Legislation designed to make NSW more film friendly by cutting red tape
and improving access to locations has been approved by the State’s
Parliament.
Arts Minister Frank Sartor said the legislation followed other moves
endorsed by Parliament this week supporting the local entertainment
industry.
“The Iemma Government can now deliver on our plans to slash red tape
for the live music and entertainment industry by abolishing rules which
require venues to obtain place of public entertainment (POPE)
licenses,” Mr Sartor said.
“Owners will no longer have to go through unnecessary processes and
incur great expense to allow musicians and comedians to perform in
their venue. Now Parliament has endorsed our Film Friendly initiative, which is
designed to provide practical assistance to the film and television
industry and cement NSW as the State of choice for screen production.
“These are important reforms that will both help support local production and encourage big international films to NSW. All in all, this has been an important week for the entertainment industry in NSW.”
Former Blue Heelers star and Logie winning actor John Wood has welcomed the Film Friendly changes.
“I am delighted that the NSW Government has taken this important step,” Mr Wood said. “The film and television industry is important in telling our stories and promoting Australia to the world.”
Rosemary Blight, producer of the Australian films Clubland and Eternity
Man, said: “The NSW Government’s film friendly policy will make a big
difference to films being made in this city.
“The streamlining of processes and the support it will provide will
give producers an added incentive to film in Sydney. Having just
completed The Eternity Man, filmed entirely on the streets of Sydney, I look forward to shooting my next film in Sydney very soon.”
The key elements of the Film Friendly package include:
• Local councils and government agencies must approve film projects unless there are compelling reasons not to.
• There will now be a presumption that filming activities are allowed
on community land – unless expressly excluded in the applicable plan of
management – subject to conditions to ensure environmental protection.
• Fees for location filming must be reasonable and restricted to recovery of costs.
• The Government is revising the previous Local Government Filming
Protocol and will be consulting with industry, councils and statutory
authorities. Under the new legislation, councils can only opt out of
the protocol by adopting a satisfactory alternative policy with the
approval of the Director-General of the Department of Local Government.
• The package will remove red tape for filmmakers wanting to film on
Crown Land and makes it easier for filming vehicles to park for an
extended period.
[Release from the Arts Minister’s Office]