The Sunshine State is proving once again its entertainment industry is booming with TV series and films, including a new Hemsworth brothers production and an international Netflix series.
Up to 30 productions are either in production, post-production or slated for release in the coming weeks and months.
Screen Australia’s 2021-22 Drama Report, released on Thursday, shows Queensland’s screen industry contributed $465 million to the local economy in the past year including hosting four international productions.
Overall, the data shows an all-time high expenditure on scripted screen production of $2.29 billion, made up of a record spend on Australian titles of $1.51 billion, plus $777 million spent on foreign productions.
There were 162 productions in total with a record spend of $786 million on theatrical (including Furiosa, Better Man and Foe), as well as a record triple spend on Australian subscription TV and subscription video on demand (SVOD).
Spend on free-to-air (FTA) TV and broadcast video on demand (BVOD) drama, and children’s drama across TV and VOD platforms also increased from last year.
All up, Queensland’s screen industry contributed $465 million to the local economy in the past year, including hosting four international productions.
So what’s the Queensland appeal for a share of that pie?
Multiple reasons, but essentially it’s a mix of choice of desert, farming and coastal locations, multiple studio operators, federal government funding and specifically, the state government’s so-called Post, Digital and Visual Effects (PDV) incentive.
“Within the first 12 months of the increased incentive, 20 projects were confirmed for Queensland post-production facilities across a variety of services including visual effects, animation, editing and sound – boosting Queensland production expenditure by 270 per cent since 2019–20,” Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said in a statement.
“Queensland rode the wave of record-breaking investment in Australian drama by streaming services, with Screen Queensland supporting projects from Netflix, Stan, Disney+, Paramount+, Amazon and more.
“Netflix alone produced five titles in Queensland — Boy Swallows Universe, which is currently in production, Five Blind Dates, Irreverent, A Perfect Pairing and True Spirit.”
Milly Alcock and Tim Minchin are back for season two of Upright. Photo: Foxtel
Filming started in September on the Gold Coast and South-East Queensland for new action flick Land of Bad, starring Westworld star Luke Hemsworth, his brother Liam Hemsworth and the indefatigable Russell Crowe.
Streaming giant Netflix was not to be outdone, with its quirky 10-part drama series Irreverent ready to roll out on December 4 after being shot entirely on the Queensland coast and off-shore reefs.
Not to mention Upright (Season 2) with Tim Minchin and House of the Dragon’s Milly Alcock was filmed in the south east (November 15, Foxtel), with production under way for Boy Swallows Universe and the sequel to Godzilla vs Kong.
Some would say Queensland’s prayers have been answered.
Paramount+’s big project is the 10-part series adaptation of the Australian best-selling book, Last King of the Cross – produced by Sydney’s Helium, with post-production by Brisbane facility Chop Shop Post.
Helium co-founder and chairman Mark Fennessy says the changes to Queensland’s PDV incentive created a compelling drawcard.
“Screen Queensland’s PDV financial incentive is a welcome added bonus to a production as large in visual scale as Helium’s Last King of The Cross,” Mr Fennessy said.
“Choosing Chop Shop Post to manage the visual effects across the series, both on set and in post-production, was an easy decision to make.
“Not only does their reputation precede them, they work to budget, deliver clear and practical feedback about how to get the greatest visuals on screen, and intuitively problem-solve with a creative edge.”
Reason enough to make entertainment in Queensland.
Sourcing local talent, film crews, set locations and massive Gold Coast studios make production in Queensland a breeze. Photo: Netflix
What we’re going to love about Irreverent
US actor Colin Donnell (Chicago Med, Arrow), 40, plays a good-looking Chicago mobster involved in a failed bank robbery who goes on the run and ends up in a small Australian coastal town in Far North Queensland to hide out.
He decides to swap out the old look and transforms into Reverend Mackenzie Boyd, a decision he ends up liking, as the locals turn to him for guidance and spiritual healing as he continues to stay one step ahead of the bad guys.
As the official Netflix synopsis reads: “Irreverent is a redemption story that ultimately celebrates the power of community in a world that needs more of it”.
There’s a cast of local talent involved in the show, the writers have all worked on other Australian TV productions including Wentworth, The Heights and Red Dog, and Clickbait producer Tom Hoffie produced the whole thing.
The federal government’s Location Incentive Program contributed, as did SQ through its production attraction strategy.
“It’s definitely riding a fine line between a dramatic thriller of a piece and all that stuff that he brings with him from Chicago, but then the other side of that coin is the hilarity of being a total fish out of water in this really strange, wild place that is Clump,” Donnell told TV Insider.
“It’s bright. The people are weird.
“The setting is bizarre – beautiful, but totally bizarre and dangerous, obviously, when preachers are getting eaten by crocodiles just moments before.”
In Land Of Bad, Crowe plays Reaper, an Air Force drone pilot who must try to fix a botched special ops mission in the Philippines.
Luke Hemsworth plays a member of a military team deployed to retrieve their captured man while Liam plays a green air force officer thrust into the middle of a high-stakes extraction.
It will mark the first time the two brothers have co-starred in a feature together.
The production is creating 270 jobs for cast, crew and extras (encouraged by Screen Queensland’s Production Attraction Strategy) and inject $7.7 million into the state’s economy.
Australian TV shows under way include Force of Nature, a sequel to The Dry (with Eric Bana), True Colours mystery series and YouTube hit Meta Runner.
Overall foreign production spend declined but blockbusters filmed or finalised here including Ticket to Paradise, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, The Flash and The Marvels provided a boost.
“To have local productions make up 66 per cent of this spend is extraordinary. Distinctly Australian stories continue to captivate audiences here and overseas,” SA chief executive Graeme Mason said in a statement.
Local productions that did particularly well in overseas markets were young adult dramas Heartbreak High, Bump and children’s show Bluey.
The other states also set records for their spends on entertainment.
New South Wales set a record of spend in the state, with more than $1 billion (45 per cent of the national share)
Victoria also achieved a record with $556 million (24 per cent of the national share)
The ACT, Northern Territory and Tasmania collectively also set a record, tripling last year’s $18 million to $57 million in 2021-22, or 2 per cent of the national total.
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