OUR SHOWS MUST GO ON
Fears Brisbane trying to muscle in on our studio business
GOLD Coast screen industry stakeholders fear Brisbane is set to muscle in on the city’s TV and movie business.
A Government plan for the industry includes a feasibility study into “the viability of a new film precinct to support small productions in southeast Queensland”. The recommendation follows news the Government will spend $12 million to convert two Brisbane industrial locations into 30,000 sq ft screen production facilities.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the Gold Coast, “will always be the spiritual and physical home of Queensland’s film industry.”
GOLD Coast screen industry stakeholders fear Brisbane is set to muscle in on the city’s hard-fought gains after the release of a 10-year blueprint to help guide the industry’s future growth in Queensland.
The Advance Queensland Screen Industry 10-Year Roadmap and Action Plan outlines the State’s plan to become a globally recognised commercial and creative screen industry hub by 2028.
The roadmap’s recommendations include a feasibility study into “the viability of a new film precinct to support small productions in south east Queensland”.
Industry veterans want the Government to rule out Brisbane as the site for any such facility to ensure the Coast retains its status as the capital of the State’s screen industry.
The recommendation follows news the Government will spend $12 million to convert two Brisbane industrial locations into 30,000 sq ft screen production facilities.
“Most ‘below the line’ crew are based on the Coast while Brisbane is traditionally the home of ‘above the line screen crew’ – the suits – who don’t want to travel to the Coast all the time,” one industry veteran said.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who tabled the roadmap in Parliament on Friday, said the State’s share of national screen production had risen from 3 per cent to 33 per cent since 2015 “due in large part to the industry focused on the Gold Coast”. She said demand for studio space was expected to “grow rapidly” in the wake of the Federal Government’s decision to increase its location offset.
“Having more facilities in SEQ gives production companies better access to a wider range of filming locations and allows multiple productions to take place at the same time,” she said.
She said the new Brisbane facilities would be “within easy reach of the Gold Coast”.
“That ensures a greater availability of work for the various industries that rely on the screen industry for employment,” she said.
“The Gold Coast, with the Village Roadshow studios at Oxenford, will always be the spiritual and physical home of Queensland’s film industry.”
Ms Palaszczuk said industry consultation would form a key part of the feasibility study, due in mid-2019.
THE GOLD COAST … WILL ALWAYS BE THE SPIRITUAL AND PHYSICAL HOME OF QUEENSLAND’S FILM INDUSTRY PREMIER ANNASTACIA PALASZCZUK
A STEADY march towards creation of an Australian Hollywood on the Gold Coast should not be jeopardised by political manoeuvring.
Decades of hard work have gone into establishing world-class studios at Oxenford and building a film and television production workforce that is based on the Gold Coast.
What has been built and achieved here so far has not gone unnoticed by the big players in the screen industry. A growing list of international blockbusters churned out here includes Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Thor: Ragnarok, and Aquaman.
Studio founders chose the Gold Coast because it’s a great place to work and play. The big stars and producers love us. They enjoy working here and immersing themselves in the Gold Coast culture. We don’t see too many star selfies from the streets of Brisbane.
The Gold Coast has a wonderful variety of backdrops and outdoor locations for film – significantly better than Brisbane.
When it comes to television, much has been done here but if it were to be summed up briefly, the Logies awards ceremony will be broadcast from the Gold Coast. We rest our case.
But a paragraph contained in a screen industry roadmap for the decade ahead, tabled in Parliament by the State Government, sets alarm bells ringing.
On the one hand, the report acknowledges the huge advantage our screen industry has because the southern hemisphere’s biggest sound stage, as well as water tanks for shooting ocean scenes, are here. If refers to Queensland’s strengths being bolstered by the number of skilled screen practitioners attracting productions. Most are here.
It lists universities and other training centres offering screen qualifications, which of course include our Bond and Griffith universities and organisations like the Southport-based New York Film Academy.
Of concern though is a section calling for a feasibility study into “the viability of a new film precinct to support small productions in southeast Queensland’’.
The Government might argue the Gold Coast is part of that geographical area, but this city is very aware of the Government’s efforts to pander to Brisbane.
More than 3000 people in Queensland work in 340 film and video production businesses. Many are based here, where the studios are, where the skilled workers are and where the industry put down its roots long ago. Twelve international blockbusters have been made in the state in the past five years. Most were made here.
The hub must be consolidated and concentrated, not fragmented to suit the vanities of the state capital or overcome an erosion of political support in some Brisbane seats. They should keep their hands off our industry. Any study into a precinct to support “small productions’’ must consider the runs on the board by the small operators in the Gold Coast film and video production business who stuck by the local industry and ensured people had work in the hard times.
Concentrating resources to deliver economies of scale can only strengthen what’s been built here.