Spotlight on cost as studio build begins

Construction is under way on the state’s long-awaited film studio in Malaga, to be built by a consortium led by developers Adrian Fini and Ben Lisle.

The $233.5 million project at a site on Marshall Road will be in operation by 2026 and built at a cost more than double that of the original project estimate of $100 million.

The revised price tag was budgeted for in December’s mid-year review.

It will include four purpose-built sound stages and facilities including production offices, an art department and wardrobe, workshops, backlot parking and set storage.

The project was designed by Hassell will be built by Home Fire Creative Industries, a consortium including Mr Fini and Mr Lisle’s property group Hesperia, construction company Built, as well as business and industry leaders including Howard Cearns, Black Swan Theatre Group chief executive Ian Booth and film producer Jamie Hilton.

The contract was won through the state’s at-times contentious market-led proposals process, and construction starts following a period of consultation conducted after the site was shifted from Fremantle to Malaga.

Premier Roger Cook said construction of a film studio in Perth’s northern suburbs was an important part of the state’s economic diversification.

“It’s an exciting opportunity to really see the expansion of our film and television production industry,” he said.  

“As you know, we’re significantly investing to reinvent [Edith Cowan University] at a city-based campus, and of course, its award-winning WAAPA Institute.

“You can see young people, who have got experience in acting productions, set design, film and other support services, getting a start in life out here as part of this great new facility.”

Mr Cook said the facility would be ready by 2026, and that the state expected it to attract film professionals from interstate and overseas.

Marketing of the new facility is expected to begin ahead of opening, scheduled for early 2025, in a bid to grow a work pipeline ahead of its opening.

Around 600 jobs direct and indirect will be created during construction, according to government figures.

Mr Cearns appeared as a representative of Home Fire alongside Mr Cook, Arts Minister David Templeman and Treasurer Rita Saffioti at a press conference to mark today's construction milestone.

Mr Cearns said the consortium had aimed to create a blank canvas space benchmarked against existing and future facilities elsewhere to attract productions small and large.

“The types of productions this studio can accommodate range from independent films through to multi-series seasons of drama series for example, free-to-air and streaming services, and significant movies that may want use the studios themselves in our locations,” he said.

The state government first committed to build the studio in 2021, ahead of the state election, with then premier Mark McGowan outlining a price tag of $100 million.

Much has changed since then. The project was originally slated for Fremantle’s Victoria Quay, but later shifted to its current site in Malaga.