Queensland govt boosts screen budget by $71m to lure international productions

The Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced a further $71m budget boost for film and TV productions shooting in the popular Australian state.

Of that amount, $53m will go towards attracting international and domestic production companies to Queensland.

Another $18m will be invested in local film, television and games production, a new north Queensland film fund and an incentive for post, digital and visual effects.

Queensland attracted the most international productions of any state last year, including Thor: Ragnarok, Aquaman, Dora and the Lost City of Gold and Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic, and the funding will help attract more, Palaszczuk said.

"Our screen success is not an accident, but the result of long-term planning and strategic investment in the industry, led by Screen Queensland," she said. “Through the global pandemic our State has been a safe haven for local and international productions while others were shut down, keeping cameras rolling on COVID-Safe sets. And now we’re taking the next step, building on the overwhelming interest and momentum in our screen sector with this new funding.”

Treasurer and minister for investment Cameron Dick sad since 2015, the Palaszczuk government has invested around $100m as part of the local Production Attraction Strategy. “This has lured blockbuster projects to the state, contributing more than $1bn to the local economy and creating more than 12,000 Queensland jobs,” he said.

Productions currently filming in Queensland include Ron Howard's Thirteen Lives, season two of the Amazon Original series The Wilds, and the Jim Henson Company's The Portable Door.

Other productions to be filmed in the Sunshine State include Netflix's Jessica Watson biopic, Matchbox Pictures' TV series Irreverent, and Ticket To Paradise starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts.

Screen Queensland CEO Kylie Munnich added: "This budget support will allow us to further maximise benefit from the current boom for the widest possible cross-section of the Queensland screen industry.”

"From big blockbusters to local productions, this is about having a pipeline of projects to support a sustainable industry and to create local jobs - from crew right through the supply chain to set designers, construction workers, drivers and hospitality," he said.

“It will stimulate crew jobs that flow from big productions like Thirteen Lives, Australian Survivor and Young Rock, increase the volume of Queensland-grown screen projects we can finance, and support development programs we can offer to emerging creative talent. 

“Building a sustainable industry, which attracts and retains the best and brightest talent in our state, is core to the Screen Queensland mission.

“Particularly exciting for the local post-production sector is the increase to 15 per cent for the PDV Incentive, making Queensland the most competitive state for post-production work on the east coast. 

“This budget also benefits the regions, with a significant injection of funds to expand the screen industry in the north of the state and build on the skills and expertise of screen practitioners based there.”