Kiwi film-makers milk California

American film-makers long ago started filming their movies on cheaper locations offshore, such as New Zealand.

But now the farm sector may have shot itself in the hoof by filming advertisements in New Zealand ... for Californian milk.

The California Milk Advisory Board, which promotes the state's dairy farmers and is overseen by the California Department of Food and Agriculture, is preparing to film the commercials touting California milk from California cows.

In January, it plans to shoot part of its new series of 10 California "Happy Cows" TV commercials in Auckland, taking advantage of New Zealand's low production costs, the Los Angeles Times reported.

California has just started offering tax incentives for film and TV to retain some of the thousands of jobs which the Los Angeles area has lost as projects have been siphoned off to sites in New Zealand, Australia and other countries.

But TV commercials were excluded from the $US100 ($NZ138) million in credits offered for about 50 film and TV projects.

Local union officials were cheesed-off.

"If they're promoting California products, they should be shooting in California," said Ed Duffy, of Teamsters Local 399, which represents location managers and casting directors.

Milk board officials said the New Zealand film made up a "minor portion of production" and was a matter of simple economics.

The New Zealand sound-stage's prices were the lowest, said Michael Freeman, the board's vice-president of advertising.

"It was a no-brainer," he said. "The dairy industry is facing the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. We have a fiduciary responsibility to spend their hard-earned dollars as efficiently as we can."

The board, funded by dairy farmers, has been running TV ads promoting California's "Happy Cows" for nearly a decade.

The latest series, which began last year, features New Zealand cows representing bovines from around the world auditioning to be the next California Happy Cow.

Like "American Idol," TV viewers can then go on the board's website and vote for their favourite cow.

The New Zealand shoot will be filmed over three days on the same sound stage the board used for last year's TV campaign.

- © Fairfax NZ News