Gold Coast Independent Screen Production

Abstract

The Department of Economy, Planning and Environment of the Council of the City of Gold Coast commissioned this study to investigate independent screen production activity and capacity in the City of Gold Coast. The research investigates the industry’s size, value chain and workforce; the screen business ecology and content formats created; and the views of above-the-line content creators on the state of the industry. The research examines both core screen content—including short-form and long-form narrative-based feature film, documentary and television series, online content creation, and virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) production—and commercial corporate video production. This study defines Gold Coast independent production as that which is independent of Hollywood, but also that which is independent of, and occurs outside of the Village Roadshow Studios. It does not examine foreign or Australian feature film and television production filmed at the Village Roadshow Studios, although it does interrogate the interdependencies between local independent and studio production. The study focuses on the activities of screen workers who live and work on the Gold Coast, or those who may live outside the region but whose primary place of work or business is the Gold Coast. Surveys and interviews focus specifically on the productions of independent Gold Coast above-the-line screen content creators, which includes producers, directors, screenwriters, and online content creators.