Australia
Locations. Sydney doubles for generic US city looks and Melbourne doubles for generic European looks. Australia has an abundance of unspoilt beaches, national parks, rainforests, rivers, rural, desert scapes, car roads and bridges, coastal looks, sand dunes, modern architecture, urban and suburban looks and much more. Australia is also well known for its unique flora, fauna and locations such as kangaroos, crocodiles, gum trees, Sydney Harbour, Uluru, the Great Barrier Reef, Kakadu, the Great Ocean Road and much more.
Permits. Restricted shooting in downtown Sydney from Monday to Friday. Some areas permissible on Saturday AM but generally Saturday PM & Sunday. Most locations require one week for filming permission. Inner city locations, tracking shots & road closures all require up to ten days.
When to shoot? Australia is made up of three climatic zones - the tropical north, the dry and arid central region and the temperate southern areas. Winter (April - August) temperatures average from 6-21 degrees celsius (43-70F). During the warmer months (September - March) temperatures average 20-32 degrees celsius (68-90F) with increased humidity. In parts of the country the warmer temperatures can be experienced well into the winter months. From late June to early September snow can be found a five hours drive from Sydney or three hours drive from Melbourne.
For monthly weather statistics please see: http://www.gaisma.com/en/dir/au-country.html
Please contact us for more specific weather and sun path information.
Costs. The recent appreciation of the Australian dollar against most currencies has increased the cost of shooting in Australia. The Euro and Pound still remain quite competitive but the US dollar is almost on par with the Australian. Australia is a very well established and sophisticated production centre and as with anything that is of the highest quality it costs accordingly. On average it is still more cost efficient to shoot in Australia then the US, especially when it comes to post production costs which are 30-40% less in Australia.
Talent is all union. Talent is more economical than the UK and US however not as competitive as South Africa or South America. This is mainly due to buyouts which are generally non-negotiable. For more information about the talent union please visit: http://www.alliance.org.au/.
For information about session fees & buyouts please right click here to download.
Australia boasts a very large and experienced pool of multicultural talent.
Australia offers a great number of casting agents as well as street casting. Please see:
Mullinars - http://www.mullinars.com.au/
Maura Fay - http://www.maurafay.com.au/
Lesley Burgess - http://www.lesleybcasting.com.au/
Chadwick Models - http://chadwickmodels.com/
Viviens Models - http://www.viviensmodels.com.au/
Creative talent. Australia has a very good experienced pool of directors, directors of photography and stills photographers, several being of the highest international standard.
Please contact us for recommended directors, DoP's and photographers for your project.
Crews. Experienced professional and technical crews. Australian crews have had decades of experience of servicing long and short form international projects. The result is a very deep pool of well trained crew with a great attitude and a world class reputation.
Fringes. Crew are either Company or Pay As You Go (PAYG). If the supplier is company then they take care of their own superannuation and in some cases, workers compensation. Some suppliers with Australian Business Numbers require workers compensation to be paid for them. If crew is PAYG we must pay an additional 9% superannuation and 3% workers compensation.
Premiums. Australia has an eight hour shooting day, time and a half for the next two hours and double time after that. Shooting after 8:00pm is a 25% loading. Sunday is a 100% loading. The industry is currently campaigning for a 10 hour day.
Equipment. Australia offers both Panavision and Arri equipment as well as many boutique equipment companies. Wide supply of camera equipment including HD - Genesis, D 20 & Red, 35mm - Panavision & Arri. May need to ship in HD equipment if multi camera set up required i.e live broadcast. Unlike the US system most gear is provided by individual crew. Grip/Lighting trucks are privately owned by crew and accompany them to set. Anything required in addition to this is outsourced. Crew charge a rate for the truck and then individually for lights/gripping gear and burn time and of course labour rates. Gripping - large range of gripping gear. Examples include: Brownie Grips - http://www.brownie-grips.com.au/, Big Toys - http://www.bigtoys.com.au/. Three axis stabilized heads available – Scorpian, Libra, Mega 11. Motion Control available, tracking vehicles available, Cranes – Phoenix, Giraffe, Spyerdam now available. Helicopter Mounts – Continental mounts - nose and side. If Wescam required it needs to be flown in from the US.
