Wellington.Scoop
Sir Peter Jackson’s Miramar-based Park Road Post Production has decided to close its 35mm film processing laboratory. Staff have been told that the likely date of closure will be the end of June.

“We have always been incredibly proud of the quality of the Lab. Our rallying cry in recent years as been ‘the last Lab standing’ and this has been true over the past year or so,” advises head of marketing Vicki Jackways in a message to clients. “But unfortunately the shift in digital acquisition and exhibition has meant that this part of our business has now become commercially unsustainable.

“We are sending … letters to the key Archive agencies and all our past clients to thank you for your years of loyalty and to provide you with some notice should you have any remaining work that requires the Lab’s services.

“Brian Scadden, Head of Lab, the Management team and all our staff are very proud of the people that have contributed to the long standing reputation of the Lab and we thank those clients that have used the Lab over the years.”

All other parts of the Park Road business are “very much in operation,” including the Digital (on-set) Lab, Picture, Sound and VFX.

Recent productions which have used the state-of-the-art facilities at Park Road Post Production include The Hobbit, The Adventures of Tin Tin, Cirque du Soleil, Emperor, The Orator, Two Little Boys, and Mr Pip.

Park Road’s 35mm film processing has a history going back to 1941, when the lab was first established in Wellington as part of the government-owned National Film Unit.