PRESS RELEASE
NSW has once again been confirmed as Australia’s pre-eminent State for film and television production, with 57 per cent of all Australian drama production in 2012-13 taking place in NSW, Minister for the Arts, George Souris, said recently.
He said figures released by Screen Australia today also showed that 81 per cent of all Australian drama production was generated by NSW-based production companies.
“These figures confirm NSW’s screen industry is the best in the country – no wonder Angelina Jolie chose to film Unbroken here,” Mr Souris said.
“This is tremendous news for NSW. Production is on an upwards trend with $430 million in NSW in 2012-13, compared to $370 million in the previous year.
“A substantial amount of post-production and special effects work is also undertaken in NSW, accounting for 67 per cent ($108 million annually) of spending in the five years from 2008-09 to 2012-13. NSW companies provided these services for features such as The Sapphires, The Great Gatsby, The Avengers, Happy Feet Two, Iron Man 3 and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.
“The screen production sector is a major priority for the NSW Government – it is a highly skilled industry that drives innovation and enhances NSW’s international reputation as a centre of excellence.”
The report reveals that NSW was the location for high levels of both foreign and local production, including the feature films The Wolverine and Mad Max: Fury Road as well as TV dramas Camp, Wonderland, A Place to Call Home, Love Child and Puberty Blues series 2.
“With The Great Gatsby accounted for in the previous year’s figures, this year we can see a range of productions contributing to the numbers for NSW, including a strong performance by television drama,” Mr Souris said.
NSW Government support for the State’s screen production industry includes Screen NSW’s production investment and development programs, the Regional Filming Fund which encourages filming in regional NSW, and incentives to attract big budget international productions, such as the Angelina Jolie-directed film Unbroken which is filming in NSW.
The latest ABS figures for the Film, Television and Digital Games sector show that NSW continues to lead in this sector, with nearly 60 per cent of all people employed nationally in production and post-production businesses based in NSW.
More than half (55 per cent) of all Australian production and post-production businesses are located in NSW, with a total income of more than $1.58 billion in 2011-12.