Annastacia Palaszczuk says Screen Forever festival to stay on Gold Coast until 2026

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced more funding for the film industry on the Gold Coast.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has announced a series of new initiatives for the state‘s film industry at the opening of the Screen Forever festival, including further funding for the Gold Coast’s film industry and a deal to host the prestigious event until 2026.

“Today, I’m delighted to announce that we’ve secured a deal with Screen Producers Australia to keep Screen Forever on the Gold Coast for another three years,” the Premier said.

“The event has been incredibly valuable to our local economy, as both the screen industry and the tourism sector recover from the impact of the pandemic.”

With the conference set to attract more than 1000 screen professionals this year, and expected to generate more than $100 million in production deals, the Premier said it was an invaluable asset.

Screen Forever Festival 2022 on the Gold Coast. Picture: Screen Forever.

“It’s a place where ideas are born, where deals are done, where jobs are created and cameras roll, and where we honour screen excellence,” the Premier added.

Ms Palaszczuk also called on the federal government to permanently increase the Location Offset to 30 per cent to attract more international productions to Queensland, arguing it was the effective way of ensuring long-term industry growth and certainty.

“Australia’s Location Offset is one of the lowest in the world, and since 2015, I have advocated for a permanent increase to this Location Offset with former prime ministers,” she said.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk with Baz Luhrmann.

The Premier also hinted at additional funding for the industry on the Gold Coast, with the state government’s production attraction strategy contributing more than $1.7 billion to the local economy since 2015.

“Since 2015, it has seen 56 domestic and international productions proudly stamped Made in Queensland,” she said.

“We value the skills and the jobs that together we have developed, especially here on the Gold Coast.

“And I know that Mayor Tom Tate feels the same as me. In fact, we recently had an hour meeting discussing some more ideas for the screen industry here on the Gold Coast. Some may be contained in budgets in a few months’ time.”