Baz Luhrmann’s blockbuster biopic Elvis is the first major Hollywood film to be produced from start to finish on the Gold Coast, and if the director gets his way it will not be the last.
Key points:
- Baz Luhrman’s most recent feature film, Elvis, has received eight Oscar nominations
- Some of the biopic’s filmmakers relocated to the Gold Coast after production finished
- The Gold Coast mayor hopes to build more film studios and post-production facilities
The Aussie filmmaker has fallen in love with the Gold Coast, dubbing it “Goldiewood” and relocating headquarters for his production company Bazmark to the coastal Queensland city.
Luhrmann has designed and built post-production studios on the Gold Coast, where a team of editors, composers, and visual effects artists helped put the finishing touches on his feature film Elvis — nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Film Editing.
Initially lured by the promise of a COVID-19 safe haven and lucrative government grants, some of the film’s American producers loved the Gold Coast so much that they bought homes and permanently relocated.
Bazmark managing director Schuyler Weiss said the film’s success cemented the city’s reputation as a world-class place to make movies.
“I think the future of the entertainment industry here on the Gold Coast is so undeniably full of potential that you just have to spend a bit of time here and you want to be part of it,” he said.
“There weren’t the facilities so we took over a building [in Miami] on the Gold Coast Highway and put in 13 edit stations, music rooms, [and] the visual effects were created there.
“Now I can’t imagine a better place to make a movie than in Queensland.”
A destination for filmmakers
The Gold Coast is no stranger to Hollywood productions.
Oscar-winning director Ron Howard recently gave the sunshine state a “five-star” review after filming Thirteen Lives.
Big-budget blockbusters Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and Aquaman were also filmed on the Gold Coast.
But Elvis marks the first production that has been completed there from start to finish and City of Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate was keen to attract more major studios.
He wanted to approve construction for post-production facilities and an additional 40 film studios in cane fields to the city’s north by the end of the year.
“We have been gifted with location — you can be on the beach, you can be in the tropical rainforest, you can be in urban and other unique locations,” Mr Tate said.
“There’s no other city that can deliver that within a 30-minute drive.
“Now it’s getting serious that we’re going to be a major player in the film industry.
“What the city invests will probably be a thousand times returned to our city and create jobs in the creative industries.”
A booming industry
Screen Queensland chief executive Courtney Gibson said the state’s booming film and television production industry contributed $230 million to the local economy last financial year, creating 5,400 jobs across 45 projects.
“Queensland offers the full package,” she said.
“We have world-class crews, we have world-class studios, we have fantastic production and post-production companies, we have fantastic incentives.
“We are an end-to-end state in terms of what we offer with a range of fantastic local post-production houses, and some that relocated here from other parts of Australia.”
Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts president Russell Crowe was recently in the city to announce the organisation would shift its annual awards night from Sydney to the Gold Coast.
Speaking at a press conference, also attended by Mr Tate and Queensland Minister for Tourism Stirling Hinchliffe, he said Queensland was blazing a trail for film production in Australia.
“Queensland, it has to be said, right now in terms of film productions, is leading the way,” Crowe said.