The breathtaking beauty of the Australian State of New South Wales is showcased in a new locations reel from the State’s arts, screen and culture agency Create NSW, released today.
‘A place for every story’ showcases over 50 of NSW’s most awe-inspiring locations, demonstrating how the local scenery can easily double for locations across the US, Britain, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, as well as boasting the convenience of the world-class Fox Studios Australia, located just 10 minutes from downtown Sydney.
Create NSW’s Director of Sector Investment, Sophia Zachariou, who will be in Los Angeles with Ausfilm this month to promote New South Wales as part of the Partner with Australia program, said, “Absolutely everyone knows what the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge look like. But what filmmakers might not have seen as yet, is the diversity of accessible locations outside the city boundary.”
The three-minute location reel focuses on the breadth of diverse landscapes available across NSW, including the stunning Stockton Dunes north of the city of Newcastle, the eerie plains of the Monaro and the snow-capped peaks of the Snowy Mountains. You’ll also see sweeping images of red dirt plains, accessible jungles, rolling green hills – and NSW’s spectacular beaches and shores – as well as modern, industrial and historic buildings found across the State.
“Our scope of wildly different but most importantly, accessible landscapes on offer to filmmakers is unrivalled in Australia. Add to this the fact that New South Wales is proudly home to nearly 60 percent of the country’s screen production workforce and more than half of all Australian production and post-production businesses, and it is no wonder that we are Australia’s leading State for film and television production.
“Whether behind or in front of the cameras, we have a very large energised group of screen professionals ready and waiting, and thankfully given our location and ease of international access, accommodating such a large unit is never a problem. We’re delighted to hear from the industry that we’re the location of choice for the majority because this combination of factors just takes away a lot of the pressure behind location decisions.”
“We like a challenge too, and recently brought Peter Rabbit’s quaint English countryside home to life in a Sydney park, turned parts of Cronulla into a dystopian Santa Monica for Pacific Rim: Uprising and created World War II landscapes in the Southern Tablelands city of Goulburn for Hacksaw Ridge.”
You can search NSW locations online at www.screen.nsw.gov.au/reel-scout or by downloading the free Create NSW Film Scout iPhone app on iTunes.
LA Meeting Opportunities – Create NSW visits Los Angeles for AUSFILM’s Partner with Australia (13 – 15 March 2018)
Sophia Zachariou will be in Los Angeles from Monday 12 March – Thursday 15 March 2018 and is keen to meet up to discuss NSW filmmaking opportunities with you.
“There is some fantastic NSW screen talent making waves across the globe, including Animal Logic, who continue to go from strength to strength, and individuals such as Nash Edgerton, who has just directed the first ever FX Australia commission Mr Inbetween, supported by Create NSW, which premiered at Sundance this year.
“This time around as well as meeting our friends at studios such as Universal, Sony, Paramount, Disney and Lionsgate, I’m looking forward to building on our new relationships with the likes of HBO and Netflix, and in particular I’m keen to meet with more producers involved in international long-form TV drama to discuss new opportunities.”
If you are interested in arranging a meeting with Sophia, please contact: [email protected]
Prior to joining Create NSW as Director Sector Investment, Sophia commissioned and executive-produced hundreds of hours of television across all genres and was previously Deputy Head of Entertainment at the Australian national television network ABC TV.
Why NSW? – Opportunities and Incentives
I’ve sincerely had one of the very best experiences in my career in Sydney. All the talents in all departments both artistic, technical and organisational have been formidable. A great place to come. Love Sydney” – Sir Ridley Scott on filming Alien: Covenant in NSW
The NSW Government is committed to making the State the most attractive destination in Australia for major screen projects. It offers an incentive to eligible “footloose” productions to attract them to Sydney and regional NSW.
The incentive available is in the form of a rebate and is determined on a case-by-case basis, taking into account demonstrable benefits to the State including job creation, qualifying NSW production expenditure, skills development and technology transfer.
This incentive can be accessed on top of:
- the Australian Federal Government’s Location Offset (applied at a fixed rate of 16.5% of qualifying Australian expenditure for productions with an Australian spend of more than A$15m);
- the Post, Digital & Visual Effects (PDV) Offset (30% to projects that spend at least A$500,000 on PDV works in Australia);
- and Producer Offset (40% for feature films and 20% for television projects including documentaries, television series up to 65 episodes, telemovies and short form animation).
