Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

What Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision does

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision is the national audiovisual archive of Aotearoa New Zealand, operating as a registered Charitable Trust (CC22250) headquartered at the National Library in Wellington. The organisation preserves New Zealand's film, television, and sound heritage, holding over 811,797 items spanning 1896 to the present — including Georges Méliès films from 1896, New Zealand's oldest surviving film from 1900, approximately 600,000 TVNZ Collection items, and roughly 4,100 reels of nitrate film stored in a specialised 100 square metre vault shared with Archives New Zealand. Core services include a searchable online collection (20,861 items currently viewable), curated exhibitions, in-person access at the National Library desk and Katherine Mansfield Reading Room, deposit services, and the Utaina mass digitisation project carried out with international vendor Memnon at Avalon Studios in Lower Hutt.

The business model is overwhelmingly government-funded. Baseline operating revenue comes from Vote Arts, Culture and Heritage via Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage, Te Puna Tahua NZ Lottery Grants Board (Ngā Taonga is one of four fixed-percentage recipients of Lottery profits), and Te Māngai Pāho for Māori-language content. Commercial income is ancillary: voluntary donations (eligible for a 33% IRD tax credit), event ticket revenue from the Wellington cinema and travelling film shows, and usage-based fees for preservation-on-demand and commercial-rights requests. Most services — including online access, deposit intake, and climate-controlled storage — are free to the public.

Go-to-market is community-led and event-driven, with primary customer segments being the general public, iwi/hapū and Māori communities, museums/broadcasters/cultural institutions, and schools (via the Services to Schools partnership). Distribution operates through digital channels (website, social media on five platforms, email), physical channels (Wellington cinema, Travelling Film Show), and institutional partnerships (National Library co-location, FIAF membership, Te Puna Foundation, Len Lye Foundation, Tē Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori). The organisation maintains 51–100 employees and was formed by amalgamating the New Zealand Film Archive, Sound Archives Ngā Taonga Kōrero, and the Television New Zealand Archive between 2012 and 2014.

Name

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Legal name

New Zealand Archive of Film, Television and Sound Ngā Taonga Whitiāhua Me Ngā Taonga Kōrero

Website

https://ngataonga.org.nz

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision is New Zealand's national audiovisual archive, preserving 811,797+ film, television, and sound recordings through government-funded charitable trust operations serving the public, iwi, broadcasters, and educators.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cultural Archive Services

NAICS

Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries (512), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712), Sound Recording Industries (5122)

SIC

Magnetic & Optical Recording Media (3695), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Audio Restoration & Remastering (Noise Reduction, De-Click, Re-Mix) (MPADAMAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Indigenous, Ethnic & Folk Arts/Heritage Organizations (BPAGAHAI), Indigenous & Community Cultural Institutions (THAJADAK)

Keywords

• Audiovisual archiving
• Digital preservation
• Film archive services
• Media heritage preservation
• Cultural archive access

Headquarters

HQ city

Wellington

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Government Funding: Core operational funding received from Vote Arts, Culture and Heritage through Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage under a funding agreement with the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage. This provides essential baseline funding for the archive's operations.
2. Lottery Grants Board Funding: Annual funding from Te Puna Tahua New Zealand Lottery Grants Board. Ngā Taonga is one of four agencies that receive a fixed percentage of Lottery profits. The archive is accountable for these funds through reporting to the Board, Ministry for Culture and Heritage, and in its Annual Report.
3. Te Māngai Pāho Funding: Funding received from Te Māngai Pāho for audio-visual content related to Māori language and culture preservation.
4. Donations: Voluntary donations accepted from the public. Donations are processed using secure IP Payments merchant facility. All donations to Ngā Taonga may be eligible for a 33% tax credit from the New Zealand Inland Revenue Department.
5. Collection Use Fees: Fees charged for certain collection use requests, subject to rights checks, availability and applicable fees. The organisation offers preservation on demand services at charge.
6. Event Revenue: Revenue from ticket sales for cinema screenings and events operated by the archive, including shows and theatre presentations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision is New Zealand's national audiovisual archive, preserving and providing public access to over 811,797 film, television, and sound recording items spanning from 1896 to the present. It operates an Online Collection of 20,861 digitally accessible items, provides in-person access at the National Library in Wellington, runs a public cinema, offers professional preservation and digitization services (including the Utaina mass digitization project), and accepts deposits of culturally significant audiovisual material.

Product overview

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision operates as a unified archival platform and service organization for Aotearoa New Zealand's audiovisual heritage. The core offering comprises an Online Collection database with search functionality (over 811,797 items, 20,861 available online), complemented by in-person access services at the National Library. Supporting services include Curated Collections (online exhibitions), Preservation Services (including the Utaina mass digitization project), Deposit Services for accepting new materials, Request Services for permission to use content, Education Resources for schools, and Preservation Advice for home care. The organization functions as a charitable trust serving as the national archive for film, television, and sound recordings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Ngā Taonga Kōrero: Collection of oldest te reo Māori recordings including waiata and haka performances

