Emmy-Winning Producer Jon Kroll Calls For Kiwi Filmmakers To Think Bigger At Southern Screen Summit

Emmy Award-winning producer Jon Kroll has spent decades turning reality TV shows into global phenomena. From The Amazing Race to Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted, his career has been built on finding the truth in unscripted storytelling and making it resonate with audiences worldwide. Now based in New Zealand, Kroll wants to share his perspective with the local industry at the upcoming Southern Screen Summit.

His message to Kiwi filmmakers is clear: It’s time to “stop playing small” and start thinking globally. He says this is for two key reasons: to attract funding and to get the message in their work to a wider audience. “The unseen film is the sound of one hand clapping,” he quips, quoting a mentor.

According to Kroll, the challenge facing New Zealand’s creative industry isn’t just about talent—it’s about mindset and approach. “Commissioners are lowering their license fees and encouraging producers to pursue co-production funding. This requires that producers think in terms of a larger audience beyond New Zealand’s shores,” he says.

He believes New Zealand’s biggest strength lies in its landscapes and distinctive storytelling style, elements that can be leveraged to create globally appealing content. “New Zealand’s natural beauty is the obvious starting place. It can be used as a backdrop for adventure shows, survival shows, and all manner of scripted shows.”

His message to emerging filmmakers at the upcoming Southern Screen Summit is clear: If you want to break through internationally, you need to start thinking like a producer from other territories. “There is no shame in making content that appeals to a wider audience.” But this means producers “behaving more like salespeople for their projects. I’m not convinced that’s baked into the DNA of most New Zealand producers so it’s going to have to become a learned skill.”

Having worked extensively in New Zealand’s South on various projects, Kroll understands the unique challenges filmmakers in the region face. He hopes his participation in two panels at the Summit will be a rallying call for producers to start embracing a global mindset.

“Shaping a New Zealand producer’s voice so that it maintains its authenticity and appeals to a broader audience is not easy - if it were easy, everyone would do it. But targeting audiences beyond our shores is the best way to make the New Zealand screen sector sustainable in the long run,” he says.

The Southern Screen Summit, organised by the Southern Filmmakers Collective and supported by Film Otago Southland, will be held online to encourage participation from filmmakers across the motu. Featuring a diverse lineup of speakers and panels with extensive experience across the industry, the Summit offers emerging creatives the chance to gain valuable insight from experts like Kroll, whose decades of international experience provide a practical blueprint for thinking globally.

His advice? “Focus on what you have and others do not. Making content that will be seen by millions of people requires creative compromises and broader thinking. But the rewards of having your stories reach viewers all over the world are great and long-lasting—both creatively and financially.”

As the global industry continues to evolve, Kroll’s challenge to filmmakers is simple but powerful: “Stop playing small, think bigger, and make your stories that matter to a larger number of people.”

For those ready to take their storytelling to the next level, the Southern Screen Summit is the perfect place to start.

For more information or to register for the Southern Screen Summit, visit: www.southernfilmmakers.nz

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