Australia has sent its largest ever delegation to attend the 5th Australia-China Film Industry Forum, the Beijing International Film Festival and the Beijing Film Market. More than 50 representatives from Australia’s production industry are attending the events.
Johnny Depp is returning in his popular role as Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, which has started filming in Australia. The movie is based at Village Roadshow Studios in Queensland and will also shoot on location across the state.
Collider has filmed the promo for musician Daniel Johns’ first solo track at Stockton Dunes north of Sydney in Australia, using drone technology. Aerial Love features the artist wandering in the vast sandy wilderness.
Kate Winslet has completed production on Australian comedy feature The Dressmaker. Filming was based at Dockland Film Studios in Melbourne, Victoria, and also filmed on location across the south-east Australian state.
Cable channel Syfy has committed to an extended slate of location filming in Australia. Television dramas Hunters and Childhood’s End are both scheduled to shoot in Melbourne, using Docklands Studios as a base.
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.
Location filming for Australian drama The Code has helped raise Canberra’s profile as a filming location. Filmed partly in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) of Canberra, the series follows two brothers caught in a political conspiracy when they investigate an Outback murder.
Cate Blanchett and Robert Redford will film political drama Truth in Sydney, Australia. The movie will recount the true story of the 2004 news reports by veteran journalist Dan Rather that President George W Bush may have used his privilege to avoid serving in the Vietnam War.
Australia is to streamline the co-production filming process for the countries with which it has formal agreements. The move was announced by Screen Australia during Ausfilm Week in London and will ease co-productions made with countries including the UK, Canada, China and South Africa.
Collider filmed in both Australia and New Zealand for a music video for Sydney band Panama, presented as branded content for swimwear company Seafolly. Stay Forever shows models taking night-time swims before emerging together on an idyllic beach.