PRESS RELEASES
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BAZMARK FILM II PTY
LTD
PRESS RELEASE: FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, 29th June 2007
'AUSTRALIA' MOVES BACK ON THE ROAD!
Baz Luhrmann's epic movie 'Australia' will arrive in the Top End after filming
is completed in Bowen in Northern Queensland this week. Production commences on
Stokes Hill wharf in Darwin on Monday 2nd July. After filming wraps in Darwin,
the company's planned move to Kununurra will be postponed due to the
record-breaking unseasonably wet season. Instead, the production will return to
Sydney where filming will resume on the sound stages at Fox Studios.
Luhrmann, the writer/producer/director of such films as 'Moulin Rouge!', 'Romeo
+ Juliet' and 'Strictly Ballroom', conceived the project in the Top End three
years ago and has insisted the film be shot on location there. He sees the Top
End as one of the last frontiers for travellers to explore. Once the film is
released he believes that people will want to come and see it for themselves.
Luhrmann said: "If a film moves people, they want to see where it was shot. In
New Zealand, the popularity of 'Lord of the Rings' has resulted in a huge rise
in NZ tourism in 6 years. The film has to deliver, but if that happens, everyone
benefits."
In Darwin, the filming on Stokes Hill wharf will feature scenes with stars
Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. The filming will include the arrival to Darwin
of Kidman's character, Lady Sarah Ashley, on a Qantas flying boat at the
bustling wharf. Jackman will be featured in a scene that takes place in the
aftermath of an attack by Japanese forces on the city as Australia enters the
Second World War. These scenes will be edited together with footage already shot
in Bowen and Darwin will come to life as the exotic port it was then and remains
today.
The filming of "Australia" is expected to provide a substantial boost to the
local economy in Darwin. Film Representatives have been working closely with NT
Government, NT Tourism and local media to ensure that Darwin's businesses are
looked after and to help facilitate the increased exposure that filming will
bring. Local businesses are being used to source a range of products and
services and the crew of over 400 will be accommodated in hotels and motels.
More than 300 extras will be cast locally to appear in the movie and there will
also be opportunities for locals to be part of the action as volunteers. For
further information please contact Lisa Naumann, Volunteer Coordinator on mobile
0439 882 920 or email lisa.naumann@nt.gov.au.
Bazmark Film II has been working closely with Chief Minister, Clare Martin, to
implement a Special Wharf Task Force whose duties will include: minimising any
inadvertent impact on local business due to filming; car parking and shuttle bus
arrangements; waterfront construction and the potential of some intermittent
stoppages of specific noise generating activity and a Traffic Management Plan
with Ace NT which will be in place from 30 June to 13 July.
The first tangible sign that filming is coming to Darwin can be seen on McMinn
Street where a billboard has been erected to promote the free shuttle bus
service to the Wharf. Six buses will be operating daily from the Shuttle Base to
the Wharf between 8:30am and 11:00pm and as needed to Fort Hill Wharf for
harbour cruise boat customers. A Travel Guide Volunteer will also be appointed
to each bus to assist commuters with any enquiries. Further information about
the shuttle service is available from www.nt.gov.au or call 8999 6819.
Once filming wraps in Darwin, the company will return to Sydney where filming
will continue on the sound stages at Fox Studios. The production made the
decision to postpone shooting originally scheduled for Kununurra and the
surrounding area due to unseasonably bad weather in the region over the past
weeks. The torrential rains slowed down the construction of sets and the waters
blocked access to many crucial locations. Luhrmann insists that "the color
palette and drama of the East Kimberley landscape during the dry is worth
waiting for. Once the waters have subsided and our team can recommence work
there, we look forward to returning to Kununurra to complete filming."
AUSTRALIA is set in the country's northern outback prior to World War II and
centres on an English aristocrat, Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman), who finds
herself unexpectedly fighting to save a cattle station the size of Belgium. When
local cattle barons plot to take her land, she reluctantly joins forces with a
rough-hewn cattle drover (Hugh Jackman) to drive 1500 head of cattle across
northern Australia's breathtaking, yet brutal landscape. Love ensues, but they
must still face the bombing of Darwin by the Japanese forces that had attacked
Pearl Harbor only months earlier.
Produced by Baz Luhrmann , G. Mac Brown and Catherine Knapman under Luhrmann's
Sydney-based Bazmark Film banner, AUSTRALIA will be distributed worldwide by
News Corporation's Twentieth Century Fox.
FACTS AND FIGURES FOR DARWIN
On the Wharf the production is building:
100 M. of handrail
90 Sq. M. of timber deck
15 M. of fake railway track
11 M. long staircase down to the water
37. Sq. M. floating pontoon
A working crane will be used to lift luggage from the pontoon onto the Wharf.
