Chrysaor Studios on ABC Gold Coast: Six Months In, and a Call for Help
On 22 September I joined ABC Gold Coast 91.7 Breakfast to talk about our first six months at Chrysaor Studios, where our work is coming from, and what I believe the Gold Coast screen industry needs to do next. You can watch the full interview above, and the complete transcript is below.
If you run a screen business on the Coast, big or small, I want to hear from you. Let's band together.
Christopher Amos, Founder and CEO, Chrysaor Studios
Transcript lightly edited for readability. Interview courtesy of ABC Gold Coast 91.7.
The Gold Coast's $400 million screen sector
ABC Gold Coast: A page of yesterday's paper ran a headline about the Gold Coast film industry. You might have seen it. It said we had a $400 million juggernaut, citing a report by business advisory giant BDO that claims our film sector creates an employment equivalent of more than 1,100 full-time jobs. But for all the Hollywood-esque hoopla, the excitement doesn't necessarily equal investment. Take the case of Chrysaor Studios. Six months ago they opened their facility at Varsity Lakes, just a few minutes away from the Miami Arts Depot, where Baz Luhrmann has set up shop. Since opening in April, they've had a lot of interest: hosting events, enticing producers, engaging local businesses, building partnerships with educational institutions, and receiving support from local and state government, along with Screen Queensland. But there's very little on the horizon for this studio in our city. So do we have a problem? Christopher Amos is the CEO and founder of Chrysaor Studios and joins me now. Chris, good morning.
Chris: Good morning, thank you for having me.
What a social enterprise film studio is
ABC Gold Coast: Thanks for coming in. Let's explain exactly what Chrysaor is, because it's a social enterprise film studio. How does that differ from other production facilities?
Chris: We're Social Traders certified. Basically, 50 per cent of the profits go back to community. That means subsidising other people's projects, so rather than them having to pay top dollar, we can put some money in towards that.
ABC Gold Coast: Okay, right. Are there other facilities like that on the Gold Coast? You're the only one?
Chris: This is the only one in Australia that's a film studio.
Six months in: who has come through the doors
ABC Gold Coast: For those of us not in the industry, with little understanding of how the sector works, and I've mentioned some of the activities and engagements you've had in the last six months, what have you been doing? And how have those activities attracted business for you? You've had some business, but it is very slow.
Chris: We had a six-week booking for an interstate film that's going to be airing on Stan at Christmas time. They did a set build and a big water tank, eight metres by five metres high. They built a cave and filmed some young girls as mermaids. It was a really safe space: dark lighting, big roller doors, a great environment to film that in. And we've done an advert with Chris Hemsworth for a property development in Dubai. So we've been doing little isolated things, plus local indie filmmakers, music videos and lots of other things like simulation travel. We've had Tom Tate come through, and the Arts Minister, John-Paul Langbroek, and we put them in a car in front of the LED volume so it looked like they were driving around the Gold Coast, and we put that out on the internet. But it's a real struggle, because a lot of people are working on intellectual property they're creating, and by its nature it's not out there in the public domain. So I've got to ring everyone up and do marketing and publicity, and it's very hard to find these people because they don't make themselves easily accessible. Recently I've been talking to companies like Banijay, a major producer of shows we see on our TV screens, and a lot of them are asking, why haven't we heard about you? And I'm saying, you're hearing about me now. It's taken me ages to find you.
Why local crews and graduates are leaving
ABC Gold Coast: Well, it's only been six months, so maybe that takes time. But of course, there are big studios here on the Gold Coast, which is where the bulk of the industry is. Is it that we're not geared towards supporting independent filmmakers and smaller productions, which is where you're targeting your business?
Chris: That's absolutely the case. I've been following film studios on the Gold Coast ever since Dino De Laurentiis built the studio that's now Village Roadshow. The intention was always that the investment coming in with these international films would have a compound benefit culturally: local crews and small to medium enterprises would buy equipment and train staff. We've got Bond, Griffith, TAFE and QUT, all of these amazing graduates, but they're having to leave to get work elsewhere, because in Queensland we do not have a really strong domestic market creating content. All the TV shows are down south. So when Hollywood brings in the tariffs and introduces new legislation, which is bipartisan and going through in America at the moment, they're going to want their Hollywood movies back, and we're going to be left empty-handed.
The $5 million movie that went to South Australia
ABC Gold Coast: What about the recent 40 per cent state funding cut to the local film industry? That wouldn't fill you with a lot of confidence. Are you optimistic about the future of the film industry here?
Chris: To that point, I can speak, and I have permission from a producer. They had a $5 million movie that was going to shoot in Q2 of last financial year. It was green-lit because of the last-in 10 per cent that was going to come from Screen Queensland. But then they had to postpone because of all that rain that went on and on for weeks, so they put it back to Q4. When they went back to Screen Queensland and said, we're ready to go now, last money in, they were told, we don't have it now. The budget wasn't there anymore. So a $5 million movie, Queensland created and developed, has now gone to South Australia. The four and a half million that would have come in on top of the Screen Queensland contribution has gone. But here's the rub. In the new system, the new budget actually extends for two years. Had we had that in place already, and they'd been approved in the earlier financial year, they would have been safe this financial year, and that project would have stayed here. So it cuts both ways.
