And although they had to learn how best to film in snow conditions, the crew was singing the praises of the Queenstown community and the resort's natural beauty.
Network Ten documentaries producer Nicole McCuaig stumbled upon the Queenstown Winter Festival online when a network executive raised the idea of a snow documentary. She is part of a small crew who flew over from Brisbane, and the resulting documentary has the potential to reach a million viewers.
The crew consists of a producer, a cameraman and a sound recordist/cameraman who filmed festival events and conducted behind the scenes interviews with festival identities.
Next year, the festival is to have its 40th birthday and Ms McCuaig said she understood that while ''it's really about the start of the snow season'', it is also a means to flaunt a stable local community.
''The nice thing has been the combination of humour and the sense of town and community spirit.''
Network Ten makes 12 one-hour documentaries each year and they are screened on Australian national television. The crew had also produced and filmed a documentary about Maori tourism.
Ms McCuaig said the documentaries are about the people behind the story and ''a bit deeper than a travel show''.
''It's really just about getting to know the people,'' she said, and added they did not only film the drag race on Earnslaw Park but also met and filmed the ''blokes'' before their transformations.
''I always hope to get behind the activity in front of us.
''We really do feel privileged to see a lot more [than most people].''