The production is cladding the existing concrete and steel to look like timber
using a mixture of fibre-glass and plaster. Steelcon (Berrimah) is manufacturing
the set pontoon, and Workboats North Australia is providing workboats and crew
for construction. The production will be hiring at least two more pontoons (the
Labroy and the DMS one) and several dressing vessels TBC. The casting department
has built up a database of over 1200 extras. The production's caterer will be
sourcing all foods/supplies locally for approx 200 crew breakfasts, 280 crew
lunches and 200 afternoon teas per day plus approx 175 additional breakfasts,
lunches & teas daily for extras. A traffic management plan will move our crew
and wharf patrons through the wharf development and onto the wharf.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BAZMARK FILM II PTY
LTD
PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, 27th April 2007
LIGHTS, CAMERA,
ACTION:
FILMING BEGINS ON LUHRMANN’S EPIC ‘AUSTRALIA’
After more than 2 years of research, writing and preparation, one of the most anticipated Australian films in recent history, Baz Luhrmann’s AUSTRALIA, officially commences filming Monday 30 April. Writer/producer/director Luhrmann is once again teamed with Academy Award® winner Nicole Kidman [MOULIN ROUGE!, THE HOURS, THE OTHERS] (with whom he last worked on the worldwide campaign for Chanel No. 5) and leading man Hugh Jackman [THE PRESTIGE, THE FOUNTAIN, X-MEN TRILOGY, KATE & LEOPOLD]. All three are thrilled to be back in their homeland and working with the world renowned cast and crew.
Luhrmann said: “We are in a wonderful creative place in the Australian film industry where daring independent films like TEN CANOES can be made alongside groundbreaking digital animation like HAPPY FEET. And here we are about to embark on our epic AUSTRALIA, working with the best of world talent, in inspirational locations, in our own home country.”
Joining Kidman and Jackman is a who’s who of Australian acting talent including legends Ray Barrett, Bryan Brown, Jack Thompson and Bill Hunter who will feature alongside David Wenham, Ben Mendelsohn, John Jarrett, Kerry Walker, Barry Otto, Matthew Whittet, Arthur Dignam, Bruce Spence, Tony Barry, Sean Hall, Essie Davis, Eddie Baroo, Nathin Butler, Jacek Koman, Sandy Gore, Yuen Wah [KUNG FU HUSTLE] from China and indigenous cast Lillian Crombie, Ursula Yovich [JINDABYNE], Angus Pilauki, Crusoe Kurrdal, Jamie Gulpilil, David Ngoombujarra [RABBIT PROOF FENCE, THE MISSING], David Gulpilil [TEN CANOES, THE TRACKER, RABBIT PROOF FENCE] and 11 year old Broome boy Brandon Walters, in his feature film debut. Double Academy Award® winning Production & Costume Designer Catherine Martin [MOULIN ROUGE!, WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S ROMEO+JULIET, STRICTLY BALLROOM] will again inspire with her visual expertise, re-creating outback Australia and Darwin of the 1930s.
AUSTRALIA, a
romantic action-adventure set in the country’s northern outback prior to World
War II, centres on an English aristocrat, Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman), who
finds herself unexpectedly fighting to save a cattle station the size of
Belgium.When local cattle barons plot to take her land, she reluctantly joins
forces with a rough-hewn cattle drover (Hugh Jackman) to drive 1500 head of
cattle across northern Australia’s breathtaking, yet brutal landscape. Love
ensues, but they must still face the bombing of Darwin by the Japanese forces
that had attacked Pearl Harbor only
months earlier.
Filming is planned over an epic 5 month shoot and will take the cast and crew to four states and territories including locations in Bowen, Kununurra, Darwin and surrounding areas, as well as Sydney. Produced by Baz Luhrmann, G. Mac Brown and Catherine Knapman under Luhrmann’s Sydneybased Bazmark Films banner, AUSTRALIA will be distributed worldwide by News Corporation’s Twentieth Century Fox. The cast and crew of AUSTRALIA would like to thank everyone in advance for their support during filming.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20TH CENTURY FOX
PRESS RELEASE
June 2006
Hugh Jackman to star
with Nicole Kidman in Baz Luhrmann's Untitled Epic;
Luhrmann's First Feature Film since Oscar-Winner "Moulin Rouge'' to Begin
Production February 2007.
Hugh Jackman, just off the record-breaking success of "X-Men: The Last Stand," has agreed to star with Nicole Kidman in writer-director Baz Luhrmann's as yet untitled epic. Jackman, one of today's most in-demand and busiest talents, chose the Luhrmann film over the myriad projects he has been offered in recent weeks. His next film set for release, Darren Aronofsky's "The Fountain," is already receiving strong critical buzz. Also awaiting release for the actor are Woody Allen's "Scoop" and Christopher Nolan's "The Prestige." Luhrmann's film, a romantic action-adventure set in northern Australia prior to World War II, centers on an English aristocrat (Kidman) who inherits a ranch the size of Maryland. When English cattle barons plot to take her land, she reluctantly joins forces with a rough-hewn cattle driver (Jackman) to drive 2,000 head of cattle across hundreds of miles of the country's most unforgiving land, only to still face the bombing of Darwin, Australia, by the Japanese forces that had attacked Pearl Harbor only months earlier. With his new film, Luhrmann is painting on a vast canvass, creating a cinematic experience that brings together romance, drama, adventure and spectacle. The film begins pre-production October 2006 and production commences in Australia in February 2007. A third lead, a dark rival for the heroine's love and land, will be announced shortly. One of the world's largest producers and distributors of motion pictures, Fox Filmed Entertainment produces, acquires and distributes motion pictures throughout the world. These motion pictures are produced or acquired by the following units of FFE: Twentieth Century Fox, Fox 2000 Pictures, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Fox Atomic and Twentieth Century Fox Animation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Compiled
for Baz the Great
Copyright