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ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Russell Crowe-backed Coffs Harbour film studios get funding for noise wall
Despite a $5.5 million promise, a long-awaited $650 million film-studio precinct backed by Russell Crowe on the NSW mid-north coast is likely years away from works beginning. The NSW government announced this week it would provide up to $5.5 million to assist with construction of a "noise wall" on the boundary of the Pacific Bay Resort Studios and Village in Coffs Harbour. Planning for the project dubbed Aussiewood was announced in 2021. The site borders the Pacific Highway at a section undergoing major upgrades, including the construction of an new interchange as part of the bypass of Coffs Harbour due for completion in 2027. Part of the site was resumed for the roadworks, leading to concerns of potential noise impacts on the studios. Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison defended the time the state government had taken to fund the 450-metre noise wall, which is contingent on the project getting development approval. "We understand that this is a really important project for the economy of the Coffs Coast, so it's been really getting that whole of government response." While a key barrier to development has been removed, it will be a long time before any films will be shot at Aussiewood, according to Brad Daymond, general manager of Coastal & Golf Resorts Group, which owns the film-studio site. The privately funded film-studio project was announced at a time Australia became a hotspot for filming big-budget films, with the backing of Coffs Coast locals Jack Thompson and Oscar winner Russell Crowe. The development would include sound stages and on-site accommodation for stars and crew, a museum, facilities for animation, post production and e-sports and a film school. The project has ground to a halt over the past two years, according to Mr Daymond, due to it requiring a noise and amenity wall to be built on land between the proposed site and the Pacific Highway. "The noise wall that needs to be built is on Transport [for NSW] land, sitting 6 to 12 metres above our land," he said. The noise wall and compensation for the land became a sticking point. "What we are operating needs to have some quietness and some amenity about it," Mr Daymond said. "We can't afford to have people looking in on top of the movies being made, because not all movies are made inside a studio." Mr Daymond declined to give a timeline for the film-studio precinct to be shovel ready but said he was extremely pleased and relieved by the announcement. "We may have lost two years in the process but we're very comfortable that we're pushing forward now. "We're a long way down the track but we are simply in the hands of NSW Planning."
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Sports boss Peter V'landys leverages powerful connections to resurrect Tropfest
Tropfest, once one of Australia's most beloved artistic institutions, is set to be revived by an unlikely alliance involving Racing NSW boss Peter V'Landys and a member of the Murdoch family. Its origins lie in a Darlinghurst cafe in inner-city Sydney, where young actor John Polson put on a special screening for 200 people in 1993. Over the following two decades, the annual Tropfest event rose in prominence, at its peak drawing crowds of almost 200,000 at its venue before abruptly ending in 2019 under a cloud of financial mismanagement. Now it's being relaunched, with the Tropfest Foundation quietly registered as a company on July 2; its principal place of business listed as Mr V'landys's Racing NSW headquarters. Mr V'landys is a director, and the other three directors named in the company extract reveal his web of high-profile connections across media, finance and film. The ABC can reveal that philanthropist Sarah Murdoch, real estate investor Richard Weinberg and actor Bryan Brown are also directors of the Tropfest Foundation. Brown has had a storied acting career and last year won a Logie for best supporting actor for his performance in the Netflix series Boy Swallows Universe. Ms Murdoch is a philanthropist and global ambassador for the Murdoch Children's Research Institute. Mr V'landys is the CEO of Racing NSW and Chair of the Australian Rugby League Commission. He is linked to Ms Murdoch's husband, Lachlan Murdoch. Mr Murdoch is the chair of News Corp, which is the majority shareholder of the Brisbane Broncos, the NRL's richest team. Mr V'landys met with Mr Murdoch in the US a fortnight ago seeking to expand the NRL's global footprint and heaped praise on the media mogul, telling News Corp he is "such a nice person" who has "gone to another level in management worldwide". He described Mr Murdoch's influence at FOX as a "massive help" with the free-to-air US broadcaster airing the NRL's Las Vegas 2025 matches. Mr Murdoch holds the key to the NRL breaking into the US market. The Murdochs were seen alongside Mr V'landys at the NRL's inaugural 2024 Las Vegas venture last year. Ms Murdoch was recently pictured with another director of the Tropfest Foundation, Mr Weinberg. Both were involved in the Sydney screening of a documentary titled October 8 — Globalise the Intifada, which examines what filmmakers say was the "explosion of antisemitism on college campuses, online, and in the streets of America" in the wake of Hamas's terrorist attack on Israel in 2023. If you have any information about a story, contact Amy Greenbank. Mr Weinberg is the CEO of Terrace Tower Group and is married to the billionaire heiress of the late Westfield co-founder John Saunders. He is also an entrepreneur who co-founded TV production company KarlinBerg Entertainment in 2020 with TV host Karl Stefanovic, who works for Nine Entertainment, which holds the broadcast rights to the NRL. Stefanovic and Mr Weinberg had reportedly planned to shoot a behind-the-scenes documentary on the State of Origin, an idea backed by Mr V'landys, but it did not eventuate. Late last year, Mr V'landys flagged his intention to re-introduce a film festival in Sydney. "There was a short film festival called Tropfest, and it used to give young artists an opportunity to show what they could do … so I thought I'd revive that and do a short film festival, but I want to call it The Airfryers," he said. It does not appear the name has stuck. All Tropfest Foundation directors were contacted for comment. A spokesperson for Tropfest said: "There are a lot of exciting things happening behind the scenes, and all will be revealed soon. "The next generation of this country's best and brightest screen talent should get ready. A new chapter is about to begin." An official announcement is expected within weeks.
