Premier Mike Rann has announced today that the South Australian film industry is about to undergo its biggest and most exciting revitalisation in decades with the creation of new state-of-the-art studio facilities in the heart of the Glenside redevelopment.
The new $43 million Adelaide Film and Screen Hub project will be located on the Glenside Campus’s cultural precinct and will replace the South Australian Film Corporation’s outdated facilities at Hendon.
In addition to new facilities, heritage buildings within the cultural precinct site will be renovated and made available to film and screen-related tenants and potentially other arts and educational tenants.
“An integral part of the development of this precinct will be the creation of a physical film and screen ‘hub’ on the site that will include:
• two sound stages – 1000 sq m and 400 sq m
• set construction workspace – 1000 sq m
• production facilities (including makeup, wardrobe etc)
• post-production facilities (including mixing facilities, editing and Foley rooms)
• custom-built screening theatre.
Mr Rann is in Los Angeles with the CE of the SA Film Corp Richard Harris for a series of meetings with key US film industry executives to sell the benefits of filming and post-production opportunities in South Australia.
“This is a tremendous time for our local film industry. This year, SA already has five feature films in various states of production. There has been a resurgence in feature film production here in South Australia in recent years as well as strong growth in post production and digital effects activity with South Australian creative talent making significant contributions to Hollywood blockbusters such as Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and Superman Returns.
“The Adelaide Film Festival, which I introduced in 2003, has also provided a new impetus by not only screening new independent films, but by granting seed funding for new productions – many of which have gone on to receive local and international acclaim.
“According to the latest figures, the film and television industry in SA contributes about $28 million annually to the economy and employs about 1000 people.
“As Arts Minister, I have a particular passion for the SA film industry that Premier Don Dunstan initiated when he established the SAFC in 1972.
“I thought it was very important to bring the film hub – with its new sound and production facilities – within close proximity to the city and nearer to more than 30 film production companies located in the Norwood/Kent Town area, the CBD and North Adelaide.
“It will be a clearly visible demonstration of our commitment and ongoing support nationally and internationally for the future viability of the industry.
“South Australia has effectively established and branded itself as the producer of successful high-quality independent and low-budget film productions. Recent feature film highlights include Ten Canoes, Look Both Ways, Lucky Miles, Rabbit Proof Fence and Forbidden Lies. The new generation of talent is also exciting with productions like the low-budget Boxing Day, and recent AFI-Award winning short Spike Up demonstrating the depth of talent that we have coming through the system.
“In the past four years, 26 feature films have been made in SA. We want to build on our established success and achieve the target laid out in the SA Strategic Plan to produce an average of six major films every year in South Australia by 2014.
“These new facilities will help us put the future of film production in SA beyond doubt. The Glenside site will not only be the home of production but will become a central iconic location where film practitioners will be able to co-locate, congregate, and collaborate.
“The one-stop-shop aspect of the Hub, including the SAFC, film sector tenants, production offices and production and post-production facilities, will make the Film and Screen Hub the only facility of its kind in Australia.
“The sound stages and production facilities at the Hub will be the most significant outside the big studio complexes on the east coast. They are deliberately targeted towards lower budget feature film productions, and create the opportunity for SA to develop and pitch for studio-based television series and other forms of screen production in the future.
“This will create a clear point of difference between those production facilities on offer in South Australia and those offered by the eastern States, which are primarily focused on big budget offshore production. South Australia will therefore be able to build on its brand as the home of independent production,” Mr Rann said.
Construction work on the Hub is expected to start in the second half of 2009 and is expected to be completed by the second half of 2010.
[release by South Australian Department of Premier and Cabinet]