[6] Even though Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision is largely a tax-payer funded organisation, it is not a Crown entity and the Board is solely responsible for identifying and appointing Trustees.

[17][19] Prior to his involvement with the archive, Mr Murdoch was in the media spotlight as head of the Government Communications Security Bureau, presiding over the illegal surveillance of Kim Dotcom.

[8] Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision's kaupapa calls for the Archive to "maintain and defend its own professional integrity, independence and judgment in its role as a publicly accountable body".

[22] In November 2016, opposition MP Jacinda Ardern questioned the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Maggie Barry over whether she considered it satisfactory that Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision, a private trust, be "not answerable in any formal or legal way to the people of New Zealand except through temporary funding contracts.

[49][50] Between November 2012 and April 2014[51] the New Zealand Film Archive undertook a major review of its governance, structure and capability at the request of the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Chris Finlayson.

[13] Released under an Official Information Act request, correspondence from a redacted individual to the Prime Minister John Key noted that the biggest loss would occur in Collection Services - which encompassed the acquisition and conservation areas.

[55][57] Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision's Strategic Plan 2016-2024 published in July 2016 also noted that the archive was "committed to remaining in Christchurch as part of the Canterbury recovery.

[54] A fact sheet provided by Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision to Minister Maggie Barry noted that even though it wanted to close the Christchurch operation it would be "increasing the level of activity and visibility that Cantabrians have to all of the collections".

[49] The Office of Hon Maggie Barry worked closely with the Ministry for Culture and Heritage and Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision to formulate a set of consistent responses that could be used by the Minister and others.

"[49] Mayor of Christchurch Lianne Dalziel expressed concern to Minister Maggie Barry that the collections would be threatened by "centralised location in Wellington, which could be cut off for months" following a natural disaster.

[49] Ms Dalziel said she would be disappointed if Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision did not have a future alongside other institutions committed to supporting the city's regeneration following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.

[49][64] The restructuring drew international concern from the Association of Moving Image Archivists who wrote to Minister Maggie Barry, opposition MP Jacinda Ardern, Chair of Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision Jane Kominik and Chief Executive Rebecca Elvy strongly "urging caution and broad consultation before committing to any action".

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision's headquarters are based in the Wellington region, although it takes its "national role seriously and work[s] hard to offer access throughout the country.

[71] In 2014 the Ministry for Culture and Heritage appointed Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision as the initial Archive Manager, giving it the right to occupy the publicly owned facility.

Constructed during World War II, the bunker and tunnels are located underground behind the former Dominion Museum building,[82][83] with an operational entrance next to Wellington High School on Taranaki Street.

[3][12] As part of the 2016/17 restructure Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision closed the facility in the first half of 2017, moving the collection to Avalon and remaining staff to Blackheath Place, Christchurch.

[100] Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision said that it would bring the archive alongside other Christchurch heritage agencies and would "provide an enhanced public access service to the region".

[100] Another internal Archives NZ email noted "the irony is [that] they are getting a really good deal with a purpose built design and fit out essentially free of charge and security of tenancy (and rent) in a volatile rental market.

[46] Two documents were used to inform the initial Budget Bid for operating expenses by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage: a financial due diligence report from PriceWaterhouseCoopers and a proposal from the New Zealand Film Archive.

[111] In May 2017 Chair of Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision Jane Kominik wrote to the Minister for Arts Culture and Heritage Maggie Barry noting that the archive was about to begin discussions with the Ministry for Culture and Heritage over two areas "for which Nga Taonga has never been funded":[112] access to audiovisual collections beyond current levels and the digitisation of TVNZ Betacam and DigiBeta tape formats beyond business as usual levels.

In November 2017 Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision noted to the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage that activity-based costings were not conducted at the time of the TVNZ Archive transfer in 2014.

[5] In 2012/13 Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision entered into negotiations with Te Māngai Pāho to provide archiving services for the 21 iwi radio stations throughout the country.

[114] On 19 October 2017, the Governor-General of New Zealand Dame Patsy Reddy launched Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision's patronage programme at Government House, Wellington.

[2] Chief Executive of Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision Rebecca Elvy told RNZ news that it would cost $10–15 million to digitise the Betacam tapes, which otherwise would be lost forever when the technology vanished by 2025.

The collection also contains items with significant Māori content, including records of karanga, whaikorero, iwi and hapu whakapapa, powhiri, wharenui and marae, kapa haka, Waitangi Day events (from 1934), raranga, tukutuku and whakairo.

This involved constantly recording off-air broadcasts including television news, dramas, documentaries, games shows, music videos, infomercials, youth programming and sport.

[5] Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision estimates that it would take up to eight weeks to supply a requester with a viewing copy of moving-image material or an item from the documentation collection.

A news report at the time of Rebecca Elvy's appointment as Chief Executive in 2015, noted that Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision had an extensive range of film-related memorabilia including scripts, advertisements, posters and props, costumes and animation cells which the archive was working to make available via public display.

[8] Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision operates medianet, a digital video resource that provides access to a small curated selection of film and TV items at sites across New Zealand.

[33] In 2014 Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision noted that the Ministers of Broadcasting and Arts, Culture and Heritage had an expectation that a substantial proportion of the archive's collections be digitised and made available online by 2018.