There's a slice of New Zealand in the Hollywood blockbuster Mission: Impossible – Fallout, hitting screens this week.
Not only were some of the film's jaw dropping action sequences filmed in Central Otago, but Ngāi Tahu-owned company Glacier Southern Lakes Helicopters was the "go-to" during production here.
General manager and pilot Pat West says the company has around 30 years experience providing aerial support for the film industry, and they "had the staff, the pilots, and the expertise to be able to deliver" for the US blockbuster.
"The build-up probably started two months beforehand, at its peak we were operating 13 machines," he said.
"It was fairly intense, there was a lot going on within a short period of time."
Experienced pilot for Glacier Southern Lakes Helicopters, Alfie Speight, did aerial filming for the film.
"He flew the camera ship - he's been doing that for sort of 40 odd years," Mr West said.
"He's very experienced, he knows what the director's looking for."
The Kiwi team were also impressed by Tom Cruise, who learnt to fly a helicopter in order to carry out his own stunts.
"There were no stunt doubles, which is not the norm," Mr West said
"For the amount of time he'd been flying he was extremely good, you've got to take your hat off to the guy."
When asked if he managed to get a sneak peak of any footage during production here, Mr West smiled, adding “we might of".
And, the company's now looking forward to seeing the final product on the big screen.
"We're all heading out on Thursday night to go and have a look and see what we managed to produce for them," Mr West said.
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