Joint release
The Hon Scott Morrison MP
Prime Minister
The Hon Martin Foley Mp
Victorian Minister for Mental Health, Equality and Creative Industries
In another coup for the local screen industry, Hollywood's newest original television production will film in Victoria with Netflix Originals' Clickbait the latest global production to receive investment from the Morrison and Andrews Governments.
The Federal Government will provide $4.9 million for Clickbait through the Location Incentive program, with the Victorian Government also supporting the production through Film Victoria's Production Incentive Attraction Fund.
Written, co-created and produced in Victoria, Clickbait is an 8-episode character-based thriller which explores the ways in which our most dangerous and uncontrolled impulses are fuelled in the age of social media, and reveals the ever widening fractures we find between our virtual and real life personas. The mini-series will commence seven months of production and filming at Docklands Studios Melbourne and various locations around the city later this year.
Co-created by Victorians Tony Ayres and Christian White, Clickbait will be produced by Melbourne-based Matchbox Pictures and Tony Ayres Productions together with UK production company Heyday Television for Netflix and NBCUniversal.
Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts, the Hon Paul Fletcher MP, said the Morrison Government's investment supports Australia as a filming destination of choice for big budget productions, providing our local screen industry with a steady pipeline of work.
"Securing this production will bring more than $36 million of new international investment to our shores, engage around 540 cast, crew and extras, and use the services of around 290 local businesses," said Minister Fletcher.
Victorian Minister for Creative Industries, the Hon Martin Foley MP said Clickbait is a major coup for Victoria.
"Clickbait demonstrates the ingenuity of Victorian creatives, who after many years of honing their talents, are in demand by Hollywood, and have created a production that has caught the eye of global powerhouse Netflix.
"The execution of Tony and Christian's creative vision in their home state will inject millions of dollars into the Victorian economy, provide emerging screen practitioners with opportunities to build their skills and be seen by audiences the world over," Minister Foley said.
Clickbait follows news of the Morrison and Andrews Governments partnering to secure Paramount Television and Anonymous Content's 10-part adaption of best-selling novel Shantaram to film in Victoria.
It also follows recent high-end television productions made in Victoria, including season four of AMC's Preacher, Stan Originals' Bloom, BBC co-production The Cry, Foxtel's Wentworth and Nine's HALIFAX: Retribution, which is currently filming in Melbourne.
Film Victoria CEO Caroline Pitcher said Victoria has become the centre for high-end television reaching global audiences.
"We are thrilled to raise the bar yet again with Clickbait, the first Netflix Originals project to be created and produced in Victoria. Landing this project attests to the strength of our local screen industry and the ambitious projects of our local companies. We hope this is the first of many collaborations with Netflix," Pitcher said.
The Australian Government's Location Incentive is designed to work alongside the Location Offset to provide a 30 per cent rebate for eligible large budget international productions, helping to attract to foreign investment to Australian shores.
For more information on the Location Incentive visit:
www.arts.gov.au/australian-screen-production-incentive.
For more information on Clickbait visit:
ENDS
