Darwin Shoot Begins!
July 1st, 2007
Filming of Australia has now moved to Darwin with filming expected to take place on Stokes Hill Wharf from 2nd until 5th July, and on the 10th and 11th July. Filming will also take place in a warehouse on 6th and 9th July.
Local Darwin residents should note that Stokes Hill Wharf will remain open for business throughout filming, but it will be a closed movie set; access to the area is now limited. A shuttle bus will leave every 5 minutes from a temporary car park on the corner of McMinn St and Frances Bay Drive from 8.30am to 11pm until 13th July. Assistance will be provided by volunteers, identifiable by their ‘Australia’ hats and shirts. For an access map and details see here.
On June 29th, Baz Luhrmann spoke to members of the press from Stokes Hill Wharf and discussed the reasons for filming on location in Darwin. Luhrmann revealed that filming on location was dramatically more expensive than shooting in a Sydney Studio, but nothing could come close to recreating the beauty of the real thing.
He laughed off suggestions that his decision to film in remote parts of Australia was a public relations exercise.
“Are you saying to me that you think that I’ve got 20th Century Fox to spend multi- multi-millions of dollars because I want to be liked in northern Australia …It’s an artistic issue, not a political one.”
Sources: Northern Territory News, TVNZ.co.uk, NT News
image: joanne osborne