Create NSW also offers Australian filmmakers funding opportunities for screen projects at various stages of production. This ranges from Early Development to Advanced Development; Production Finance for projects ready to go into production; Regional Filming Fund grants for projects with more than five days production in regional NSW; and a program to support emerging filmmakers.
The performers are spectacular. The crews are first rate from the runners to the director of photography. A+ visual & special effects departments with state of the art facilities for studio & post production. The whole package is as good or better than anywhere in the world.” – Mel Gibson on filming Hacksaw Ridge in NSW
How the Create NSW Screen Destination Attraction Team can help you
Create NSW’s small but highly experienced Screen Destination Attraction team of production professionals market NSW as a filming destination, administer the State Screen Incentive, pitch NSW locations, cast, crew and facilities, and implement the NSW Local Government Filming Protocol, which involves working closely with industry members and State and Local Government authorities that own or manage locations.
They are available to answer any questions you might have about filming in New South Wales – be it about State and/or Federal incentives, locations, technical and creative talent, studio space, post-production and visual effects facilities, and can give you the strategic advice you need when it comes to production matters.
Create NSW also works in partnership with Ausfilm to facilitate international inbounds and scouts that attract jobs and investment dollars to the State. Since 2008, NSW’s screen destination team has attracted more than AUD$1.6 billion in production and post-production work to NSW.
Leading the team is Matt Carroll, one of Australia’s leading producers for over 30 years. Matt has produced or executive produced 16 feature films – including a number of Australia’s iconic films: Sunday Too Far Away, Storm Boy and the Oscar®-nominated, Breaker Morant. He has also produced TV movies, mini-series, documentaries and over 500 hours of TV drama, including the award-winning, USA / Australian sci-fi series, Farscape.
Not only does Matt bring the creative, production and financial skills required to execute such a large body of work to his role, he brings the experience of managing some of the industry’s most successful production companies, including the South Australian Film Corporation and Roadshow, Coote and Carroll. Matt has attracted numerous high-profile productions to NSW including Hacksaw Ridge, Pacific Rim: Uprising and recently was integral in bringing the Jackie Chan movie Bleeding Steel to Sydney.
Joining Matt are Cheryl Conway, Mechele Axford, Shannon Wheeler and Mark Wakefield.
Find out more about the team here and for more information, any queries or to stay in touch with the team, email [email protected]
Where have you seen NSW on the big screen in recent years?
Peter Rabbit (2017)
- Sydney’s Centennial Park was used to recreate the UK story’s original Lake District setting
- Sydney’s Central Station doubled for London’s Paddington Station
- Other locations included Fox Studios, Bondi Junction, Camden, Bringelly and Thirlmere
Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
- Locations in and around Bringelly and Goulburn were used to double as the depicted Japanese ridge
- Newington Armoury (Sydney Olympic Park) became the Fort Jackson training camp
- Other locations included Fox Studios, Centennial Park, Southern Highlands and Richmond
Gods of Egypt (2016)
- Locations included Fox Studios, Potts Hill and Centennial Park
Unbroken (2014)
- Blacktown International Sportspark became the 1936 Olympic Games stadium
- Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbour was transformed into Japan’s most notorious POW camp, Naoetsu
- Sydney’s Pitt Street doubled for Japanese streetscapes
- Other locations included Fox Studios, Ultimo, Camden, Tamworth, Werris Creek and Bermagui’s Wallaga Lake Bridge
The Wolverine (2013)
- The small town of Picton doubled for parts of the Canadian Yukon region
- Bonna Point in Kurnell (Sydney) was transformed into a Japanese POW camp
- A car park in Sydney’s Olympic Park became a Japanese snow village
- Parramatta doubled for Tokyo streetscapes
- Other locations included Fox Studios, Centennial Park, Oberon, Surry Hills and Bankstown Airport
The Great Gatsby (2013)
- Sydney’s White Bay became the Valley of the Ashes
- Centennial Park was used to create Gatsby’s estate
- Manly’s St. Patrick’s Seminary formed part of Gatsby’s mansion
- Other locations included Fox Studios, Balmain, the Blue Mountains and Waverley Cemetery
X:Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
- Parts of Camden doubled for the Angola Jungle
- Carnival scenes were filmed at Glebe’s Federal Park
- Other locations included Fox Studios, Auburn, Brownlow Hill, Picton, Centennial Park, Rozelle Hospital and Homebush
To keep up to date with all that is happening for NSW filmmaking, visit www.screen.nsw.gov.au/news