New South Wales lures producers

NSW Premier Morris Iemma is trying to lure more film and television productions to New South Wales by cutting red tape tied up at local council levels.

On Sunday he announced new measures which would give a presumption of approval for filming anywhere in the state, unless exceptional circumstances were put forward by local councils.

“Too often councils and government departments take too long to process applications for filming and too often the answer is no – we want to change that.”

The rivalry for locations and work for production crews is fierce, with other states providing incentives to lure new work. Steven Spielberg’s The Pacific is shooting predominantly in Victoria, with extra locations in Queensland.

Ironically Iemma’s announcement comes at a time when three new Aussie dramas on screen by the end of this month will have NSW backdrops: the Blue Mountains in TEN’s Emerald Falls, Byron Bay in the ABC’s East of Everything, and the Northern Shores in Make or Break on the UK TV Channel.

Some councils and government departments, Mr Iemma admits, have developed a reputation for not being film friendly.

“I want to see our great state be the backdrop to movies throughout the world,” he told reporters on location at Sydney’s Fox Studios.

“It will boost the film and television industry in this state … it will also help to boost tourism.”

Sydney actress Claudia Karvan commented, “I know with Love My Way that once we did win a Logie prices did change a little bit, but unless (we are) given tens of thousands of dollars with that Logie it actually doesn’t make our budgets any larger,” Ms Karvan said while stating her support for the planned initiatives.

“People assume that because this industry is in the media that suddenly we are incredibly rich, which we are not, unfortunately.

“Sometimes time is money on productions … removing some of these hurdles is a terrific thing.”

NSW Deputy opposition leader Jillian Skinner said, “It is a fact that in Queensland and in Victoria there was leadership shown, which is why their film industry has gone ahead while ours has gone backwards.”

Source: AAP / Age