NZSO Commercial Hire

Wellington offers a competitive choice of an uncompromisingly high standard

The NZSO has strong long-term relationships with local post-production facilities and recording venues, access to world-class technology and highly-skilled engineers, and a long recording history on disc with Naxos, and live-to-air with Radio New Zealand.

Kiwis are good at tech

We have fast connections, secure networks, and all the ability and brain power that's needed to run them.

We have incentives

New Zealand offers a number of financial, tax and planning incentives to assist your production:

New Zealand Film Commission

The NZ Film Commission offers advice, support and introductions to help your screen production access New Zealand's natural and commercial advantages, including screen incentives.

Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment

The New Zealand Screen Production Grant (NZSPG) for International Productions is part of the New Zealand Government’s screen incentives scheme. This includes the Post, Digital and Visual Effects (PDV) Grant.

Screen Wellington

Screen Wellington is a one-stop shop to make filming in Wellington easy. If you want film permits, help to secure studio space, connections with post-production, VFX and mixing facilities or suggestions on locations, Screen Wellington can help.

Here's some more of our work...

We have recorded music for a number of film and games. These include Wish Dragon, The Hobbit, The Lovely Bones, Krampus, Emperor, Escape Plan, Mortal Engines, and Titanfall 2, among others. You can view our full works on IMDB.

...and here's what others have to say:

Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie (2024)

Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie is a computer-animated comedy featuring the squirrelly star of SpongeBob SquarePants, written by Kaz and Tom Stern, directed by Liza Johnson, and produced by Robert Engleman with Nickelodeon Animation Studios, Nickelodeon Movies and United Plankton Pictures.

We believe the ability to record here at Massey with New Zealand’s premier orchestra is a key component to the job being brought to Aotearoa. We are immensely proud to be associated with such work and hats off to the local composers for bringing their unique sound to the world!

– Toi Rauwhārangi College of Creative Arts Project Manager James Coyle on recording music for Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie

Wish Dragon (2021)

Wish Dragon is a computer-animated fantasy comedy film written and directed by Chris Applehans, and produced by Jackie Chan with Sony Pictures Animation and Tencent Pictures. 

They are a full-service film-scoring orchestra, and they're incredible

They are a proper orchestra, and the benefit of working with an orchestra that plays together is that they can come together so quickly as an ensemble. I also think that personality-wise, they're a great fit as an orchestra for a film like this because they're very laid back, they have a lot of fun, but they're incredible, impeccable players.

-Philip Klein, composer Wish Dragon

Mortal Engines (2018)

Mortal Engines is a film written by Fran Walsh, Philppa Boyens, and Peter Jackson, based on the 2001 novel of the same name by Philip Reeve. The score was composed by Tom Holkenborg, a Dutch composer and producer, and recorded with the NZSO.

What is really great about the New Zealand [Symphony] Orchestra is that they got things really quickly. We got a super-high return rate on the time that we recorded to what we got back from them. It was just an amazing collaboration.

-Tom Holkenborg, Composer, Mortal Engines

There is so much talent here in New Zealand. Almost everyone that is sitting in this Orchestra has played their instrument for at least 20 to 40 years. You have 2000 years of musical experience contributing to your film. You would be silly not to take advantage of that many years of passion because that's what people will always recognise. That will never just come out of a box; that will always come from the heart.

-Conrad Pope, Orchestrator and Conductor, Mortal Engines

Krampus (2015)

Krampus is a 2015 American horror comedy film directed by Michael Dougherty. The score was composed by Douglas Pipes and recorded by the NZSO. 

The Orchestra immediately played together so beautifully as a group, blending so well together in the hall, while brilliantly performing this challenging score. It is pure joy to have your music recorded by such amazing musicians.

-Douglas Pipes, composer, Krampus

Escape Plan (2013)

Escape Plan is an action thriller film starring Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. The music was composed by Alex Heffes and recorded by the NZSO in Wellington.

I've worked with orchestras all around the world, and this is a unique experience; it's a working symphony orchestra, not a session orchestra. They perform the classical repertoire all the time in this hall, so they're very well balanced and respond incredibly quickly. They know how fast, how slow, how loud, and how soft the music is going to speak together in this room. That makes it a really gratifying experience for me because I don't have to work hard to get the creative response I want; it just sounds great.

-Alex Heffes, composer, Escape Plan

Contact us

For further information about recording with the NZSO, including Orchestra availability, time frames and quotes, please get in touch:

Claire Wackrow, Senior Manager Commercial & Partnerships Programmes claire.wackrow@nzso.co.nz.