As Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred continues to dump heavy rain on parts of south-east Queensland and north-east NSW, Screen Queensland has confirmed there has not been any significant impact on the local production sector beyond a precautionary pause.
Queensland coastal residents braced for the worst on Thursday and Friday as Alfred, which had reached as high as category four, made its way toward the state, with the Bureau of Meteorology initially predicting impact between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast. It was downgraded to a Tropical Low on Saturday morning, but has still brought heavy and persistent rain, leading to power outages and several school and road closures.
Productions to be affected included Jon Lucas and Scott Moore’s comedy Spa Weekend, starring Isla Fisher, Leslie Mann, Michelle Buteau, and Anna Faris, and Derrick Borte’s LA-set Russell Crowe-starrer Bear Country, both of which were announced to be filmed on the Gold Coast last month. Both Fisher and Crowe posted about the incoming weather on social media last week, with the former telling her followers she was “hunkered down waiting for the cyclone” while the latter urged people to “take it seriously, get yourself sorted, stay safe”.
Speaking to IF, Screen Queensland CEO Jacqui Feeney said there hadn’t been any “significant damage or disruption to local production”.
“Naturally filming paused late last week for safety but despite the severity of ex-TC Alfred, especially around the Gold Coast, the current slate of projects was thankfully not impacted beyond that precaution,” she said.
Local production company Bronte Pictures was among those to be impacted by power outages.
The company, which has offices in Brisbane, LA and Byron Bay, recently wrapped filming on Kiah Roache-Turner’s Beast Of War across the sub-tropical region of New South Wales’ Northern Rivers and Screen Queensland Studios, Brisbane.
Bronte Pictures CEO Blake Northfield said that while the business was impacted without power for the week, its productions were “safe and sound” in post-production at The Post Lounge in Sydney.
“Bronte Pictures lost one week worth of work which has obvious set backs though nothing we haven’t seen or dealt with prior,” he said.