17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- SBS Australia
New South Wales government announces funding for new movie studio site
Australia's movie industry received some happy news on the final day of the Sydney film festival. With the New South Wales government announcing a $380 million package to support the film and digital games sector. It will help develop a domestic sector that has played a starring role famous films like Happy Feet, Babe, and Planet of the Apes. New South Wales Arts Minister John Graham is hoping to help the industry attract even more Hollywood investment. "When filming happens, when screen production happens in Australia, half the time it happens here in New South Wales. This is the powerhouse. We're determined to keep that lead. That's why the government's investing strongly here." The package includes $280 million to support post, digital, visual effects and video game development. Another $100 million will help kickstart the hunt for a location to serve as Sydney's second film studio. Mr Graham says there's a critical shortage of production space, with Disney Studios at Moore Park currently the city's only film studio. The facility has played a pivotal role in blockbuster movies like Mad Max Furiosa and The Matrix "Unfortunately, no one can be told what the matrix is. You have to see it for yourself." Treasurer Daniel Mookhey expects to see the investment spur economic activity and job creation. "The industry supports over thirteen thousand direct jobs, and with this investment, we're confident that it's going to create a great degree of spillover. This is what it looks like to be boosting economic growth in New South Wales in the twenty first century." He says the sector already injects more than $1 billion into the local economy. The treasurer also announced new plans to cut red tape in an effort to make the movie and game-making as seamless as possible. Head of Screen New South Wales, Kyas Hepworth welcomed the news. "It's just exciting to see the government standing for the creative work as practitioners and storytellers within the state and we're not only looking at the state what happens in New South Wales affects Australia and elevates our storytelling globally." Other states have been competing for big budget films, too. Queensland is giving a $71 million boost to its screen industry, and W-A forking out $300 million for a studio complex in Perth.
It comes against the backdrop of threatened movie tariffs from the U-S -- which have created uncertainty that investments like these hope to redress.
