‘Preacher’
In a major boost for Victoria, the fourth season of Sony Pictures Television’s Preacher will shoot in Melbourne and regional Victoria, injecting $50 million into the state’s economy.
Playmaker Media will co-produce with SPT the 10-part series which stars Dominic Cooper as Jesse Custer, a conflicted preacher who, during a crisis of faith, gains extraordinary power.
It is the biggest budgeted TV production to come to Victoria since Steven Spielberg’s The Pacific in 2007. There will be a Melbourne-based plotline.
Generating 740 jobs for local cast and crew, the production schedule will span seven months. Pre-production is due to start at Docklands Studios Melbourne before the end of the year.
Based on DC Comics’ supernatural comic book series and developed by writer and producer Sam Catlin with executive producers Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen, the series premiered on AMC in the US in 2016 and airs here on Stan.
Ruth Negga plays Jesse’s trigger-happy ex-girlfriend Tulip with Joseph Gilgun as his Irish vampire friend Cassidy as the trio embarked on a road trip to find God and are thrust into a twisted battle spanning heaven, hell and everywhere in between.
More than 800 local screen businesses will be engaged on the project as well as associated services such as catering, transport, construction and security.
The government says the production adds to Victoria’s reputation as a location of choice for high-end television with the BBC co-production The Cry and HBO’s The Leftovers among recent international productions.
The project is supported by the Victorian government through Film Victoria’s Incentives Program and the Australian government’s Location Incentive program in collaboration with Ausfilm.
Minister for Creative Industries Martin Foley said today: “Productions like this aren’t just a boon for our screen industry but for the state economy too – in this instance to the tune of $50 million.”