Written by on Nov 13, 2014. Posted in On Location

Movies from Angelina Jolie and Dwayne Johnson boost Australia filming by 50%

Location filming for Angelina Jolie’s World War II biopic Unbroken and Dwayne Johnson’s earthquake drama San Andreas has helped boost Australia’s international production spending by 50% in 2013/14. Altogether, Australia hosted nine foreign features and two foreign TV dramas.

The report from Screen Australia shows that international spending reached AUD 197 million for 2013/14, compared to AUD 131 million last year. Unbroken and San Andreas were the biggest spenders.

A weakening of the Australian dollar is a factor in the country’s continuing resurgence, while the government’s decision to supplement the 16.5% Location Offset with one-off payments has also been important in securing the biggest movies.

However, the one-off payment system was officially launched as a stopgap measure and the government remains under pressure to increase the Location Offset in the long-term.

Production was largely based in New South Wales, with Victoria in second place and Queensland third.

In addition to the films shooting in Australia, 15 separate international features carried out post-production work in Australia, using the country’s 30% Post, Digital and Visual Effects Offset. The highest-profile of these included X-Men: Days of Future Past, which filmed in Montreal, and Marvel’s upcoming superhero sequel The Avengers: Age of Ultron, which was based in London.

Russell Crowe made use of Australia’s filming incentive programme shooting locally for his directorial debut, World War I drama The Water Diviner.

“It’s wonderful to be able to draw internationally successful Australian talent together to work on a great project back home, made possible by screen incentives, film-friendly government at every level, and of course the flexibility and skills of Australian cast and crew," commented the film’s producers Troy Lum, Andrew Mason and Keith Rodger.

"The dedicated support through the Producer Offset was a vital component of bringing The Water Diviner to the screen.”

Australia could be set for another strong year with Queensland now set to host Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean 5. The movie will get a filming incentive payment of AUD 21 million and will be the largest production Australia has ever hosted.

At the recent Ausfilm Week in London, the Australian government also announced plans to streamline its co-production application requirements for countries with which the country has existing agreements.

(Unbroken photo: Vince Valitutti/Paramount Pictures)