Newly opened Perth Film Studios is part of an ambitious state-wide plan to transform Western Australia into one of the world’s most attractive filmmaking destinations.
It offers federal and state incentives, purpose-built studio facilities and locations including beaches, heritage towns, farmland, wildlife reserves, a modern city centre and international airport, all within 20 kilometres of the studio - and all bathed in the kind of light cinematographers travel the world to find.
Savvy international film and TV producers are taking notice.
“Western Australia is an untapped visual feast for the global production industry,” says Tom Avison, CEO of Perth Film Studios, the first facility of scale in Western Australia (WA), with four sound stages adding up to 8,361 square metres on 16 hectares.
The studios are among the most sustainable facilities in the world due to renewable power, waste management, and consideration of the carbon footprint from the outset. There is a yarning circle and a space specifically for the staging of welcome- to-country ceremonies by First Nations people, who are a culturally significant part of the WA population.
“When people come through the door we impress on them that we’re in a place with a history of storytelling,” says Avison, most recently the former director of operations at London’s Sky Studios Elstree.
The A$230 million purpose-built, state government-owned, privately operated facility is at the forefront of the campaign to grow WA’s screen industry. An important further element is the generous financial incentives available to local and international producers: If a producer combines the 30% federal location offset with WA incentives administered by Screenwest, including a minimum 10% rebate with potential discretionary uplift, it can significantly impact production viability.
Interest in filming in the state is growing. Netflix series Breakers was recently shot in WA, and local documentary series Saltwater Cowboys Of Shark Bay was the first production to be based at Perth Film Studios.
UK-Australian collaboration Two Birds, a drama about a former UK police superintendent who goes to work in Australian mines, produced for ITV and Stan, is the first major international production to shoot at the studios.
“Wherever possible I’ll shoot where something is set,” explains UK executive producer Patrick Spence of London-based AC Chapter One. Filming in Australia gave him immediate access to the federal rebate. The icing on the cake was the discovery of WA’s incentives and the new studio.
“Filming in WA has real benefits, and Screenwest has fantastic funding initiatives,” says Spence. “We would not have shot anywhere else unless there was a bigger tax break in another state. And there was the availability of the studio. We shot there and in [the WA mining town of] Kalgoorlie.”
WA offers a rebate worth at least 10% of Qualifying Western Australia Expenditure (QWAE), provided the A$3.5m QWAE expenditure threshold is reached. Producers might also be invited to apply for WA Regional Screen Fund money, and may be eligible for the 20% post-production, digital and visual effects (PDV) Incentive. Screenwest also offers support for scouting, location access, crew, and services.
The agency’s CEO Rikki Lea Bestall says WA’s incentives are the “most flexible” in the country, as there is no cap on the amount productions can receive.
Two Birds producer Spence already has his eye on a return to Perth Film Studios as soon as possible. “The crew are magnificent, kind and warm in spirit,” he says. “I’ve had such a good time. I’m already trying to think of what I can bring back.”
Contact: James Grandison, business and industry development director
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