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Creative Industries Minister Simone McGurk is confident that the $290 million Perth Film Studios will not be a white elephant and has assured taxpayers that a production will be filming in the space before the end of the year.
The film studio project cost $233 million and the state has tipped in a further $57 million for operational costs.
Creative Industries Minister Simone McGurk, Perth Film Studios chief executive Tom Avison and WA Premier Roger Cook at the new Perth Film Studios in Malaga.Credit: Hamish Hastie
The studio reached practical completion this week and was expected to be ready to welcome film and TV productions from next month, but neither Perth Film Studios nor the government had any to announce on Monday.
“I’m confident in the next couple of months, we’ll be able to announce what the first project here will be,” McGurk said.
“There will be a production booked in here before the end of the year, I can assure you of that.”
The success of the film studio is not guaranteed, and Donald Trump’s film tariffs add extra complexity to its ability to attract productions to the most isolated capital city in the world.
McGurk said the $57 million paid to Adrian Fini-backed Home Fire Creative to operate the studio would be repaid, but did not provide a definitive timeframe.
She conceded the studios would need government support and investment in its early stages.
“I’m confident that we not only have the facility now, but we have the other elements of the picture to ensure that this will be a big success,” she said.
“The demand for screen content is at an all-time high, and I don’t see that changing. I’m confident that we’ve made a good investment, not only for the screen industry, but also for our creative industries and for Western Australia.
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“Like any industry assistance, particularly in its infancy, you do need to make investments.”
Perth Film Studios chief executive Tom Avison said he was in discussions with production companies of all sizes, including big Hollywood studios, where conversations were “accelerating and advancing”.
“We’re not in a position to say right now what’s going to be the first production, but we’re in a position that gives us all real confidence that the next few months are going to start rolling out in a really positive way,” Avison said.
“If Perth wasn’t on the map for [big studios] already...this facility is now on the map for them, and it’s in their minds.”
Avison said the business plan for the facility was “absolutely to make money for the government.”
The film studios were initially earmarked for Fremantle Port, but were moved to the southern end of Whiteman Park at the end of 2022 amid concerns about geotechnical issues and the land being too constrained.
The 16-hectare studio lot features 90,000 square meters of sound stage, makeup areas, green rooms, workshops and the biggest back lot in the southern hemisphere at 23,000 square metres.
McGurk said the studio was completed on time and on budget – arguing that the $100 million Fremantle film studio promise made ahead of the 2021 election was a completely different project.
“A lot of things have happened between that announcement in 2020 and now, so I’m confident that the final build for this and the capacity, the detail that we have here in this project has been delivered in the way that we have expected,” she said.
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