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Australia's Steph Kyriacou hits hole-in-one at Women's Open as Japan's Miyu Yamashita takes halfway lead
Australia's Steph Kyriacou provided the early fireworks on the second day of the British Women's Open with a rollercoaster round that included a spectacular hole-in-one at the eighth. She had only one par on the back nine at Royal Porthcawl, in Wales, making two birdies, five bogeys and a chip-in eagle at the 18th to make the cut at golf's last major of the year. But everyone wanted to talk about her slam dunk hole-in-one at the eighth. "I don't know — I'm not tall enough to see over the wall," she laughed. "Yeah, a pretty good shot. I didn't see it go in, which sucked, but the crowd went nuts, and I heard the flag. Didn't damage the hole, which was surprising, so it was quite clean. But my first official hole-in-one with no asterisk. Pretty excited. "I didn't want to celebrate if it didn't go in the hole. I thought maybe it hit the flag and just went somewhere, so the reaction is probably pretty cool for a hole-in-one. I just gave a running high five when we got to the green," she added. Asked about the "asterisk", Kyriacou explained: "I had a hole-in-one in a practice round for a prequel. There was witnesses, first ball, but it's not really the real deal, is it?" Conditions in Wales were tricky, she added. "That stretch at the end is really difficult, especially with how much it's blowing now. It's kind of a bit of a blow. It doesn't feel like I made four bogeys on those holes. Honestly, if you play those four holes at one-over, you're doing pretty well. "I had a good line in the bunker (at the 18th), which is pretty lucky because you can get actually creamed in these bunkers. I had a good lie into the wind. It was uphill. Pretty easy shot from the bunker for sure." Meanwhile, her team were looking forward to celebrating that hole-in-one. "I think everyone is going to use it as an excuse to get drunk on my team. I'm happy to do that for them (laughter)." Leaderboard (36 holes) Japan's Miyu Yamashita took advantage of calmer conditions to surge into the lead with a superb second round 7-under 65. She finished 11-under, with compatriot and joint overnight leader Rio Takeda three shots adrift. England's Lottie Woad, the bookmakers' favourite, mounted a charge, but a triple-bogey at the 16th meant she carded a 2-under 70 to be nine shots adrift at halfway. Difficult afternoon conditions meant the cut came at 2-over par, with only Kyriacou, Grace Kim (2-over) and Minjee Lee (2-over) making it to the weekend. Gabriela Ruffels (3-over), Hira Naveed (5-over), Cassie Porter (8-over), Karis Davidson (9-over), Hannah Green (12-over) and Kirsten Rudgeley (13-over) all missed out. Reigning champion Lydia Ko of New Zealand just made the cut after a disappointing round of 73 left her 2-over. Definitely missing the weekend is 2023 winner Lilia Vu, who finished at 7-over-par. World number one Nelly Korda struggled with her putting in an even-par 72 round that left her level with Woad. American Lindy Duncan shot a 70 to be 4-under along with Swiss player Chiara Tamburlini (69), Thailand's Pajaree Anannarukarn (69) and Germany's Laura Fuenfstueck (71). Sweden's Madelene Sagstrom was a further stroke back in a group on 3-under after a 69 fired her up the leaderboard. Wires/ABC
