Boost in Animation, VFX and Location Shoots Down Under Fueled by Australia’s Incentive Boost

o paraphrase a famous baseball film: If you legislate it, they will come. That has been the experience of the Australian film industry after the government boosted the Location Offset from 16.5% to 30% in July 2024 after a period of uncertainty. Another sweetener was the removal of the 20% above-the-line cap from the Producer Offset taking away restrictions when using major creative talent.

The result was an immediate uptick in interest in Australia as a place to shoot, but in the past 12 months that has turned into concrete success.

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According to the Screen Australia Drama Report 2024/25, a record $1.93 billion was spent in Australia across 174 Australian and international titles — a 14% increase from 2023-24. Local pics saw a huge hike with expenditure increasing 76% to $270 million with an unusually high number of local films with budgets over $35 million.

Executive producer E. Bennett Walsh heads up “The Big Fix,” a recently announced international production starring Mark Wahlberg and Riz Ahmed that centers around the FIFA match-fixing scandal. He is clear about what appeals about Down Under.

“The Location Offset is what is anchoring the industry,” he says from “The Big Fix” production office in Sydney. “Since then both Amazon and Netflix have started to come here and I think Amazon is on its 12th project — it’s a really great time. And what is great is that we are handling the capacity.”

Walsh first came to Australia in 2003 for “Stealth,” featuring Jamie Foxx, and the Nicolas Cage-starrer “Ghost Rider.” A 15-year gap followed but recently he has worked on Chris Hemsworth vehicle “Subversion” and “Mortal Kombat II” on the Gold Coast, and now “The Big Fix” in New South Wales.
Walsh is part of a growing collection of international professionals shooting more than one project
in Australia.

“We are seeing real repeat business,” says Kate Marks, CEO of production promotion agency Ausfilm. “We are seeing studios coming back — Amazon and MGM have done a number of projects in a number of states; Netflix, Legendary, Sony, Warner Bros. and Disney — but we are also seeing talent, both behind the camera and in front of the camera, returning. ‘The Big Fix’ is directed by Baltasar Kormákur, who recently shot ‘Apex’ here, and Bennett Walsh has done multiple projects in Australia. You have stars like Mark Wahlberg who just did ‘Balls Up’ and ‘Play Dirty’ — surely the sign of an industry working well.”

Sydney’s Disney Studios Australia hosted a high-profile international slate including Legendary’s “Street Fighter,” 20th Century Studios’ “Send Help” and Netflix’s “Apex,” alongside locally produced series such as “NCIS: Sydney.”

“The pace has only accelerated into 2026,” says Yasmine Lintmeijer, head of Disney Studios Australia. “An Apple Original feature kicked off the year in Sydney, at its peak occupying eight of Disney Studios Australia’s nine soundstages, while several other feature productions are in pre-production based at the studio. Across the state, productions including Amazon Studios’ ‘Spaceballs’ have contributed to a clear sense of momentum.”

Although a lot of this work is predominantly out of the U.S., one trend Marks is seeing is increased interest from other markets, in particular the U.K. “In the industry there are more conversations around co-productions and I think countries around the world are looking at how they can lean into that and support cross-cultural collaborations. That’s something that Ausfilm is looking at as well.”

Marks also mentions that productions are starting to spread beyond the usual hubs of Melbourne, Sydney and the Gold Coast. She cites the recently announced Jake Gyllenhaal and Kevin Costner-starrer “Honeymoon With Harry” shooting around Brisbane, and the first U.K.-produced TV shows — “Breakers” and “Two Birds” — going into the brand-new Perth studios in Western Australia.

“We have seen a bit of a boom over here,” says Rikki Lea Bestall, CEO of Screenwest. “Over three years we have tripled the size of production here and are going from strength to strength. We have a strong contingent of Western Australia filmmakers around the world returning to film here.”

They include actor Dacre Montgomery of “Stranger Things,” who in the past year made his debut behind the camera with “The Engagement Party” and “Twice Over,” toplining Mia Wasikowska and Charlie Heaton.

Australian animation is also thriving but it’s hard to discuss without acknowledging the big blue dog in the room. Marks point to the fact that the “Bluey” movie in Queensland is building capacity and growing the local animation business. She also notes the 50-strong Australian animation contingent heading to Annecy for the second year in a row. But the “Bluey” effect is even wider.

“With a huge show like ‘Bluey’ introducing people to our Australian humor, we’ve unlocked a new audience,” says Laura DiMaio, head of production at Princess Bento, the studio behind adult animated series “Koala Man” and “Hazbin Hotel.” “The animation and design of ‘Bluey’ is beautiful, so having that as a calling card for Australian animation is definitely a good thing.”

Barbara Stephen, managing director and CEO of Flying Bark, which produced Netflix’s “Stranger Things: Tales from ’85,” is busier than ever with a “Zak Power” movie from the popular book series, a Sony TV adaptation of “Ghostbusters” and a game adaptation of “Clash of Clans.”

Stephen says that post has long been a strength in Australia but agrees that the success of original IP is earning the country a reputation as such collaborations like the studio’s “Tales From Outer Suburbia” with artist Shaun Tan draw interest.

“There are a lot of hit global animations with Australian creators — often on the adult comedy side, people like Michael Cusack (“Smiling Friends”), and Adam Elliot (Oscar-winner for “Harvie Krumpet” and nominee for “Memoir of a Snail”),” she says. “We are really punching above our weight when it comes to unique storytelling in animation.”