How does the Illawarra fit into plans for a second NSW film studio?
Advocates say the region has land, talent and scale Sydney lacks
The race is on. The NSW Government has formally opened Expressions of Interest for Sydney’s long-awaited second major film studio. Will the Illawarra make a submission?
The Minns Labor Government launched the EOI process on March 9 to find both a location and an industry partner to deliver the facility, backed by a $100 million capital investment. The move marks the most significant expansion of Sydney’s screen infrastructure since the opening of Fox Studios Australia at Moore Park in 1998.
NSW has only one major studio space, Disney Studios Australia at Moore Park. The screen industry has made clear that the shortage of production space has cost the state dearly, with major international and high-end local productions going interstate or overseas. The Gold Coast has been the primary beneficiary, spending a decade building a studio ecosystem that NSW is now scrambling to match.
Under the EOI, an eight-week window which closes in May, proposals must include at least six sound stages, demonstrate experience operating screen infrastructure, and ensure NSW Government investment does not exceed the $100 million capital contribution. Proposals on both private and government-owned land are welcome, and non-conforming bids, including those from outside Greater Sydney, will still be accepted and evaluated.
The government has identified three publicly owned sites in Western Sydney - at Bungarribee, Eastern Creek, and Prospect - as options for respondents to consider. Local advocates say the Illawarra has a stronger case than any of them.
Will there be an Illawarra pitch?
Screen Illawarra chair Nick Bolton is a staunch advocate of the region’s credentials, skills and creativity. His organisation conducted a detailed analysis of competing locations and says the region leads on every measure that matters: available land, location diversity, access to an established cast and crew base, and transport links.
Bolton’s vision goes beyond a single studio to a precinct drawing in satellite campuses from institutions like the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA), equipment suppliers such as ARRI and Panavision, and major post-production houses - the kind of supply chain clustering that makes world-class studio precincts work.
Bolton points to the economics to make the case. Disney Studios Australia at Centennial Park runs between 3000 and 5000 workers from a 14-hectare footprint, including 500 animators from Industrial Light & Magic and a further 500 from Netflix Animation
The Illawarra, he insists, could potentially provide a significantly larger site. And according to the CEO of Industrial Light & Magic, Bolton adds, the economic return is obvious: for every dollar invested in film production, five dollars comes back.
Federal Member for Cunningham Alison Byrnes has championed the region’s cause in Parliament, pointing out that a significant share of Disney’s own animation staff already live in and commute from the Illawarra. She has cited recent productions - including Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and features starring Russell Crowe and Pamela Anderson - as evidence the region is already delivering.
“I say to anyone thinking about the next big Australian film or series - come and knock on our door. We’re ready, and the Illawarra is open for business,” she told the House of Representatives back in November.
And there’s film tourism
The streaming quota legislation itself adds another tailwind. The bill requires streaming services with more than one million Australian subscribers to invest at least 10 per cent of total expenditure on new Australian commissions - or 7.5 per cent of gross Australian revenue - in local drama, children’s content, documentaries, and arts programming. Bolton notes that a separate location offset incentive has also been increased from 16 to 30 per cent, a figure he describes as highly competitive in attracting international productions.
For Destination Wollongong GM Jeremy Wilshire, the opportunity extends well beyond production economics. He points to the emerging concept of film tourism, where locations become destinations in their own right,and sees a major studio complex as a catalyst for the broader visitor economy.
Wollongong Lord Mayor Tania Brown joined a local delegation including Screen Illawarra and Destination Wollongong on a fact-finding tour of Disney Studios Australia to understand what world-class infrastructure actually looks like.
Brown came away focused on the scale of what’s available, noting the record $2.7 billion in national sector spend during 2024–25, and highlighting that more than half of the production spend on mid-sized projects flows into secondary industries - construction, transport, hospitality - making a studio a region-wide economic catalyst, not just a screen industry investment.
“With our proximity to Sydney, and as a city undergoing large-scale economic and industrial land transformation, we have the assets and capability to attract a slice of that investment pie for Wollongong,” she wrote in her Lord Mayor’s column.
With 479 film permit applications lodged across the Illawarra in the past five years, the creative momentum is already there.
The site?
The Port Kembla Land Transformation Project (often referred to as “the Bluescope land”) is the veritable “x factor”. A once-in-a-generation initiative by the steelworks’ landowner to reactivate 200 hectares of non-operational land adjacent to the Port Kembla Steelworks — has received NSW Government approval and been rezoned to a Special Purpose zone. Planned uses for the precinct include energy infrastructure, research, education, and social and cultural industries. Advocates say a world-class film studio fits squarely within that vision.
Exactly where BlueScope sits remains a mystery. No public statement has been made and our emails have been left unanswered.
Destination Wollongong GM Wilshire describes it as the kind of transformational land release that cities rarely get the chance to act on — an industrial site with the scale to become a landmark arts and cultural precinct with genuine global appeal.
What comes next
The EOI closes in May. The NSW Government will then evaluate submissions against its core objectives: attracting international blockbusters, supporting local production, creating jobs, and keeping NSW the nation’s screen powerhouse.
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