Russell Crowe is backing a new film studio to be built at Coffs Harbour on the north coast of the Australian state of New South Wales – a region he has lived in for the past 25 years.
Crowe unveiled details of a new facility on Wednesday during a press conference, saying: “I want the East Coast of Australia to be synonymous with the film industry, globally.” He adds that he estimates that the complex could open in 3-5 years.
Australia has been a COVID-safe production magnet over the past year with recent films like “Godzilla vs. Kong,” “Mortal Kombat,” “Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway,” “The Invisible Man” and upcoming films like “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” “Thor: Love and Thunder,” Ron Howard’s “Thirteen Lives,” Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” and George Miller’s “Furiosa” all shooting there.
The country hosts three major studios – Fox Studios in Sydney, Village Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast just outside Brisbane, and Docklands Studios in Melbourne. The Coffs Harbour region lies about 330 miles north of Sydney and 235 miles south of Brisbane.
The proposed Pacific Bay Resort Studios and Village aims to build four sound stages, a water tank, animation and post-production facilities. As such, it will be one of the smaller studios in the country, though it aims to be a bespoke state-of-the-art facility.
Crowe says: “We don’t plan to compete with Disney or Warner Bros. We are looking at making this a bespoke production facility to ensure the small to medium films, and the $10 to $100 million projects, will have a space in the film infrastructure framework of Australia going forward.”
The area boasts pristine coastal and hinterland locations and the studio would tie into the 100-acre Pacific Bay Resort – a former banana plantation turned hotel and leisure complex that reportedly has Crowe as a major investor. It would also conveniently allow cast and crew to stay onsite.
Source: Variety
