{"id":614069,"date":"2026-04-18T01:23:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T01:23:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/614069\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T01:23:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T01:23:15","slug":"producer-backs-pitch-for-major-film-studio-in-port-kembla","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/614069\/","title":{"rendered":"Producer backs pitch for major film studio in Port Kembla"},"content":{"rendered":"

Industrial land the size of Sydney’s CBD, flanked by the beach and bush, has emerged as a potential new home for New South Wales’ second major film studio.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The NSW government has put $100 million on the table to build a film studio in Sydney<\/a>, but advocates in the Illawarra region have argued Port Kembla, an hour-and-a-half drive down the M1, would be the ideal setting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The plan has the backing of one of Australia’s most prominent producers.<\/p>\n

“Whether it’s bushland, beaches, suburbia, Wollongong canvases a really wide range of physical environments to be able to pick from,” Ian Collie said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Northern<\/p>\n

Wollongong is renowned for its unique landscape and landmarks like the Sea Cliff Bridge. (ABC Illawarra: Justin Huntsdale)<\/p>\n

Mr Collie has produced some of Australia’s most popular TV shows, including Rake, Jack Irish and Colin From Accounts. \u00a0<\/p>\n

“There are some cost-saving measures with Wollongong being so close to Sydney, allowing cast and crew to move quite freely between the two,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I think it’s a bit of a win-win.”<\/p>\n

The state government wants to supplement Disney Studios in Moore Park by partnering with the private sector to deliver a minimum of six sound stages within 100 kilometres of Sydney.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Ian Collie is a film producer and Wombarra property owner. (Supplied: Easy Tiger Productions)<\/p>\n

Mr Collie familiarised himself with the Illawarra while filming the TV drama One Night in Wollongong three years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“A lot of NSW-based productions are shot in Sydney, often for economic reasons, but shooting One Night near Thirroul, Scarborough and Coledale just felt so fresh,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I think we need to expand the regional envelope in terms of the film and TV industry, and the way of doing that is having a studio.”Studio on steelmaking land<\/p>\n

Wollongong councillor Ann Martin and not-for-profit Screen Illawarra are lobbying for a film lot to be built on land owned by steelmaker BlueScope.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Shed<\/p>\n

BlueScope is redeveloping surplus Port Kembla land. (ABC Illawarra: Justin Huntsdale)<\/p>\n

The Port Kembla Land Transformation Precinct<\/a> will see 200 hectares of land rezoned.<\/p>\n

NSW TAFE and manufacturing companies have already expressed an interest, but film advocates argue the site is perfect for screen productions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cr Martin said a film studio would be an opportunity to reshape Port Kembla’s future as more than just a steel city.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/p>\n

Wollongong council has supported Ann Martin’s motion to advocate for a film studio. (ABC Illawarra: Brooke Chandler)<\/p>\n

“The dynamism of [Bluescope’s] transformation project should not just be about conventional manufacturing jobs. It should also be about creative jobs,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Otherwise, it’s going to end up another industrial site.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Criteria adjusted for Wollongong<\/p>\n

Expressions of interest (EOI) in the NSW government’s search for a second film studio close in May, with three locations in Western Sydney already earmarked<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Volunteer-run organisation Screen Illawarra successfully advocated to have the EOI criteria for the location extended from within 35 kilometres of Sydney’s CBD to 100 kilometres to make Wollongong bids eligible.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Abandoned railway tunnels in the Illawarra escarpment feature in a Planet of the Apes film. (Supplied: Emily Parisi)<\/p>\n

Screen Illawarra chair Nick Bolton said the organisation had been lobbying BlueScope to incorporate a studio into its redevelopment well before the EOI opened.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We brought Netflix, Amazon, Warner Brothers and the BBC down for a familiarisation tour run<\/a> by Destination Wollongong and Investor Wollongong 16 months ago and sent all their details to BlueScope,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bluescope representatives joined a visit to Disney Studios at Moore Park in January.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Nick Bolton says Port Kembla ticks all the boxes for the state’s second major film studio. (ABC Illawarra: Brooke Chandler)<\/p>\n

Mr Bolton said a film studio was flagged as a redevelopment option during a BlueScope community and industry briefing in 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“That’s why we’ve advocated for the last 18 months. There was interest there,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘No proposal’<\/p>\n

Despite movie studio representatives visiting the region, BlueScope said it had not received a proposal from a film company.<\/p>\n

BlueScope head of property development Michael Yiend said in a statement that the company would not be submitting a bid, but it remained open to receiving detailed proposals for commercially viable opportunities for its land transformation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“BlueScope is a steelmaker, not a filmmaker,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"Group<\/p>\n

Government, Screen Illawarra, University of Wollongong and BlueScope representatives toured Disney Studios at Moore Park. (Supplied: Alison Byrnes)<\/p>\n

Mr Bolton and Mr Collie said they were hopeful an interested party would come forward before the EOI closed next month.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We can see a really bright future here, and we want to make it happen,” Mr Bolton said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Industrial land the size of Sydney’s CBD, flanked by the beach and bush, has emerged as a potential…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":614070,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,37164,298136,134,298135,298138,298139,16862,298140,298134,298137],"class_list":["post-614069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bluescope","tag-cr-ann-martin","tag-entertainment","tag-film-lot","tag-ian-collie","tag-new-film-studio","tag-nsw-government","tag-port-kembla-land-transformation-precinct","tag-screen-illawarra","tag-wollongong-council"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/614070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}