Australia-China co-prod film shooting in Melbourne

Production is based at Docklands Studios Melbourne, a facility that offers five stages in the southern Australian state of Victoria.

The movie’s producers will be spending more than AU$40m in the region and will be shooting outside the studio for a few weeks at key filming locations including a decommissioned power station east of Melbourne.

“Official co-productions are a fantastic opportunity for creative partners to come together and collaborate on story, share skill sets and benefit from the financial screen incentives offered by both countries,” said Graeme Mason, CEO of Screen Australia.

“We are thrilled to have The Whistleblower being produced in Australia and are sure our Chinese guests will be impressed by the Australian cast, crew and locations.”

Last November marked ten years of the Australia-China Co-Production Treaty, with recent shoots having included art heist movie At Last.

Sydney in New South Wales and Gold Coast in Queensland are Australia’s main international production hubs as they offer the country’s biggest studio facilities.

Victoria hosts mainly domestic shoots. In the coming months the state will be the main filming location for Justin Kurzel’s upcoming movie True History Of The Kelly Gang. The production will tell the story of Australia’s infamous 19th century outlaw Ned Kelly and his gang, and is headlined by Russell Crowe. The movie has the involvement of the UK’s Film4 as a co-financier.

See KFTV's production guide for more on filming in Australia.

Editorial note: This article was amended on 3 July 2018 to clarify that The Whistleblower is the largest Australia-China TV co-production to film in Victoria, rather than in the whole of Australia as the piece originally stated.

Images: FreeImages/Timobalk