WA’s screen industry in $19m boost
You can purchase access to this special report or subscribe to Business News.
Subscribe to Business News.
The state government has committed nearly $19 million for the state’s screen industry, announced at the premiere of a 12-part television series filmed in Western Australia.
Culture and Arts Minister David Templeman announced the $18.72 million funding ahead of the Perth premiere of Stan original series Population 11, which was filmed over three months in Derby.
Mr Templeman said the funding was additional to the $9.2 million in Lotterywest grants awarded to Screenwest for 2023-24.
The $18.72 million funding will support the state’s upcoming Screen Industry Strategy, including more than $15 million in incentives to attract major productions to WA, the state government said.
“To date, the scheme we call the WA Production Attraction Incentive has attracted a number of high-profile productions to the state,” Mr Templeman said.
He said the filming of Population 11 in Derby created 100 jobs including local cast and crew, with extras employed from Derby and Broome.
“It’s also been great to see the $7.1 million expenditure including all sixty-two rooms at King Sound Resort booked for the full duration of production; that’s 8,620 overnight stays in our Kimberley region,” Mr Templeman said.
Population 11’s lead actor Ben Feldman, known for his role in Superstore, Mad Men, and Silicon Valley, flew to Perth for the premiere of the series at Luna Leederville on Sunday.
The series is a collaboration between streaming service Stan, Screenwest, Lotterywest and the WA Regional Screen Fund.
Screenwest chief executive Rikki Lea Bestall said it has been a record year for the company, with the number of projects filmed in the state,
"This year looks like it will be even bigger," she said.
The state government aimed to propel WA into an attractive location for filmmakers and actors, particularly with the upcoming $105 million screen production facility in Malaga.
Despite labour and other issues in the construction industry, Mr Templeman remained confident the Malaga film studio would be open as expected.
“All contracts have all been signed and sealed and construction has commenced. We are very, very confident that early 2026, the screening facility will open,” he said.
"We estimated that in early 2026, it'll be open and ready to go but we're working before that, of course.
"That's why this nineteen million dollars is about talking to the industry worldwide about, not only the fact that that facility will be opening in less than two years' time, but also that we are continuing to build the pipeline already."
Other major projects filmed in WA include Stan original film The Surfer starring Nicolas Cage and survival-thriller zombie film We Bury the Dead featuring Daisy Ridley of Star Wars fame.
Mr Cage filmed his scenes in Yallingup late last year while Ms Ridley is in Albany to shoot We Bury the Dead.