Progress has been made in the Gold Coast’s attempt to attract more Hollywood productions to the glitter strip.
Council today voted to shortlist two studio operators for the development of the site at Yatala.
The 85-hectare council-owned site will be home to a state-of-the-art studio for filming and production.
Mayor Tom Tate says there’s high demand for it, with many more productions expected to be attracted to the Gold Coast in the coming years.
“The film industry growth is quite phenomenal,” Mayor Tate says.
“It’s great to see we have made progress on the screen industry project at Yatala with two respondents endorsed for invitation to tender,
“A tender process to determine the most suitable candidate is now underway and a decision is expected to be made early in 2024.”
The parcel of land located at 396 Stanmore Road Yatala on the northern Gold Coast was identified as the best commercial land between the Gold Coast and Brisbane to enhance the local screen industry.
Mayor Tate says the build would support hundreds of local jobs.
“Local architects, town planners and of course local builders so the Gold Coast is really an international city now.
“We will attract an international tenderer but jobs on the ground will be Queenslanders.”
City representatives met with 76 national and international film studio developers and operators recently from Australia, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom as part of the Expression of Interest process.
The applicants were asked how they would establish initiatives and operations within the facility to develop, grow and collaborate with the domestic screen industry.
Meantime, city leaders also today revealed a newly created Gold Coast Film Commission alongside a massive 300% funding boost to the local screen industry.
Funding will increase to more than $1 million a year to support a greater number of international, national and local productions filmed on the Gold Coast.
The Gold Coast is the only local government in Australia that provides incentives to attract film and television productions to the city through the Screen Attraction Program and the only local government area to be involved in the AFCI.
Gold Coast Film Commission will be part of the AFCI, a global non-profit organisation that provides advocacy, connectivity and education for film commissions and screen businesses.
