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Penguins, Flappers, Angels, Dinosaurs and assorted Superheroes have been keeping Sydney’s film crews, animators and VFX artists busy in 2011, and already 2012 is looking like another strong year for international productions in Australia’s harbour city.

Of the “7 Hot Movies/Series Coming out of Australia” featured in The Hollywood Reporter October focus on Australia, six have been shot (or will shoot or do post-production) in Sydney or the state of New South Wales (NSW). These include Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby – currently shooting and due for release in December 2012, Alex Proyas’ Paradise Lost – to shoot in 2012, George Miller’s Happy Feet 2 – currently in cinemas, Stephan Elliot’s A Few Best Men – due for release in January 2012, P.J. Hogan’s Mental – currently in post-production and Jane Campion’s mini-series Top of the Lake, which will do post-production in Sydney.

Sydney’s visual effects houses have also been busy. In particular, the Fuel VFX team found themselves immersed in Marvel’s superhero universe on Thor and Captain America and are currently continuing that journey on The Avengers, while at the same time exploring the outer reaches of far more frightening universe for Ridley Scott’s Prometheus. Animal Logic worked its own magic when converting Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 into 3D for Warner Bros, and is helping bring the Triassic era to life for the BBC and Los Angeles-based Evergreen Films on Walking with Dinosaurs 3D.

While it has been fuelled by the Australian Government’s screen industry incentives (the 40% Producer Offset for Australian projects, a 30% rebate on Post/Digital/Visual Effects, and a 16.5 % Location Rebate), the boom in production and post-production in Sydney has been underpinned by the NSW Government’s competitive production attraction incentives that are in addition to the national rebates.

In November, just as Happy Feet 2 hit screens in the US, the NSW Government announced that Warner Bros and Animal Logic would be booking a play-date in 2012 for the new Lego family movie, a project secured with assistance from the Government’s Investment Attraction Scheme. Steve Papazian, President of Worldwide Physical Production for Warner Bros. Pictures, who has had a long history of making movies in Sydney, said at the time of the announcement, “I want to extend my appreciation to the NSW Government for its continued support. We look forward to building upon our valued relationship.”

Through its screen agency Screen NSW and its Trade and Investment division, the NSW Government has for many years been working to develop strong relationships with Warner Bros and other major US studios and production companies to attract productions to Sydney, and to ensure that once here, they find a ‘Film Friendly’ state in which to shoot. That work has obviously paid off, with international producers full of praise for Sydney.

“Working here has been a dream experience. The crew is fantastic and everything about the whole situation has run smoothly. We would recommend it wholeheartedly,” said Lucy Fisher (Memoirs of a Geisha) of Red Wagon Productions, which is producing The Great Gatsby with Luhrmann’s Bazmark Films for Warner Bros.

Stephan Elliot’s international producers Larry Maulkin and Share Stallings (Death at a Funeral) were equally impressed. “Starting with the ever-present support of Screen Australia and Screen NSW, our shoot in Sydney and NSW was amazing. The Blue Mountains were spectacular and we even used Sydney as a double for some of our London locations.”

Official co-productions also benefit from the 40% Producer Offset. London-based producer Andy Paterson (Girl with the Pearl Earring) had been warned that shooting the UK/Australian co-production Burning Man in Sydney would be very difficult. “I found the opposite was true. I knew that Screen NSW and the government had been working hard to make the city more film-friendly and we had a wonderful locations team, and the effect was to allow us to really get the best out of it. We shot in the National Park down at Wattamolla, all over the Eastern suburbs at Bondi, Clovelly, Bronte Park, found hospitals in Northern Sydney and couldn’t be happier with the overall look of the film.”

With those ringing endorsements and a growing list of confirmed projects, Sydney looks set to continue to shine as a hot-spot for international film production and post-production work in 2012.

For information on how you can Shoot/Post/VFX your next project in Sydney, visit the Screen NSW website at www.FilmInSydney.com or email Paul de Carvalho, Director of Production Attraction at Production@FilmInSydney.com

South Australia shone at the recent IF Awards with filmmaker and new SAFC Board Member, Anthony Maras, winning the AFTRS IF Award for Rising Talent. Another local talent Geoff Hall, won the IF Award for Best Cinematography for his work on Red Dog.

