GOOD TIMES DOWN UNDER

THE SUCCESS OF BAZ LUHRMAN'S ELVIS HAS TURNED ATTENTION ONCE AGAIN TO AUSTRALIA'S LONGESTABLISHED FILM INDUSTRY AND ITS HISTORY OF WELCOMING LARGE-SCALE INTERNATIONAL PRODUCTIONS — AS WELL AS IT'S VAST ARRAY OF VERSATILE LOCATIONS, CREW AND STUDIO FACILITIES –SOME OF WHICH PLAYED A STARRING ROLE IN THIS MOST AMERICAN OF STORIES. JOANNA STEPHENS REPORTS

AS ONE of the year’s biggest winners on the awards circuit, Elvis is very much still alive in the public consciousness. Which couldn’t please Screen Queensland more, given that the flm was shot almost entirely on Australia’s Gold Coast, employed 900 Queenslanders and injected more than A$105m ($ 70m) into the local economy. But for all the noise around Baz Luhrmann’s sprawling portrait of the king of rock ‘n’ roll, Elvis is only one in a long list of A-list international movies and series to have shot in Australia over the past four years. These overseas productions have done more than sprinkle stardust over Australia’s reputation as a world-class production destination. They also point to the competitiveness of Australia’s screen production incentives for both physical and post, digital and visual efects (PDV) work.

February saw the publication of UK-based consultancy Olsberg SPI’s Study on The Impact of Film and Television Production Incentives in Australia, commissioned last year by the Australia New Zealand Screen Association (ANZSA) and the Motion Picture Association (MPA). The report’s headline fnding was that the Australian government’s suite of production incentives contributed a total of A$16.5bn in economic output over the four years ending June 2022. The Location Ofset and Location Incentive generated particularly impressive results: Olsberg estimates that, for every net dollar invested in international projects, A$5.89 is created in value for the Australian economy. Moreover, 60% of below-the-line expenditure fnds its way to non-screen-related businesses, such as construction, security, travel, transport, real estate, education and hospitality. This is good news for Australians, of course. But confrmation that incentives are powerful economic drivers is arguably even better news for international productions, no less than 37 of which have headed Down Under since 2018. However, while generous incentives are undoubtedly a compelling reason to flm in

Australia — indeed, Olsberg’s study reveals that, without the Location Ofset and Location Incentive, no international projects would have opted for Australia over the last four years — Kate Marks, CEO of screen-industry public/private partnership Ausflm, is keen to point out it’s not all about the money.

“In the last two fscal years, we’ve seen record levels of drama production across Australia and our incentives have obviously played a key role in attracting international work,” Marks says. “But incentives can only do so much. What makes our studio and SVOD partners come to Australia, and keep coming back, is our people. Clients tell us time and again that our crews are incredible; that they’re innovative, problem-solving, fun, hard-working and passionate about what they do. So government support is great, but it’s our people — that Australian spirit — that makes us diferent.”

Supporting the can-do mentality of Australia’s creative talent is a world-class production infrastructure, spanning flm studios, sound stages and post-production, VFX and screen-services facilities. And then there’s its embarrassment of natural riches. The country’s vast size and diverse ecosystems have gifted it a huge array of landscapes, from the desolate beauty of the outback to lush farmland, sweeping plains, snow-capped mountains and dense rainforests. There’s no shortage of urban landscapes either, whether it’s gritty industrial hinterland you’re after or a sophisticated metropolitan backdrop that could double for any great city in the world. Another reason the world’s flmmakers want to work in Australia is because “we have incredible stories to tell and a long history of telling them brilliantly on flm”, Marks adds. “It’s really gratifying that all the hard work that’s gone into building our screen sector is now paying of. In an industry of peaks and troughs, we’ve seen a solid supply of work over the last few years, which is helping us to scale up, expand and attract new business.”

As the agency charged with connecting the international flm community with Australia’s incentives, talent and facilities, Ausflm can take much of the credit for ‘the last few years’ to which Marks refers. With a team on the ground in Los Angeles (“the US is our core focus…”) Ausflm is generally the frst point of contact for overseas productions looking to flm in the country. “We also have solid, long-standing relationships with many of our clients, which results in a lot of repeat business,” Marks adds. She points to the Disney family, which has now returned six or seven times to Australia, most recently with Wes Ball’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, which was flmed at Sydney’s iconic Fox Studios, now renamed Disney Studios Australia. The list of recent and announced international features flming in Australia includes The Fall Guy, starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt; Ricky Stanicky, starring John Cena and Zac Efron; Ticket to Paradise, starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts; and the as-yet-untitled sequel to Godzilla vs Kong, with Dan Stevens attached as lead. On the TV front, Apple TV+’s Shantaram starring Charlie Hunnam, was shot extensively in Melbourne, while the frst 10-part series of Nautilus — Disney+’s upcoming prequel to Jules Verne’s underwater fantasy Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea — recently wrapped at Queensland-based Village Roadshow Studios (VRS), home to the Elvis production, as well as Ticket to Paradise and the latest cinematic clash in the MonsterVerse King Kong franchise.

