For season three, The Leftovers creator, Damon Lindelof, wanted to move the Garvey family away from where they started and towards somewhere that would enlighten them. [Damon] is a big fan of Australian films Picnic At Hanging Rock and The Last Wave and thematically they are very similar [to The Leftovers]. He began to think about Australia sometime in season two and that’s when I came onto the show. I had worked Down Under before and said to him that maybe this would be a fabulous place to take this family.

By the time we finished [a 10 day location scouting trip, organised by Ausfilm] and returned to LA, we were pretty much decided on where we were going to shoot and which crew members we were going to hire.

Dockland Studios has a fabulous location and a great overall facility. In Melbourne there is a very strong TV crew base. I think we were so successful there because we were able to get people who work steadily on big budget features and combine them with people who work steadily on television.

Amanda Crittenden was referred to us by Film Victoria and received high marks from other Australian producers that we spoke to.

When interviewing a producer on an HBO project, we are always looking for a mix of film and television series experience. Amanda had both, plus a creative bent and independent spirit.

Amanda’s experience with television series helped enormously. She exhibited good creative judgement and resourcefulness in regards to the belowthe-line crew hires, as well as production budgeting.

Specifically, she was truly an asset when it came to hiring and managing indigenous people to work on the show. Australians have a great deal of pride in what they do and what they can deliver. I’ve shot worldwide and there’s no reason to sell Australia that hard in my mind because it has so much to offer. Where the incentives matter most is for the big dramas because the ambition now, especially with the competition, is for the showrunners to want to outdo one another in terms of the scale and scope of the project.