A SCREEN

Coast racing ahead on back of Logies success

AND the Logie for best newcomer goes to … the Gold Coast.

The new kid on the Logies block, the Gold Coast, has exceeded expectations and defied its critics to help take the 60 year old TV Week Logie Awards to another level.

And we’re not done yet. Channel 9 Queensland and NBN Northern NSW managing director Kylie Blucher said plans to grow the Gold Coast TV Week Logie Awards into a festival of ideas and inspiration had progressed much faster than anyone could have predicted.

“We’re already ahead of the game,” she said.

“We’ve managed to much, much more quickly than I ever planned turn the Logies into a wider industry event.

“What’s been pleasing is how quickly and organically things are already moving.”

The Logies are part of a long-term plan to secure a greater slice of the $1.2 billion in production revenue and 20,000 jobs generated by the independent film and TV industry in the 2017 calendar year for Queensland – and the Coast.

The figures were revealed in a Deloitte Access Economics study commissioned by Screen Producers Australia (SPA), one of the Gold Coast Logies’ presenting partners.

Stakeholders including Bauer Media, Nine, Tourism and Events Queensland, Destination Gold Coast and council have worked with Village Roadshow, Screen Queensland (SQ) and SPA to ensure the local industry leverages itself from the awards and to grow the ceremony into the centrepiece of a potential month-long festival style event.

It’s why SQ CEO Tracey Vieira joined some of the country’s leading producers and content creators on a locations tour of the Coast and the world-class facilities at Village Roadshow Studios on Saturday.

Logies Hall of Fame great Bert Newton, who celebrates his 80th birthday in a couple of weeks, said while he was not initially in favour of the awards’ move north, the Gold Coast had won him over.

“First up I was disappointed that Melbourne was going to lose the Logies,” he said, adding that he was still recovering from pneumonia.

“I think a lot of people have forgotten they didn’t begin in Melbourne – the first ones were done in Sydney on a very small scale.

“I was disappointed but seeing what I’ve seen tonight and seeing the preparation throughout the day when I was here I think the venue is great and the reaction of the crowd has been terrific and coming from Melbourne, it’s warm.”