“Nautilus was based at VRS for over a year,” president of VRS, Lynne Benzie, says. “It was the longest project based at the studio that I can remember.” It was also a major coup for Queensland, contributing an estimated A$96m to the local economy and employing more than 1,400 Australians — 98% of the total crew — over its 274 production days. Moreover, 1,200-plus Australian vendors were engaged in the production. “The roll-on efect from big productions, whether domestic or international, has a big impact for the local economy, tourism and training,” Benzie adds.

Nautilus used VRS’ main water tank, which is the largest

BREAK-OUT SUCCESS

APPLE TV+’s epic series Shantaram is based on the best-selling novel by Australian Gregory David Roberts. The story is inspired by Roberts’ own epic backstory: he was a convicted bank robber who broke out of prison and fed to India. Once in Mumbai, he befriended an Indian man, set up a make-shift health clinic and acquired the name Shantaram, meaning Man of God’s Peace. The series, starring Charlie Hunnam in the lead role, starts with a nervewracking jail break from Melbourne’s Pentridge Prison — and continues at the same high-octane pace across its 12 episodes. With its “jam-packed” story arc, “Shantaram was an ambitious production,”

VicScreen’s Joe Brinkmann says. “It’s both a cinematic love story and a thrilling adventure that follows Charlie Hunnam’s character’s journey to redemption through a country that changes his life.” Shantaram was flmed at Melbourne’s Docklands Studios, with location shooting across Melbourne and regional Victoria. Queensbury Street, dressed with Indian market stalls and populated with extras from Melbourne’s large Asian community, served as one of the many stand-ins for Mumbai in the 1980s. “We had our incredibly experienced HODs, crew and businesses working on the series to achieve that aesthetic,” Brinkmann adds.

The King And Queensland

BAZ LUHRMANN’s Elvis is one of the most successful flms ever to have come out of Queensland — despite being made during the pandemic under uniquely difcult circumstances. “It really brought together all the elements that make Queensland such an ideal place for large-scale production: the skill and artistry of our local crews, creatives, cast and extras, the fexibility of our studios and the incredible commitment of our state government towards supporting flm production,” Screen Queensland CEO

Courtney Gibson says. “To see Elvis capture the hearts and minds of audiences across the world, as well as garner recognition for our local creatives through numerous international awards, is such a testament to what the screen industry in Queensland can achieve.” Lynne Benzie, president of Village Roadshow Studios, where Elvis was flmed, agrees: “It was amazing how the production crew managed to pull it all together and create a safe environment in which everyone could carry on working.” purpose-built facility of its kind in Australia. “Setting up water tanks is always a challenge,” Benzie says — and a look at the main tank’s vital statistics reveals why: it has a surface area of 1,200 sq m, holds seven million litres of water and takes 44 hours to fll. The next major production to set sail across the main tank was True Spirit, Netfix’s biopic of Jessica Watson, the 16-year-old Australian girl who was the youngest person to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world.

VRS’ lot — the largest in the Southern Hemisphere — includes nine sound studios, three water tanks, 11 production ofces, nine construction workshops, 19 wardrobe lockups and six editing suites, enabling the studio to accommodate productions of all sizes and complexities. International projects are not only important in terms of budget and kudos, but also because they can generate infrastructure and training opportunities from which domestic productions can subsequently beneft — a case in point being the main water tank, which was built for Fool’s Gold in 2006. “But Stages 7, 8 and 9 were also built due to international production requirements,” Benzie says.

And those international productions keep on coming, attracted not only by VRS’ facilities and Queenland’s generous incentives, but by the picture-perfect locations of Australia’s sunshine state. Recent visitors include Land of Bad, starring Russell Crowe and Liam Hemsworth, which wrapped on the Gold Coast late last year, as did the sequel to Godzilla vs Kong — Legendary Pictures’ third production to be made in Queensland.

The feature flm Wizards! also shot in Queensland in 2022.

Queensland’s spectacular locations have successfully doubled for Bali (Ticket to Paradise), Thailand (Thirteen Lives) and even Tokyo (Pacifc Rim: Uprising). In addition to VRS and Screen Queensland Studios: Brisbane, which opened in 2019, Screen Queensland Studios: Cairns will be operational later this year, providing easier access to Far North Queensland’s stunning tropical locations. “Our studios are located in close proximity to some of Australia’s best beaches, bushland, rainforest/jungle and mountains, as well as an array of architectural options,” Screen Queensland CEO Courtney Gibson says. “And our enviable climate and lifestyle doesn’t hurt either…”

The Queensland Government’s Production Attraction Strategy, which Screen Queensland operates in combination with the Federal Government’s production incentives, was introduced in 2015, since when, 48 international and interstate projects have benefted from the state’s crews, locations and studios. In 2021, the Queensland Government introduced the Post, Digital and Visual Efects (PDV) Incentive which, at 15%, is the most competitive along Australia’s eastern seaboard. “In the last fnancial year, Screen Queensland supported a record-breaking number of international productions as a result of the PDV incentive,” Gibson says. “As well as The Infernal Machine, Foe and Yu Yu Hakusho coming to the state’s leading post-production companies, we are also seeing more end-to-end projects, such as Land of Bad, take advantage of the incentive.”