Kennedy Miller Mitchell has signed a two-year lease with the new Broken Hill Film Studio, where the bulk of production on Mad Max: Fury Road will be completed.
The $10 million studio complex, built on a former Central Power Station Site, was ready for the production in November last year, when Fury Road was originally slated to be filmed in the mining town. Filming is now expected to begin around August after several delays, according to Broken Hill mayor Wincen Cuy.
"We're happy to know we've got a long term tenant there … and we're looking forward to the production coming to town later this year," he said.
The two-year lease agreement includes an extension clause for a third year if the production company requires it.
Mad Max: Fury Road was first officially announced in October 2009 by the NSW government but production was delayed, reportedly due to unseasonal weather in the region. Other sources have said Warner Bros delayed the production because the studio preferred director George Miller to first complete Happy Feet 2, which is scheduled for release this December.
The production, which will star Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron, is currently housed in the studio's B Station (which encompasses 2,230 square metres) and part of C Station. The studio's A Station and the full-fit out of the studios are expected to be completed by early-2012, dependent on further government funding.
About $2.1 million has been spent so far on the studios – with the NSW state government providing about $1 million.
Cuy said the combined film studio and arts precinct will generate an estimated $167 million in indirect benefits to Broken Hill with an average of 161 fulltime time equivalent jobs per annum over the next decade.
“This is in addition to the $700,000 a year that is already spent by film and media production companies in Broken Hill. During the past five years, a new film and media production has opened in Broken Hill around every three weeks and since 1982, well over 300 new film and media productions have been shot in and around Broken Hill," Cuy said.
The NSW Government has also spent an undisclosed portion of $20 million in production incentives on the Mad Max: Fury Road production. The film was originally expected to employ 540 cast and crew in NSW, with filming stretching over 30 weeks in Broken Hill.
Cuy also said the council was holding ongoing negotiations with production houses and education providers about future use of the film studio precinct.