West Coast feature film in the works for Launceston born director Damien Power

A funding boost to get five Tasmanian film projects “pitch ready” has been announced opening the door for a new feature starring Tasmania’s wild West Coast.

Queenstown is the largest town on Tasmania's west coast. Picture: The Unconformity

Launceston-born director and writer Damien Power has always wanted to make a movie set on the West Coast of Tasmania.

“It’s a fascinating place,” he said.

“The remoteness, the beauty and the landscape around Queenstown is extraordinary.”

Securing recent Screen Tasmania project development funding means his dream will soon become a reality.

The grant will allow Mr Power to visit Queenstown again from his home in Sydney to scout for locations, undertake research and start drafting another script for his proposed new feature-length film Lyell.

Launceston born director Damien Power will progress his feature film “Lyell” following a project development grant from Screens Tasmania. Picture: Justin Lloyd

Lyell – still in the drafting and writing stage – is set to be a police thriller based on a cop and an ex-criminal who join forces to solve multiple suspicious and seemingly unrelated disappearances.

The film will be set in “Lyell” a fictitious West Coast town based on Queenstown.

“A lot of the stuff that I write tends to be dealing with issues about the return of the past,” Mr Power said.

“I’ve always felt that the past is very visible on the surface of the place in Queenstown.”

Mr Power fell in love with film and movies at a young age after joining the Launceston film society with his grandfather.

West Coast Tasmania. Orr Street in Queenstown

He moved to Sydney in the late ’90s and since then has produced two feature-length films one of which – Killing Ground – made its international debut at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017.

Arts Minister Madeleine Ogilvie said screen production in Tasmania was now “booming” as a result of the Tasmanian government’s investment in the industry.

“This investment represents real jobs and real expenditure in Tasmania, and real Tasmanians telling real Tasmanian stories,” Ms Ogilvie said.

“It is exciting that these projects are driven by Tasmanian creatives and that Screen Tasmania’s funding allows them to work with high-profile professionals from outside the state.”

Screen Tasmania’s Project Development program runs in quarterly rounds with the next to be announced in July.

Five projects received a share of more than $77,000 to get them “pitch ready”.

The project development program provides funding for research, writing and collaboration, preparation of pitching documents and, occasionally, for the production of a sizzle reel or proof of concept.