LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION
FIRST we stole the Logies from Victoria, now Queensland has poached the nation’s leading film convention.
A who’s who of leading film and television producers will descend on the Gold Coast next year for Screen Forever, the industry’s peak conference.
The State Government will this morning announce the event will be held on the Coast next November.
City leaders say they will use the event to market the Coast to the world in the hopes of securing big budget television series and films.
And they are getting ready to pull out all the stops, with ongoing productions expected to create thousands of jobs and inject hundreds of millions of dollars into the economy annually.
“These last eight years have seen blockbuster after blockbuster filmed on the Gold Coast and now our dazzling screen capital has secured this blockbuster conference through to 2022,” Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.
“This industry marketplace event provides a unique opportunity to showcase our state’s world-class capability and build on our reputation as a global hub for screen production.”
Under a deal signed off this year by the State Government, Screen Forever, held by Screen Producers Australia (SPA), will stay in the state until 2022.
Sight-seeing tours are also being planned to show off the region’s most scenic locations.
“Screen Forever is such an important event for the Australian film and television industry and this is a very exciting opportunity,” Mayor Tom Tate said.
“The Gold Coast’s film industry is thriving and we know events like this are where the get done. Having the big hitters in our city, seeing everything we have to offer as a film and television destination is invaluable.”
Screen Forever was previously held in Melbourne for the past eight years.
Among its major guests in previous years have been US producer and writer Graham Yost, whose credits include
Speed, Broken Arrow, Band of Brothers and television series
Justified; Tom Cruise’s longtime production partner Paula Wagner; and Gale Ann Hurd, who produces the smash-hit television series The Walking Dead and was one of the brains behind iconic action films Aliens and The Terminator.
The announcement comes as leading director Baz Luhrman prepares to film his unnamed Elvis Presley biopic on the Coast early next year with actors Tom Hanks and Austin Butler.
SPA chief executive Matthew Deaner said Screen Forever would be vital to the industry’s growth.
“The Gold Coast presents innumerable opportunities for independent screen producers and we are excited for our conference to contribute to this vibrant tapestry over the next three years,” he said.