Australia welcomes its sixth international production since the introduction of the Australian Government’s AU$140 million Location Incentive in May 2018.

Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety & the Arts, the Hon. Paul Fletcher and NSW Minister for the Arts the Hon. Don Harwin MLC announced today that Thor: Love and Thunder will be filmed back to back after Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which was just recently announced to start production in August. These productions willprovide unprecedented opportunities for the Australian screen industry and businesses. Marvel also stated the studios will offer a trainee program to further enhance the skills of Australia’s next-generation of screen talent.

The Hon. Paul Fletcher said the announcement solidifies Australia as a world-class filming and post-production destination: “The film is expected to invest over $178 million in our economy, create up to 2,500 jobs and use the services of around 1,650 businesses, Australia has an ongoing relationship with Marvel Studios and I’m very pleased they will return to our shores again next year to take advantage of our world-leading screen industry for the next instalment of the Thor franchise.”

NSW Minister for the Arts Don Harwin MLC said the Made in NSW fund had again secured a major production and will be the third time Marvel Studios visits Australian shores: “NSW is the complete package, offering a spectacular location and skilled technicians that can support the requirements of a major blockbuster film.”

Debra Richards, CEO of Ausfilm, Australia’s screen services association, said “Ausfilm and its membership of screen businesses applauds the Australian Government and state governments for their ongoing support in attracting international productions to Australia. Without the Australian Government’s Location Offset and Incentive we wouldn’t have seen the vast increase in employment opportunities for Australians thanks to footloose film and TV productions locating here.”

“Productions of this size bring enormous benefit, not only through utilising Australian goods and services and driving tourism visitation through filming of our unique locations but for the domestic film and television crews providing increased opportunities for skills and training, through to investment into Australia’s screen production facilities and service companies.”

Richards concludes saying there will be thousands of Australian crew, cast, technicians and businesses employed across Australia this year, “In addition to Marvel Studios locating this production to Fox Studios Australia in NSW, we also have Queensland, Victoria and South Australia busy with major international productions. In Queensland, Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis feature is about to start production, Paramount’s feature Monster Problems and ABC America’s TV series Reef Break have recently wrapped; Season 4 of Sony television’s Preacher also recently wrapped in Melbourne and ramping up production now in Adelaide is Warner Bros. Mortal Kombat.”

Read the full media release here. 

BACKGROUND
The Location Incentive is a merit assessed grant, which complements the Australian Government’s current 16.5 percent Location Offset and effectively provides up to a 30 percent tax incentive, to attract international production. The Location Incentive will be delivered over four years from 2019 – 2023. On behalf of the screen services industry, Ausfilm continues to advocate for a permanent increase of the Location Offset once the Location Incentive is expended.

Ausfilm’s recent research, in partnership with PriceWaterhouseCoopers, on The Value of Global Footloose Production* documents the trends and policy measures that shows Australia is not alone, footloose production has delivered positive economic growth in every jurisdiction studied.

* To download Ausfilm’s Report on The Value of Global Footloose Production click here.

Media Enquiries:

Rachelle Gibson
Director of Marketing & Industry Partnerships
Ausfilm
T: + 61 2 9383 4124
E: [email protected]

Photo: Courtesy of Create NSW
L-R: David Grant, Vice-President from Marvel Studios; the Hon. Don Harwin, NSW Minister for the Arts; Chris Hemsworth; and the Hon. Paul Fletcher MP, Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts.