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Australia: Productions appear robust, but industry remains fragile
(Weekly Variety Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)
SYDNEY Australia looms as the titan of offshore production in the Asia Pacific region, competing for projects with Canada, the U.S., Europe and South Africa.
The country boasts three major studio facilities and a vast array of locations often a short distance from each other --- deserts, tropical forests and islands, snow-covered mountains, period streetscapes and sophisticated city skylines.
Australian crews are as expert as you get anywhere and are sought after to work on projects in neighboring countries such as Fiji and New Zealand. Prices are competitive, the 12.5% federal tax offset for movies and skeins is attractive and individual state incentives are being continually upgraded, such as Queensland's recent decision to rebate for post-production undertaken there.
The exchange rate is good, and f/x and post services are used by filmmakers worldwide .
Yet scratch the surface and you discover a fragile industry with high overheads whose reputation is only as good as the last pic made there. And when that pic was Sony's "Stealth," everyone realizes there's still much work to be done.
Currently no huge productions are confirmed for any of the major facilities in 2006, but fortunately for the biz those sites have been busy of late and the pipelines are healthy.
Two of the five stages at Melbourne's Central City Studios are engaged until March with Coote Hayes's production of the Stephen King skein "Nightmares and Dreamscapes."
At Sydney's Fox Studios, Baz Luhrmann's Australian Outback epic toplined by Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman for 20th Century Fox is penciled in but not confirmed.
Warner Roadshow's vast Gold Coast facility will host at least one World Wrestling Entertainment movie shoot this year.
Oz-made pics being released in 2006 include Paramount's "Charlotte's Web, Fox Searchlight's "Aquamarine," Sony's Nicolas Cage vehicle "Ghost Rider," Warner's "Superman Returns," and toon "Happy Feet" from Warners and Village Roadshow.
"I think it's going to be a really interesting year for Australian post-production because of 'Happy Feet,' " observes Andrea Snow, marketing manager for Rising Sun Pictures.
Aussie f/x artists have previously been praised for their wizardry on a bulging list of titles including "The Matrix" trilogy, "Babe" and "Moulin Rouge."
"Happy Feet," a toon about an emperor penguin who can dance but can't sing, is being produced by Kennedy Miller in association with Sydney's f/x house Animal Logic.
Pre-release publicity for Bryan Singer's effects-laden "Superman" has shone the spotlight Down Under already.
Warner's controversial decision to lense the quintessentially American pic a 17-hour flight away was unpopular with some in the U.S., but not all the rumored $250 million budget was spent Down Under.
One industryite estimates the Australian spend was between $130 million and $150 million. But in an example of how physical production and post-production/digital f/x are no longer wedded to each other, Rising Sun was the only local company enlisted to undertake effects, which otherwise were done in the U.S.
The flipside of this scenario has seen Aussie companies engaged to work on films with no physical link to the place --- Rising Sun undertook f/x for "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" and "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow," while Animal Logic is working on Oliver Stone's untitled Sept. 11 project, lensed Stateside.
Animal Logic's Greg Smith says Australia's federal government is "pretty switched on in terms of digital policy."
"As the digital component of films becomes a bigger percentage of the budget, it will be a real driver for when people decide to shoot footloose," Smith says.
The federal offset includes expenditure on digital, which helps productions physically shooting in Oz; however, so far productions using Aussie f/x houses for post only cannot tap incentives.
Mark Woods, new CEO at lobby agency Ausfilm, concedes his org is grappling with that issue.
"The marketplace is changing and there's more work to be won," he tells Variety. "Ausfilm has advised the government the offset could be refined to attract more of this work or new incentives could be introduced."
The government is considering numerous proposals, but has not said if or when it will introduce changes.
And the effects houses are thriving despite strict confidentiality contracts demanded by some U.S. studios that forbid them promoting the work they do on projects until long after release.
One post house supervisor, on condition of anonymity, said such restrictions "do hurt. We're allowed to talk about it afterwards, but by then it's old news."
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