A call for local screen businesses to band together
Chris: I think that's the point John-Paul Langbroek was making: we can't just be doing red carpets for Hollywood. And I'm not asking for handouts. We actually have to come together as a business enterprise community. We are commercial, and Screen Queensland want to support us. So I'm calling on the Gold Coast's screen enterprise businesses, small to medium, sole traders, to all band together so we can start cross-pollinating opportunities and sweating our assets, especially coming up to the 2032 Olympics. Now's the time to shine.
Support from Invest Gold Coast and Screen Queensland
ABC Gold Coast: Christopher Amos, CEO and founder of Chrysaor Studios, a social enterprise film studio on the Gold Coast, is my guest this morning on 91.7 ABC Gold Coast. It's 21 past seven. Chris, how much support have you had from, say, Invest Gold Coast or the Gold Coast Film Commission?
Chris: Not as much as I was expecting, to be fair. They did sponsor the food and drinks for an event we hosted. We had 250 RSVPs and over 150 industry people turned up. That was a virtual production showcase, so we could talk to people while they saw the gear. There's a photo of it in an article I've released on our website today. But I do want more support from them. It's not that they're the gatekeepers, but they're the eyes and ears the industry talks to. It's all behind the scenes, Chinese whispers, and that's where the opportunity comes from. But we can't rely on them to do our marketing for us. That's why we need to band together, so they have someone who can represent the community. I'm not saying it should be me, by the way. Gabby Jones would be great, and Annie Kinnane, and Film Freelancers is a great website where you can list your services and be found. So it is starting to get traction. But I do think they should be in the room with us. The industry should be heard, and there should be feedback and consultation, and it should be fair dinkum. Since we opened, we've had one person from Screen Queensland step onto our studio floor.
ABC Gold Coast: Wow. Just one?
Chris: Just one, and that was as part of the Arts Minister's visit. So one of the reasons I came in today is that I've got some questions for Screen Queensland. What are the criteria for us to be on the Gold Coast facilities page? I've been asking them for three months: can we please have a listing on that Gold Coast studios page? They've knocked me back for various reasons. I've asked, can you give me the parameters? Are they public, so we can be assessed against them? And the feedback coming back is that if they do it for us, all the capital grant recipients will want to be there. But only two studios actually got that grant. One of them is there. The other one has asked, and we're not.
ABC Gold Coast: It's very strange, isn't it?
Chris: Very odd.
Where the work is coming from
ABC Gold Coast: Of all the work you've had since Chrysaor Studios opened, how much of it has been locally based?
Chris: Of the 10 invoices that have gone out, we've had one Queensland-based lead producer.
ABC Gold Coast: Just one.
Chris: Everything else was interstate: Victoria, New South Wales.
ABC Gold Coast: Which in one way is good, that you're attracting interstate business. But you want to see the local industry develop. That's really what you're about. You're saying 50 per cent of your profits as a social enterprise go back into supporting local projects, so your vision is to build up a local industry, particularly independent filmmakers?
Chris: Look, I'm talking about TVCs, bands making music videos. The research is already there. The Gold Coast Film Commission commissioned a QUT report, and the solutions are already there. Screen Queensland has a strategic plan. All of these answers are already there for them to activate.
What needs to happen for the industry to thrive
ABC Gold Coast: All right. We know we have the talent, the locations and the infrastructure to succeed. So what needs to happen for our film industry to thrive?
Chris: We need to back ourselves. We need to collaborate. We need to band together and sweat our assets. We need intellectual property that's not just Queensland stories, but Queensland made. That could be any story: animation, science fiction. There are lots of other stories out there.
Humphrey B. Bear, the 2032 Olympics and a digital Gold Coast
Chris: I'm in talks with Humphrey B. Bear at the moment about what we could do with that brand, because it's locally owned, and that would be great. That could be the Gold Coast version of Bluey. And coming up to the 2032 Olympics, all of these things are going to raise our status in the community and the world, and people will be attracted to that. They'll see our beaches on their screens. Yesterday we had people from the council and the Gold Coast 2032 Olympic team come through, and they loved the site. They're so excited about the potential. We talked to them about twinning the Gold Coast, turning it into digital assets that can be used in Unreal Engine. That means people in Canada or Iceland can download our beaches and film themselves. What a great way to use our resources and get them out to the world.
ABC Gold Coast: Christopher Amos, CEO and founder of Chrysaor Studios, my guest this morning. This is 91.7 ABC Gold Coast.
Get in touch
If you're a Gold Coast screen business, crew member, producer or creative and you want to be part of this, get in touch through our enquiry form at chrysaor.com.au. Chrysaor Studios is at 492 Scottsdale Drive, Varsity Lakes.
Proudly supported by the Queensland Government through Screen Queensland's Capital Grants Program.
