, providing work for about 24,000 people, and benefiting the hospitality, construction and tourism sectors.
It is estimated every dollar spent here because of the country’s rebate scheme puts about six dollars into the economy.
But as much as there might be excitement about overseas productions, there is also a tension about whether enough attention is paid to local productions which are telling our stories and reflecting our culture.
As Screen Production and Development Association (Spada) president Irene Gardiner puts it, the screen industry is a "fairly delicate ecosystem".
She cautions against getting to the point where New Zealand is just a service centre for international productions.
Hopefully, that is a long way off, but as her reflections on 2024 spell out, the last year has been tough for the New Zealand screen industry, particularly television, and this has been devastating for the local production sector.
While Spada is grateful there is still some government funding, there is not enough, and with so little network money around now, there is intense pressure on funding agencies.
Spada has been lobbying the government to regulate international streaming platforms so they contribute to the local industry in some way. It says other countries have done this with quotas or levies or a combination of the two.
The organisation will also be campaigning for a $20 million export initiative attached to New Zealand on Air-funded rebate projects, building on the success of the premium production fund which supports screen content for overseas audiences.
Whether the government will move quickly or at all on either proposition remains to be seen.
