Big boom for the Big Banana

[Black Orchid]

Russell Crowe backs $400m film studio for Coffs Harbour.

Australia’s first fully integrated complex is the latest in a suite of new studios down under – but just how sustainable are they?

Russell Crowe’s state-of-the-art film-making facility – announced on Wednesday in Coffs Harbour, where it will be based – joins a growing list of new Australian studios: a response to both the global content boom, and the country’s success through the pandemic.

With an estimated value of $438m, the studio complex will integrate production and post-production facilities with accommodation and amenities, taking over the 40-hectare (100-acre) Pacific Bay luxury resort: an eight-minute drive from the local airport, and four minutes from Coffs Harbour’s other major destination, the Big Banana.

Crowe, who lives in the coastal city, is financially backing the project, with partners including Pacific Bay resort owner Peter Montgomery and film producer Keith Rodger.

“The opportunity to build a facility like this spreads opportunity through the community by creating jobs, but not just jobs: actual professions and careers,” the film star said on Wednesday. “For a number of years I’ve been thinking how I might be able to combine where I live and my work.”

Australia’s Hollywood moment
Dubbed the Pacific Bay Resort Studios & Village, the development joins a boom in studio construction in Australia, including the Screen Queensland Studios in the Brisbane suburb of Hemmant; the Byron Studios in Northern Rivers (where the Nicole Kidman Netflix series Nine Perfect Strangers was filmed); and the proposed $100m WA government-backed film hub on Fremantle’s Victoria Quay.

Meanwhile overseas, an old convention centre in downtown Oklahoma City has just been converted into a production facility with five sound stages; two new studios are planned for Buffalo, New York; and Netflix is expanding its studio facilities outside Madrid to cope with the rise in production in Spain.

Each of these facilities will be locked in a fierce battle to draw productions. They will each offer points of difference – the Crowe-backed studio includes accommodation that will allow stars to live on-site with their families – while tapping into an array of financial incentives from local governments.

The new Australian studios will also take the pressure off existing facilities in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and on the Gold Coast, which – due in large part to Australia’s success in curbing Covid – have been booked solid for many months. A slew of the world’s biggest stars – Chris Hemsworth, Matt Damon, Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Idris Elba, Melissa McCarthy and Tilda Swinton – have been working down under, or are due to arrive.

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/202 ... nd-village