Australian box office hit Red Dog (Producers Nelson Woss (WA) and Julie Ryan (SA) Director, Kriv Stenders and Writer Dan Taplitz) was the big winner on the night. Supported by the SAFC and shot partially in South Australia with a strong component of SA crew, Red Dog took out seven awards including the IF Award for Best Script, the Event Cinemas IF Award for Best Box Office Achievement, IF Award for Best Cinematography, IF Award for Best Music and the coveted Showtime IF Award for Best Feature Film. Kriv Stenders took out the IF Award for Best Direction whilst Josh Lucas won the IF Award for Best Actor.

The SAFC supported film Oranges and Sunshine was also a winner. The film won the Dyson IF Award for Best Production Design for Melinda Doring and the Dinosaur Designs IF Award for Best Actress for Emily Watson. Veronika Jenet took out the Avid IF Award for Best Editing for her work on Snowtown, also made in South Australia.

The South Australian Film Corporation sponsored the IF Award for Best Sound which was won by Wayne Pashley, Polly McKimm, Derryn Pasquill and Fabian Sanjurjo for their work on Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole.

While South Australia continues to enjoy this onscreen success the big news is the new Adelaide Studios which were formally opened in October at a gala event for 700 guests by special guest Premier Mike Rann, marking what was his last official duty as Premier.

The Gala Opening was the final event in a suite of tailored launch events for the new studios including a media launch, industry orientation day and community open day which attracted 4,500 SA patrons keen to explore the new facilities.

A spectacular 3D architectural projection was created specially for the gala launch by South Australian artist Cindi Drennan (Illuminart): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D0SphLvNJ8

For more information about Adelaide Studios including images and a description of the facilities click here ausfilm.com.au/production-resources/studios/adelaide-studios/ or visit www.adelaidestudios.com.au

*Red Dog was also supported by Screen Australia and ScreenWest

Australia’s Gold Coast has long been a big budget movie making paradise for US studios, with big screen successes including, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Fools Gold, Nim’s Island and Scooby Doo.

Now the Gold Coast has shown that low budget, local productions can also make it big. Australian film Crawl, written and directed by Paul China, has catapulted onto cinema screens across the globe after having its world premiere at the Screamfest Festival in Los Angeles.

The low budget suspense thriller made such an impact at the festival, the Gold Coast-based production company won three awards, including Best Director (Paul China), Best Actress (Georgina Haig), and Best Cinematography awarded to Brian Breheny who also produced the film.

The film recently screened at the Tuscon Terrorfest in Arizona and the Ravenna Nightmare Film Festival in Italy. Its Australian premiere was held at the Brisbane International Film Festival to a sold out audience. Interest in the local production was so strong at the Gold Coast Film Festival that a second cinema was required after the first sold out a week before the screening.

Writer and director Paul China said, “It has been a fantastic response to a little film made in the northern suburbs of the Gold Coast”.

“Working creatively with a small budget, it was important that we filmed in a city that could rise to the challenge of integrating all the production pieces at a low price, whilst still providing a successful screen experience for the audience. The crews, the locations and local council were all fantastic, clever and supportive”.

Twin brother and one of the film’s producers, Benjamin China, said, “The Gold Coast is a great place to make movies. The local Village Roadshow Studios has a long history of attracting international and domestic productions. The cumulative benefit of this are the smart, diverse and experienced film professionals living locally, that have a wealth of technical expertise, who can contribute to the whole film process.”

Council’s Economic Development and Tourism Chair Councillor Susie Douglas said, “The Gold Coast has a genuine and professional film production culture that is important to the city and its future. The Council is committed to supporting productions of all sizes and we encourage producers and directors scouting the world for potential locations, to take a closer look at our film-friendly city”.

Shot on the digital RED camera with the new MX censor and upgrade, Crawl is a character-driven thriller set in an unknown rural town. A suspenseful, yet darkly humorous chain of events builds to a blood-curdling and unforgettable climax. For more information and interviews, visit: www.crawlthemovie.net

Docklands Studios Melbourne is the production base for the new gothic thriller, I Frankenstein, produced by Hopscotch Features in partnership with Lakeshore Entertainment.

The film, based on a graphic novel by Kevin Grevioux is written and directed by Stuart Beattie and will star Aaron Eckhart and Bill Nighy.

I Frankenstein commenced pre-production in November and principal photography is scheduled for late February 2012. The film will shoot at Docklands Studios Melbourne and on locations in Victoria.