It’s action time
We’ve long been home to movie magic but this is one spell which must grow bigger
For more than 120 years, the cinema and silver screen has been where magic comes alive. Audiences worldwide flock to the silver screen, though today in fewer numbers than preCovid. But viewers still pump billions into the box office annually.
One thing is clear – there’s plenty of money in movies.
The Gold Coast has long been a popular filming location dating back to the 1980s and 1990s, initially with genre projects like 1992’s Fortress, 1994’s Street Fighter, 1996’s The Phantom and 2004’s Ghost Ship.
In the past decade, a resurgence in the industry has seen plenty of big budget and prestige pictures shot here – Pirates of the Caribbean, Kong Skull Island and Thor: Ragnarok.
Most recently the Elvis biopic made by master director Baz Luhrmann garnered plenty of attention for our city during the shoot here.
The incredible feedback from Mr Luhrmann himself and Academy Award-winning star Tom Hanks about our facilities was glowing and a valuable reminder, not only to the Coast itself, but to the rest of the world that this is a film destination location.
Plans are now being finalised for new studios on a huge greenfield site north of the city, with the Gold Coast City Council receiving interest from international and Australian film operators to be based on a 85ha site opposite the Yatala industrial precinct, regarded as the best available commercial land between the Coast and Brisbane.
The prospect of another film studio here on the Gold Coast is a tantalising one, as is news that Mayor Tom Tate has held meetings with Mr Luhrmann who wants to secure a more permanent filming base in the city.
A report last year revealed that a second studio would inject another $1bn into the city’s economy once operational.
This would be particularly welcome given the need to diversify our economy beyond tourism and development.
Having two film studios operating would truly establish the Gold Coast as Hollywood down under, create hundreds of jobs and ensure another booming industry calls us home.