Art department and set construction. Australia has very experienced art department and construction. As an example of that work Australia has played host to a variety of international feature films including Mission Impossible, Star Wars, Moulin Rouge and The Matrix.
Studios. Facilities are extensive and state of the art. Please see examples below:
Fox Studios Sydney - http://www.foxstudiosaustralia.com/
Warner Brothers Gold Coast - http://www.movieworldstudios.com.au/
Australia also offers other private studios in each state.
Backlots. At present there are no backlots in Australia.
Tax Incentives. No tax incentives exist for commercials at present. Feature films have tax incentives. For more information visit:
Producers Rebate - http://www.ausfilm.com.au/childsplay/cgi-bin/show_page.pl/2/274
Location Offset - http://www.ausfilm.com.au/childsplay/cgi-bin/show_page.pl/2/273
PDV Offset - http://www.ausfilm.com.au/childsplay/cgi-bin/show_page.pl/2/275
Film Stock. Both Fuji and Kodak are available locally.
Post Production. Australia offers the highest standard of post production facilities. In Sydney the following exist:
Animal Logic - http://www.animallogic.com/
Fuel - http://www.fuelvfx.com/
Fin Design & FX – http://www.findesign.com.au/
Visas and Work Permits. Short stay visa - stay of under three months - we can arrange via travel agent - we require flights, passport details or business visa (meetings). This is the most expedient way of gaining entry. Contact your local Australian embassy or representative for more information.
Here are some details for Entertainment Visas - long term stay above 3 months: For International crew to enter into Australia for work purposes, they must be covered by Class 420 Entertainment Visas (for media buys in Australia) or Class 423 Entertainment Visas (media buys excluding Australia). Producer's do not need visas. This means that the local service company, has to sponsor each person and fill out form 148.pdf (right click to download). Each person is to also fill out form 147.pdf (right click to download) as well as provide a copy of their travel itinerary, a scanned image of their front page of passports and details of travel insurance. For a 420 application we will have to get approval from MEAA - for foreign crew. To process the sponsorship visas, MEAA requires to see the deal memos between the overseas production company and each crew personnel. A similar thing has to be done with the cast's deal memos as well through a different government body.
Transportation Infrastructure. All roads sealed except some remote locations in outback Australia. Australia is serviced by most major international carriers. Australia's domestic carriers are Qantas and Virgin.
Accommodation. Recommended film friendly hotels include:
Sydney:
Park Hyatt - http://www.sydney.park.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp
Quay Grand - http://www.mirvachotels.com/
Kirketon - http://www.kirketon.com.au/
Melbourne:
Lyall - http://www.thelyall.com/
Prince - http://www.theprince.com.au/
Lindrum - http://www.hotellindrum.com.au/
Brisbane:
Stamford - http://www.royal-corniche.com/australia/brisbane
Quay West - http://www.mirvachotels.com/quay-west-suites-brisbane
Emporium - http://www.emporiumhotel.com.au/Accommodation.aspx
Limes Hotel: http://www.limeshotel.com.au/
Perth:
Intercontinental - http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/ic/1/en/hotel/PURHA/welcome
Seasons - http://www.seasonsofperth.com.au/index.site.rooms.51.html
Adelaide:
Rendezvous - http://www.rendezvoushotels.com.au/adelaide/rooms/default.aspx
Stamford Grand - http://www.stamford.com.au/sga/page.asp?e_page=406679
Please contact us for corporate rates.
For longer stays we can also organize serviced apartments.
Communication. Web posted casting, scouting and videoconferencing.
Safety. Australia is a very safe and reliable filming centre. Strict work place procedures also ensure safety on set.
If you are looking for a film or photographic production service company, line producer or fixer in Australia, please contact us.
We are able to provide you with answers, references and bids quickly.
