Screenwest announces film-friendly workshops for regional cities, encourages Mid West councils to take part

Geraldton’s presence as a film-friendly city is now firmly in focus after the Stan production of Invisible Boys. Now the call-out has been issued for other Mid West communities to follow suit. A new initiative announced by Screenwest aims to further establish WA as a film-friendly State, including the launch of resources and workshops to help local governments work with filmmakers, promote their locations, attract film producers and prepare for incoming film and television productions. WA currently has five film-friendly cities, including Busselton and Albany — which hosted large-scale Hollywood productions such as the survival thriller We Bury the Dead starring Star Wars actress Daisy Ridley and psychological thriller The Surfer starring Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage. The shires of West Arthur and Shark Bay also have film-friendly status. The City of Greater Geraldton pledged free commercial filming in 2019. It has since cemented its status as a silver-screen hotspot after hosting the production of Stan’s number one show Invisible Boys in 2024. CGG acting manager for communication and vibrancy Tully Gray said becoming film-friendly put Geraldton at a greater advantage for more exposure in the film and TV world and helped the Invisible Boys production process run smoothly and collaboratively. “We made a film-friendly pledge in 2019 so that essentially means that all our film permits are free and that we work really closely with the film companies, just to make their experience in Geraldton as friendly and as great as possible,” she said. “Invisible Boys was super awesome in the sense that it really was a whole organisational approach. So every single one of our departments worked on that production. “When you’ve got support from organisations, a lot more is possible. And certainly our approach from council through to the City of Greater Geraldton was to be as supportive as we could with this, because it was great promotion for our city.” Invisible Boys producer Tania Chambers emphasised the importance of film-friendly policies in streamlining the production process, saying the smooth collaboration with the City of Greater Geraldton helped make Invisible Boys such a success. “It’s about trying to ease the process — to try and find a way that everybody can understand what the expectations are realistically on both sides, like the role of the council and community but also what they can expect from film crews,” Dr Chambers explained. “It was really quite a beautiful partnership. When it works well and when people are excited to make things happen, not only does it make production easier, it also translates successfully on-screen, as we’ve seen with Invisible Boys.” Dr Chambers pointed out the film-friendly process was like any business and producers looked for film-friendly cities first. “You really need to have proper training, a film-friendly point person, the best possible paperwork and that all liability issues are covered,” she said. Invisible Boys generated an estimated $1.5 million for regional WA and created many job opportunities, boosted tourism and hospitality as well amped up hometown pride. Ms Gray added: “The city relished the opportunity to work with Screenwest and we’re really proud of the collaborative effort” and that she would encourage other Mid West shires to become film-friendly. “If other local governments were interested, I’d say go for it. We’re certainly of the mindset that you attract more bees with honey,” she said. Gabrielle Cole, Screenwest production attraction and services manager, said Geraldton was a fantastic example of a film-friendly community in WA. ”They were so welcoming to the Invisible Boys production team, even proactively arranging filming permits in advance of each shoot week,” she said. Screenwest CEO Rikki Lea Bestall said the organisation was “excited about welcoming more local government authorities into our program and making them film-friendly certified”. The free, digital regional workshop is on March 11 and Screenwest film-friendly resources and information can be found on its website. https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/film-friendly-western-australia-regional-workshop-tickets-1234387980679?aff=oddtdtcreator