Movie industry insider tips Gold Coast to become the Australian film capital

An avalanche of blockbuster movies are coming the Gold Coast’s way - and an industry insider has revealed why the tourism capital is such a magnet for star actors. SUBSCRIBE TO READ

The Gold Coast is poised to be Australia’s movie-making capital because of “infinite capacity” to grow and A-listers loving the place, a key figure behind the Aussie Oscars says.

The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Awards (AACTAs) brought Hollywood to the Gold Coast over the weekend, with Margot Robbie, Cate Blanchett, Joel Edgerton, Harry Connick Junior and the cream of Aussie talent descending for the event.

Expect more to come for projects with AACTA director of programming and international engagement Sam Buckland tipping the Gold Coast’s film making appeal to lead the way nationally.

“There are so many films being shot here - Eden, Mortal Kombat, Godzilla, Elvis - there’s the cream of the crop coming in from overseas with $200m budgets but there is this next level of production which people are coming up here to do.”

Ron Howard presents at the AACTA Awards at the HOTA (Home of the Arts) on the Gold Coast - he is in the middle of making his second Gold Coast-based movie. (Photo: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images for AFI

Elvis director Baz Luhrmann loved the Gold Coast so much after filming here he stayed on to post-produce the biopic - and partly bases himself on the Glitter Strip nowadays. Thirteen Lives director Ron Howard followed up that film with his second Gold Coast-based movie Eden, bringing Sydney Sweeny, Jude Law and Ana de Armas to the the city.

Gold Coast homegrown A-lister Margot Robbie arrives on the red carpet at the 2024 AACTA Awards at HOTA on the Gold Coast at the weekend. Picture: Glenn Campbell

“There are so many skilled communities on the Gold Coast now that there is enough industry to service it - and with (Mayor) Tom Tate building new studios and Village Roadshow going great guns, there are facilities here to do it,” Mr Buckland said.

He added movie financial incentives in the state coupled with the Gold Coast having a close proximity between its hotels and the studios that A-listers like was a powerful magnet.

“I think it could take over as the main screen sector of Australia - it has infinite capacity to grow unlike Sydney. We’ve got the land (here) and it only takes 20 minutes to get to these new sites - and A-list talent don’t want to travel.

“It’s so beautiful - you have the hotels and the beaches, every time I come up here I have a swim in the ocean every morning and it sorts me out.

“It’s got all the ingredients A-list talent like - they can come out here and have a sumptuous five-star experience while also shooting at facilities that are close by. There isn’t too many places around the country with facilities growing like this that can service the A-listers like you can,” Mr Buckland said.

The AACTAs and an associated festival - which this year featured 110 events from screenings, to workshops to Q&As and more - are locked in to return for two more years.

But AACTA bosses and Mayor Tom Tate have signalled a willingness to explore extending that, as revealed in Monday’s Gold Coast Bulletin.

Mr Buckland added word of mouth among the movie industry elite was key: “It really helps They all know each other. The George Clooneys and Juliet Roberts’s know the Leo DiCaprios and say ‘Look I had a great experience filming in Queensland’.

“Quite often those movers and shakers if shooting in Spain and something goes wrong with the union, I know for a fact the Gold Coast comes up as an option.”

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