Movie magic begins in our own back yard at Village Roadshow Studios
With a growing hit list, Oxenford on the Gold Coast is the place to go to for film production, writes Daryl Passmore.
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FOR nearly three decades, Lynne Benzie has lived in a fantasy world — inhabited by superheroes, pirates, a giant gorilla, oversized sharks and a talking dog.
Village Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast this month celebrates its 30th anniversary — a period during which it has not only cemented its position as Australia’s leading movie-maker, but a production centre on par with the best in the world.
Benzie has been there for most of it. Today marks 28 years since she began work at the Oxenford site. In true film script style, the one-time secretary has risen to studio president, leading the operation for the past decade. The studio has never been in a stronger position, she says. “It’s a massive milestone to have it grow the way it has. We have not stopped for the last five years. We’ve had constant movies.”
It’s a far cry from the isolated location Benzie and her colleagues worked at in the early days when they faced a 35-minute drive to Nerang. for lunch.
Surprisingly, her team still totals only six — herself, two office workers and three maintenance staff. But they regularly share the site with up to 2500 cast and crew working on the latest blockbusters.
Legend of the Moon And Sun — the biggest ever Chinese-Australian co-production — recently wrapped up, and the team behind the hard-won Dora the Explorer movie has just arrived, ready to start shooting next month. The past four years have seen a steady stream of major screen hits roll out of the studio — including Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok starring adopted Queenslander Chris Hemsworth, disaster flick San Andreas with Dwayne Johnson and Dead Men Tell No Tales, the fifth in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. The latest big-budget production — Warner Bros/DC Comics Aquaman, filmed at Village Roadshow and other local locations over a six-month period last year, will be this year’s big Christmas release.
Benzie says: “Getting four back-to-back blockbusters like that is unheard of in Australia. It has put the Sunshine State firmly in the sights of top international producers. The crews here have built a reputation over many years, but these big movies have really reinforced that.”
Tracey Vieira, CEO of the government-owned industry agency Screen Queensland, agrees. “It has really established itself as a world-class facility. People don’t ask where Queensland is anymore. To be honest, up until about five years ago, it was the first thing people would say. Now, they recognise Queensland is the first place in Australia to go to make a feature film. And you can make the same thing here as London or Hollywood.”
Vieira says it remains central to the state’s ambitions to continue to build a movie and TV production industry worth more than $1 billion to the state economy last year. “I think it’s going to be a particularly great year for Queensland,’’ she said.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said: “You might think we were an overnight success. But, like a lot of showbiz careers, the truth is it’s taken 30 years. We will ensure you ain’t seen nothing yet.”
Village Roadshow bought the studios two years after they were built by legendary Italian film producer/financier Dino De Laurentiis. The first film released was 1989’s T he Delinquents with Kylie Minogue.
It is now among the largest film lots in the southern hemisphere. The latest of its sound stages — built to accommodate the shooting of Thor: Ragnarok and also used as a venue for Commonwealth Games sports including boxing and badminton — is the biggest this side of the equator.
The studio also boasts three purpose-built water tanks. The largest — used initially for the 2006/07 movie Fool’s Gold starring Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson, and more recently for Aquaman — holds six million litres of water, more than twice an Olympic swimming pool.
Village Roadshow puts the value of productions at the studio since 1988 at $3.6 billion, with half of that money spent in Queensland.
The Warner Bros Movie World theme park opened adjacent to the studios in 1991 and, even though they are operated separately, Vieira says there is no doubt the co-location and links helped create a sense of scale and ambition that inspired many in the industry, including her.
“In 1991, I was working as a chaperone, holding the hands of Looney Tunes characters and escorting them through the streets of Movie World,” she says. “My dream was to be in the industry and that was the closest I could get at that stage.
“It’s funny now to be the person helping to bring these big productions to Queensland.”
daryl.passmore@news.com.au
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