Australia announce A$400m financial incentive to attract Hollywood

Australia has launched a massive A$400m (£223m) incentive to help attract big budget Hollywood films after “relative success” managing Covid-19.

The seven-year long incentive will be a huge boost for the film and TV industry in Australia, and will complement the government’s existing 30% location offset for eligible large budget international productions that film in Australia.

The office of Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in a statement: “The additional A$400m will help Australia capitalise on a growing demand to produce films and television series in Australia, attracting an estimated $3bn in foreign expenditure and creating 8,000 new employment opportunities for Australians each year.

“Australia’s relative success in managing COVID-19, compared to so many other parts of the world, means we are now in a unique position to attract a longer-term pipeline of major screen productions here in Australia.”

To date, the local government has announced funding of A$123m for 10 productions through the existing location incentive including Thor: Love and Thunder and Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in Sydney, Godzilla vs Kong on the Gold Coast, Shantaram and The Alchemyst in Melbourne. These 10 projects are estimated to generate spending of around A$1bn, support 8,500 local jobs over multiple years and engage more than 9,000 Australian businesses.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings recently resumed filming in Sydney, after production was stopped over COVID-19 safety concerns. 

The expansion of the location incentive comes on top of A$250m over the next 12 months to help restart the creative economy, including A$50m for a Temporary Interruption Fund that will support local film and television producers to secure finance and recommence filming for productions that have largely been halted due to the challenges in accessing insurance coverage for COVID-19.