The starting gun has fired for Perth Film Studios, with its first major production – a crime drama set in a fictionalised version of Kalgoorlie – now under way.
More than 100 cast and crew are expected to work on the production of the six-part series Two Birds for streaming service Stan, owned by Nine Entertainment, which also owns this masthead, and ITV in the UK.
Two Birds will feature Australian actress Judy Davies, as well as Stephen Peacocke, of Home and Away fame, and British BAFTA winner Sheridan Smith.
The series will be filmed in one of the $233.5 million Malaga studio’s main sound stages, as well as on location in Kalgoorlie.
Producer Martha Coleman said the drama centred on Smith’s character Izzie, a British detective arriving in Dugdale (Kalgoorlie) hoping for a fresh start. However, a series events begin to unravel her life before she’s even able to settle in.
Coleman said she was “blown away” Two Birds would be the production to christen the new studio.
“This is the first time that I think we have a studio that is absolutely world-class and there are no compromises,” she said.
The production has received incentive grants from Screenwest and was expected to rake in about $17 million for the WA economy.
Including extra incentives and operating costs, the film studio project has cost the state government $300 million.
The building was completed two months ago, but Two Birds is the first production to be announced.
Creative Industries Minister Simone McGurk vowed there would be many more to come.
“We’re very competitive in Australia, so that’s already been attracting quite a bit of business, and I’m confident that with Screenwest, as well as our industry partners, we’ve got the model right,” she said.
“It’s a very competitive industry, so we need to build up our capacity.
“All the feedback I get is that people are really impressed by these studios, by Screenwest and the production and cast and crews that we have here, our technical crews and support crews, so that’s really heartening to see.”
Perth Film Studios chief executive Tom Avison would not detail what other productions were in the pipeline, but hinted interest was coming from all levels of the industry.
“It’s coming from domestic, interstate productions, production companies seeing an opportunity here, and then internationally and right up to the biggest studios and streamers who are aware of what we’re doing and who are seeing what’s happening,” he said.
Avison said the recent announcement that Netflix was filming a new series, Breakers, in the South West showed WA was on the radar of the biggest streamers in the world.
“What we’re doing, and what’s happening here, is really getting across on all levels of the production industry, which is really exciting for us,” he said.
The Australian film industry will likely get a little more competitive in the coming years, with the NSW government recently announcing it was seeking private partners to build six new sound stages in the greater Sydney area with a $100 million investment.
Avison reckoned that showed NSW was trying to copy WA’s success.
“[It] immediately struck me as the New South Wales government, seeing the success of what’s been done here and the way that it’s operated here, and saying, ‘Hang on a minute, they’re on to something’,” he said.
“Number one: I think that WA should be really proud of that, it looks like someone’s copying them.
“The other side of it is, I think it speaks to the appetite in the market and the optimism that there is growth that is going to continue happening.
“I’m not worried about New South Wales. I also think it adds to the team Australia menu of options for productions, and it makes the country more appealing to come and work in.”
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Hamish Hastie is WAtoday’s state political reporter and the winner of five WA Media Awards, including the 2023 Beck Prize for best political journalism.Connect via X or email.