A Magical Stage
The Gold Coast is the magical stage for big productions – and that’s not only big meetings and events – it’s also major screen productions.
For decades now, the city has attracted the film and television industry because of its photogenic locations, extraordinary studio facilities and its talented actors and behind-the-scenes technicians and creatives.
The catalyst for the screen sector’s development has been the massive investment by Village Roadshow Studios in the largest studio lot in the southern hemisphere.
This facility alone is estimated to have attracted $3.8 billion of film business – from motion pictures to television series to television commercials. It’s big business on the Gold Coast.
There’s also a whole new generation of start-ups who’ve chosen this beautiful part of Australia as their home. They’re amazing companies that are developing the latest technical innovations for special effects and real time animation.
Humans perform at their best when the atmosphere around them is right. Many factors influence this – people, place, culture and having the right tools of the trade.
Imagination plays a big part – and this is fuelled by the environment around us. Especially when the senses are surprised and delighted.
That’s why Baz Luhrmann, maker of films like Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby has chosen the Gold Coast for his latest movie, “Elvis”.
He told the Australian Financial Review: “I really think the Gold Coast is particularly engineered for filmmaking. I love Sydney, but it’s a bit like New York: it’s a financial centre; it’s a political centre. It can’t be wholly devoted to sports and entertainment. Like in LA, filmmaking and tourism are natural bedfellows because you’re building fantasy, escapism. A story.”
But Australia’s most celebrated director isn’t alone in letting his imagination run free on the Gold Coast. Big name movies to film in the city include Thor: Ragnarok, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, San Andreas and The Shallows. Australian productions filmed on the Gold Coast include The Railway Man, Bait 3D and Sanctum 3D.
Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre was chosen as the location for Chris Hemsworth’s Netflix Escape from Spiderhead and Ron Howard is also filming on the Gold Coast. The Gold Coast is where great stories happen - where talented, inspirational Australian and international producers and directors come to realise their creative dreams.
Whether it’s the magic of the light, the vast beaches of the coast, the breezy lifestyle – imagination thrives here and delivers experiences that change you.