09/10/2026
As you may know, the Netflix series East of Eden was released last week, and our beautiful Victorian town Ōamaru with our perfectly preserved Victorian buildings and streetscapes played host to production as the set for Salinas, California.
It was an incredibly exciting time for our community, and for us, even to be just a business on the edge of the film set.
We met many of the incredible cast and crew and thrived on the creative energy the production team brought to our precinct area and wider region.
My daughter Jemima wasn’t cast as an extra and instead of letting it define her as a budding actress, she stood at the cordons and watched the filming from morning late into the night for days on end, and learned so much! Netflix were incredibly generous to allow the public to view so closely.
We were asked to share some of our experiences in this trailer, which serves as a nice epilogue; it was a remarkable time for our precinct and people, we feel very proud of our area and grateful to all the many organisations who collaborated!
(And yes I very much do know who Florence Pugh is … now 😅)
Waitaki District Council Waitaki Whitestone Unesco Global Geopark Netflix Oamaru Whitestone Civic Trust NZ Film Commission
