World’s largest film stage on our doorstep

Qingdao Movie Metropolis (Pronounced Chyingtao) is scheduled to officially open in August 2018 but MCTV people have already been involved in a production that was filmed at the enormous facility. Pacific Rim 2 filmed earlier this year in Sydney, Brisbane and the Qingdao facility.

The facility includes a “high-tech, airport-hangar-sized structure of 6,000 square meters (about 65,000 square feet), which ties a stage at Pinewood London as the world’s largest film stage. Once completed, Wanda’s Movie Metropolis will contain China’s largest outdoor and indoor underwater stages, 221 acres of backlot and 45 soundstages comprising nearly twice the square footage of Universal, Hollywood’s biggest filmmaking facility” source: The Hollywood Reporter

There is an enormous opportunity for cooperation between China and Australia on productions destined for Chinese screens as well as for Australian audiences and the broader market. We have recently had the Mandarin language remake of the hot TV series Chosen filming here in Sydney and many MCTV actors have featured in TV commercials filmed here in Sydney and shown only in China.

“China itself has more cinema screens than any other country in the world,” AACTA chief executive officer Damien Trewhella said. Wanda, the company behind Qingdao Movie Metropolis is also the new owner of  Hoyts cinemas in Australia.

AACTA is driving a push for further collaboration between Australia and China and Screen Australia has a funding program available for such collaboration.