Products and services

• Online Collection A searchable digital archive of over 811,797 audiovisual items, with 20,861 available to view or listen online, covering New Zealand film, television, and sound recordings. Free public access to items available online; global access via website.
• Curated Collections (Ngā Kohinga Whakaaturanga) Online exhibitions showcasing highlights from New Zealand's audiovisual heritage, including themed collections on film history, Māori culture, music videos, and advertising. Examples include 'He Reo Rongomaiwhiti', 'Free Radical: Len Lye at 120', and 'Standing on the Shoulders'.
• Preservation Services Audiovisual preservation and digitization services including the Utaina mass digitization project, film, audio tape, and audio disk preservation, and digital film preservation for Crown-owned at-risk materials. Includes ARRISCAN film scanning at 2K/4K/8K resolution.
• Deposit Services Collection management and acceptance service for audiovisual materials with cultural, social, or historical value to Aotearoa New Zealand, including free climate-controlled storage. Specific deposit processes exist for Te Māngai Pāho and NZ Film Commission funded productions.
• Request Services Service for requesting more information about collection items or seeking permission to use material for cultural, iwi, community, research, or commercial purposes. Subject to rights checks, availability, and applicable fees.
• In-Person Access On-site access at the Ngā Taonga desk in the National Library General Reading Room (free, no appointment) and the Katherine Mansfield Reading Room for supervised viewing of collection materials not available online (appointment required).
• Preservation Advice Guidance and tips for caring for audiovisual collections at home, including storage conditions, nitrate film handling, damaged media, and digitization advice.
• Education Resources Educational content and resources for teachers and students, including partnership with Services to Schools, a New Zealand film timeline, and curated collections aligned with curriculum.

Quantifiable outcome

• 811,797+ items preserved in the collection
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Memnon (Archival Media)coreTechnology or Integration · 17 November 2022International digitisation vendor selected to carry out large-scale preservation work for the Utaina mass digitisation project. Memnon has nearly 20 years of experience in digitising audio and video assets for libraries, universities, broadcasters, museums and government organisations worldwide. Set up digitisation facility at Avalon Studios, Lower Hutt.
• National Library of New Zealand – Te Puna Mātauranga o AotearoacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-custodian of Crown-owned at-risk audiovisual material alongside Archives New Zealand. The three organisations share responsibility for preserving government-held audiovisual heritage.
• Archives New Zealand – Te Rua Mahara o te KāwanatangacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in shared 100 square metre specialised nitrate film vault located at a site overlooking Porirua Harbour. Co-custodian of Crown-owned at-risk audiovisual material.
• Len Lye FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on 'Free Radical: Len Lye at 120' online exhibition showcasing Len Lye's films in celebration of his 120th birthday anniversary.
• Te Puna FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner supporting the 'Rust + Restoration | He Waikura He Whakauka' exhibition at Te Puna Foundation Gallery at the National Library, exploring the work of Thomas Henry Whetton.
• Services to SchoolscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartnership providing educational content access through Services to Schools programme, enabling teachers and students to access audiovisual resources from the collection.
• Ōtaki MuseumminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDigitised content shared for exhibition at Ōtaki Museum as part of regional outreach and community engagement.
• Tūranga HealthminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGisborne-based health provider partnership for sharing collections with kaumātua over 20 years, connecting audiovisual heritage with community health services.
• Tē Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori (Māori Language Commission)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAssistance received for making Ngā Taonga Kōrero broadcasts available online, supporting te reo Māori preservation and access.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Deutsche Kinemathek: German national film museum and archive combining permanent collection, public access, exhibitions, and restoration work — similar integrated archive-museum-exhibition model under public funding.
• Library and Archives Canada – Audio-Visual Sector: Canadian federal audiovisual preservation programme operating within a national library and archives structure. Comparable in scope across film, television, and sound heritage with government mandate and bilingual operation.
• National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA): Australia's national audiovisual archive, operating from Canberra with government backing. Directly comparable statutory mandate, preservation focus, and mixed film/sound collection, and the closest functional peer in the Australasian region.
• Archives New Zealand – Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga: Domestic partner sharing the nitrate film vault and Crown audiovisual custody with Ngā Taonga. Operates the government records mandate; together they form NZ's core heritage preservation infrastructure.
• Cinémathèque française: French national film archive and museum with comparable mandate to preserve, restore, and provide public access to film heritage. Includes exhibition/cinema programming and conservation expertise in nitrate and early cinema.
• National Library of New Zealand – Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa: Co-custodian of Crown audiovisual heritage and host of Ngā Taonga's public access desk. Operates complementary heritage mandate across published and unpublished materials with shared governance relationship.
• British Film Institute (BFI) National Archive: UK national film and television archive combining preservation, public access, education, and exhibition functions. Operates under similar statutory/government-supported mandate with comparable scope across film and broadcast heritage.
• EYE Film Museum Netherlands: Dutch national film archive combining conservation of film heritage with museum exhibitions, public access, and education — directly comparable model of an archive-as-cultural-institution with public engagement.

Broad incumbents

• Library of Congress – National Audio-Visual Conservation Center: The US national audiovisual preservation facility within the Library of Congress — significantly larger scope and resources, but functionally analogous as a federally mandated preservation, restoration, and access entity.
• NARA (US National Archives and Records Administration): US federal archives holding audiovisual government records; Ngā Taonga's shared custody model with Archives New Zealand and National Library mirrors the multi-institutional US federal records landscape.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ngataonga
• YouTubeyoutube.com/ngataonga
• Facebookfacebook.com/ngataonga
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nga-taonga-sound---vision
• Instagraminstagram.com/ngataonga

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision