The department will be closed from Monday 23 December 2024 and will reopen on Thursday 2 January 2025. We will respond to queries in the new year. Best wishes for a safe and happy festive season.
$233 million facility puts WA on the global stage
WA’s first ever dedicated screen production facility will shine a spotlight on our local creative industry and put us in a strong position to attract larger national and international film, television and gaming projects to our state.
The State Government is investing $233.5 million to construct a screen production facility, with approximately 600 new jobs to be created (directly and indirectly) during construction.
The Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries (DLGSC) will manage the overall project while construction of the facility will be undertaken by Home Fire Creative Industries Pty Ltd (Home Fire).
Arts and Culture Trust (ACT) is responsible for lease of the land and will become the owner of the asset (on behalf of the State) upon completion of the build. ACT will hold the operational agreement with Home Fire Operations Pty Ltd and will oversee the operational management of Perth Film Studios.
In August 2020, the State Government announced it was seeking proposals from the private sector to locate, build and operate the state’s first ever screen production facility.
The facility would need to provide studio, digital and post-production services to complement the boom in location-based screen activities across regional WA. It would also have to meet the requirements of the emerging games and immersive technologies sectors.
The call-out was part of a Problem and Opportunity Statement under the Government’s Market-led Proposals (MLP) program, with the process led by the Department of Planning, Lands, and Heritage.
Following a competitive Stage 1 and 2 MLP process, the State Government invited Home Fire to Stage 3 as preferred proponent to negotiate on an exclusive basis.
Following development approval in May 2023, Home Fire submitted its final binding offer to develop the facility in Malaga.
The development of Perth Film Studios is one of the 8 initiatives of the Screen Industry Strategy that supports the 10-year vision to grow and develop the Western Australian screen industry.
The project objectives are to:
Perth Film Studios is situated in the north-eastern suburb of Malaga, near Whiteman Park.
Malaga provides the perfect location with its proximity to the Perth CBD and airport, direct access to major roads for travel to WA’s regional areas and access to future public transport including the new METRONET station at Malaga and the future station at Bennett Springs East.
The facility will be located on a 16-hectare site at Lot 811 Marshall Road and held in freehold title by the Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC).
Once the new Morley-Ellenbrook Line (MEL) is constructed, the site will be physically separate from Whiteman Park by the new rail corridor, creating an opportunity to optimise the underutilised strategic land.
The site is cleared and historically was used for cattle grazing. Importantly, due to the scale and availability of land in proximity to the site, there is an opportunity to consider expansion in the future.
Perth Film Studios will have 4 sound stages with associated annex buildings, workshops with lockup and an entry office building.
The sound stages will have 15-metre ceilings and large opening doors to enable drive-in access for large trucks.
The 4 annex buildings will contain production offices, wardrobes, toilets, hair and makeup space, green rooms and meeting rooms.
Each sound stage, workshop and annex will be able to function as a separate, secure and standalone screen production operation to enable multiple screen operators to use the site whilst protecting intellectual property and production confidentiality. Or, alternatively, a single large screen production could hire out the entire facility.
There will be a large backlot provided for external filming opportunities, and a boneyard for multifunction use as required by productions.
The project is in the delivery phase and ground works have commenced.
In line with the state’s project governance the project will be governed by a Steering Committee with DLGSC as the chair. The following key representatives will comprise the committee:
In transiting from project planning to delivery and in accordance with governance project frameworks, key consultation will continue with project reference groups which include key industry associations and stakeholders such as Screen West.
State Government seeks proposals from private sector to locate, build and operate Perth's first ever screen production facility, through a 'market-led proposal' process.
State Government announces its support of $106.9 million towards the cost of building the screen production facility ($105m 2021-22 election commitment, $1.9m 2023-24 budget).
Stage 1 and 2 of MLP process progresses. Announcement of film studio located in Fremantle.
State Government invites Home Fire Creative Industries to progress to negotiations and conducts due diligence.
Change of location is announced with Malaga as the preferred site.
Delivery agreement is approved by State Cabinet, signed by Department of Finance and Home Fire. November 2023 Home Fire is granted approval to commence forward works.
Home Fire entered into a design and construct contract with Built Pty Ltd.
November 2023 Home Fire commences forward works at the Malaga site.
Forward works are complete and construction begins.
In May 2024, the operational agreement between the Arts and Culture Trust and Home Fire Operations was signed.
The State Government is investing $233.5 million to construct the facility, with approximately 600 local direct and indirect new jobs to be created during construction.
Community engagement consultation occurred through various stages of the planning process. Community members were able to provide feedback through the development application and rezoning process. The project team consulted with the City of Swan council members.
The project engaged Arche-Aus to undertake an Archaeological and Ethnographic survey of the site with traditional owners nominated by the South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council in 2023. No new Aboriginal archaeological sites were identified during the survey and there is no requirement for a section 18 approval under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972. Home Fire commenced works in November 2023, and traditional owners have been present on site to monitor works as required.
The land has historically been used for cattle grazing and is predominantly cleared. Through the planning and development processes, the project was referred to the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation and Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions. As a result of the process, a Kangaroo Management Plan was prepared to manage the transition of kangaroos to Whiteman Park.
In addition, the project has considered improving the amenity of the site through landscape planting and stormwater management. Soft landscaping will be used to re-create the pre-agricultural landscape condition. All new trees and plants will be native to the Southwest Australian bioregion. Vegetation mounding will also provide visual screening from Marshall Road with a green frame (landscape edge) to assist with visual amenity, privacy and noise amelioration.
A minimum of 2 marri (Corymbia calophylla) trees will be planted and maintained as one native tree will be removed as part of works. Marri (Corymbia calophylla) is suitable for the forest red-tailed black cockatoo, Baudin’s cockatoo and Carnaby’s cockatoo.
In its 2020-21 Economic Impact Report, Screenwest reported that WA’s screen industry was valued between $30 million and $50 million in any one year.
For every dollar spent during production our state reaped almost $3 in return, meaning the $41.1 million spent in 2020-21 delivered $120.4 million of direct and indirect economic impact and supported approximately 3839 full time equivalent jobs.
Despite the threefold return, WA only holds 6% of the nation’s screen production workforce, 4% of the post-production workforce and 2% of the game developer workforce.
While screen production growth has reached record levels across Australia in recent years, WA’s growth in the industry has been limited in comparison to other states, due to the lack of world class screen production facilities.
The new Perth Film Studios presents a huge opportunity to grow WA’s screen economy and leverage investment from outside the state.
January 2024 marked a project milestone with construction commencing on site. It was also announced Home Fire is responsible for the delivery of construction works through the appointment of the construction contractor, Built.
If you are interested in project updates, register your interest below.