Russell Crowe to build movie studio in Coffs Harbour
Russell Crowe’s new northern NSW movie studio will boast four sound studios, advanced virtual studios and a training facility.
NSW
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A major movie production studio will be built in Coffs Harbour bankrolled by Russell Crowe, as NSW taps into the pandemic-driven Hollywood exodus to Australia.
NSW government officials including Deputy Premier John Barilaro and Treasurer Dominic Perrottet on Wednesday flew to northern NSW to attend Crowe’s announcement of the project, which has been a tightly guarded secret and is set to transform the NSW film production landscape.
The Hollywood star was in jovial mood as he outlined details of the world-class studio in his home town of Coffs Harbour, which some have now dubbed Banana-wood.
“I want to apologise for the hair,” Crowe said, pointing at his brunette ponytail that he grew to play Zeus in the latest Thor film alongside Chris Hemsworth.
“I wish I had an excuse for still having the hair, I should have cut it off, but anyway let’s just for now say that I am proud to be just another long-haired hippy from the north coast.”
Crowe, along with Keith Rodger and Peter Montgomery, are the founders of Pacific Bay Resort Studio and Village, which is tipped to cost $438,560,000 to build and be operational within two years.
The purpose-built studio sits a short drive from Crowe’s Nana Glen property and will boast four sound studios, advanced virtual studios, an on-campus screen training facility and accommodation that will allow cast and crew to stay on site.
The aim is to capitalise on the pandemic-driven Hollywood exodus to Australia with major film companies and big name actors based here.
“This is the importance of being able to move quickly and put infrastructure in place, strike while the iron is hot as they say,” Crowe told The Daily Telegraph.
“Giving every single local producer the edge on their international competitors is what we need to do.
“If we have an incentive system that brings money into the country and allows productions to be made here, it brings employment.
“We have to make sure that we give our producers that edge so if some other place is offering a number, then our number should be one percentage higher.
“That is the sort of far reaching decision that keeps the situation like we find ourselves in at the moment rolling.”
While the NSW Government is not investing any taxpayer money directly into the studio, it has invested millions in developing subsidies and other enticements to draw big productions to the state over recent years.
It has also committed to establishing a Regional Job Precinct in the Coffs Harbour area.
“There is a lot of stuff being made here at the moment,” Crowe said.
“What this place represents is those films that might get shut out of those (other) larger facilities (in Australia) now so you might have a $10 million budget film and we can accommodate that.
“You might have a $100 million film, we can accommodate that too and it doesn’t matter where you come from.
“Yes, we want to emphasise having a facility available for local film but film is an international global medium.
“If you are from Bollywood, or you are one of the new sharp filmmakers out of Korea or Iceland, wherever you come from this is going to be a very competitive facility and we want to put people in a situation where it actually benefits them to come and do their film here.”
The studio complex will be built around the iconic Pacific Bay Resort, which would enable stars to film and stay on site for lengthy periods with their families.
A source last night said it would be billed as a “family friendly film studio” and is expected to be a major economic boost for the region.
Deputy Premier John Barilaro, addressing the media, politicians and local business leaders on Wednesday from the lawn of the resort, emphasised the that venture showed big opportunities were available outside major cities.
“You don’t need to go to Hollywood or Los Angeles or the Fox Studios in Sydney, you can do that in a regional city, a city like Coffs Harbour,” he said.
“Last year when I was instructed to help the NRL get the game back up and running, I know Russell Crowe was part of that as the owner of South Sydney (Rabbitohs).
“One of the ideas that came out of those meetings in talking about the future of NRL was a vision about tribalism and suburban stadiums so again Russell at the heart of that the idea of mini Colosseum’s where we bring rugby league together. It took the gladiator to sell that vision.
“Today, of course, he has another vision for Coffs Harbour and it takes a beautiful mind but to deliver it you need a master and commander to deliver this particular project and we have that in Russell Crowe.”
Crowe meanwhile will next month begin shooting his next movie, the Gary Fleder directed Poker Face, in Sydney.
Rumours have swirled for several months that the Gladiator star had been planning his move into film and television production.
It was Nicole Kidman that kickstarted the Aussie-wood boom in NSW when she brought big budget US television production, Nine Perfect Strangers, to Byron Bay last year.
That production starred major names including Melissa McCarthy, Luke Evans, Regina Hall and Bobby Canavale.
McCarthy and husband Ben Falcone stayed on in the area when production wrapped, choosing to shoot their American comedy series, God’s Favourite Idiot, here.
Rose Byrne too was busy in Byron Bay, filming local movie, Seriously Red.
The filming boom has meant nearly all production sites across the state, and elsewhere in Australia, are booked out for the foreseeable future with some industry leaders raising concerns that the infrastructure does not exist to maintain the level of movies and television shows being shot here.
The same applies to camera operators, sound technicians, makeup artists and other production staff, many of whom are booked out due to the influx of projects being based in Australia.
Other Hollywood stars to be working on projects here include Ron Howard, Idris Elba, Julia Roberts, Tilda Swinton, Colin Farrell and Viggo Mortensen.
Chris Hemsworth too has been very busy locally. He recently wrapped Marvel blockbuster, Thor: Love and Thunder, in Sydney and will soon begin shooting Netflix film Extraction 2 in Australia.
He also filmed Netflix movie Escape From Spiderhead and produced the Matthew Reilly flick, Interceptor, which starred his wife.
Hemsworth will also appear in Oscar-winning director George Miller’s next Mad Max film, Furiosa, that will be shot in NSW.
Jack Thompson, with whom Crowe scored one of his first acting jobs in Australia more than 50 years ago, was on hand for the announcement.
“I believe, when this studio is established, this will be a real jewel in the crown of Aussiewood,” he said.
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