Quirky tourism video for NZ city lands gold at Cannes

A pitch to bring film crews to Dunedin has struck gold at an international awards ceremony.

Starring Dunedin-born comedian James Mustapic, Dunedin – Auditioning Now shows off the city as a location for film and television productions.

The video won gold in the city destinations category at the 2026 Cannes Corporate Media & TV Awards, Enterprise Dunedin says.

Dunedin-born comedian James Mustapic stars in Dunedin – Auditioning Now, a video promoting the city as a filming location. Photo / Enterprise Dunedin

The awards are held in Cannes, the French city famous for its film festival, but are a separate competition celebrating corporate films, documentaries and online productions.

Founded in 2010, the competition has become a leading event in its field; this year, 253 productions from 38 countries were shortlisted.

“The reaction to the showreel has been amazing,” said Stefan Roesch, Enterprise Dunedin’s film office co-ordinator and the video’s producer.

“Dunedin has so many locations, from wild beaches to high country hills, and Victorian streets to gritty, industrial zones. It was a lot of fun working with James to showcase what the city could be.”

The video also won gold for best city promotion at the 2026 US International Awards and has been selected for awards in Portugal and Zagreb later this year.

Enterprise Dunedin said a steady stream of filming inquiries was coming in, and a big-budget international television commercial was being shot around the city this week.

“Dunedin is a great place for production companies, and it is good to see more requests coming through,” Roesch said.

“The city has many faces and I think Dunedin – Auditioning Now really captured this. We have so much talent in the city to support crews while they are here, and we really try our best to partner with them, making everything go as smoothly as we can. It is great to see the city on screens big and small across the world.”