By Sam Dallas
Australian visual effects company Rising Sun Pictures has secured work on 2011 superhero blockbuster Green Lantern.
The Adelaide-based company has been contracted by Warner Bros and will deliver key CG sequences in the Martin Campbell (Casino Royale) film.
“Once again the quality the work done here in South Australia has resulted in a tent-pole picture choosing Rising Sun from a field of international competitors” CEO Michael Taylor said in a statement, acknowledging the company will work alongside major vendor Sony Pictures Imageworks.
“Our ability to deliver complex, photo-real effects work on tight turnarounds continues to place Rising Sun as one of the most sought after vendors in the industry”.
The production will benefit from a reduction in the 15 per cent Post, Digital and Visual Effects Rebate threshold, but company director Tony Clark said the Australian Government still needed to do more to ensure the local industry could remain competitive on a larger scale.
“The sustained strength of the Australian dollar is not helping attract lucrative, longer term contracts to our shores," Clark said in a statement.
"Rising Sun [Pictures] is pleased to have brought a fraction of the Green Lantern spend back to Australia, however a sliding rebate scale locked in step with the dollar up to a maximum of 30 per cent would once again position Australia as a true competitor on the international stage”.
The company, which closed its Sydney office over the 2009 Christmas break after the expected influx of big offshore productions failed to materialise, is currently working on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and the DI for local film Red Dog.