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Perth to get first film studio

A plan depicting the Perth Film Studios. 

A film studio with three sound stages will be built on the campus of Murdoch University, intended to become a hub for production in Western Australia, according to plans revealed today.

The Perth Film Studios would be part of a major commercial development which would include a 180-room hotel, conference centre, bars, gymnasium and a cinema.

The development is a joint venture between Stephen Van Mil’s Impian Films and the UK’s Extraordinary Group. Van Mil, who is interim CEO of the project, told IF he estimates the studio would cost about $50 million. He hopes construction will start in early 2014 after planning approval is granted and that the studio will open within two years.

He says the Murdoch University, which supports the concept, plans to open a film and TV training facility on the site.

Acknowledging that studios per se are an unprofitable business, he says the revenues from the commercial operations will make the entire development viable. “With the cash flow from the revenue streams it would not matter (financially) if we did not shoot one film in the studio,” he says.

He describes the lack of a professional studio in WA as an “embarrassment,” noting films such as Kriv Stenders’ Kill Me Three Times shoot interiors in the old Sunset nursing home which the State Government intends to close. He says ScreenWest conducted a feasibility study which showed the need for a purpose-built studio.

The development will be a 50/50 co-venture between Impian and Extraordinary, funded by a combination of debt and equity. He was speaking from London where he was meeting financial institutions.

Van Mil met Extraordinary Group CEO Chris Samwells in Cannes and discovered he was planning to build a studio in Perth for which it had developed a set of plans. That meshed with Van Mil’s desire to see Perth get its first studio, hence the decision to form a co-venture.

According to the Extraordinary Group’s website, it coordinates film fund investment and structures the finance of the special production vehicles to benefit from subsidies and tax incentives.

One subsidiary is developing a complex near Girona in Spain that will have three studios including a large digital film studio. Another unit produces animated feature films and sponsored animated video games.

Impian is developing a batch of films including Fred Schepisi’s The Drowner; Shallows, a drama based on a Tim Winton novel which US writer Ellen Fontana is scripting, to star Emma Booth; and Tango Underpants, a feature inspired by a short film of the same name, co-directed by Miranda Edmonds (Impian’s director of development) and her brother Khrob Edmonds, starring Booth as an Australian backpacker who loses her mojo after a bad breakup and heads for Buenos Aires.

Also on his slate are The Damned, a film based on the true story of two Western Australian teenagers who murdered a girl they had befriended, adapted from a Reg Cribb play, to be directed by Andrew Lewis; and Big Numbers, a comedy based on Mick Colliss’ book about four rugby-playing guys who formed Australia’s first national Sudoku team and competed in the world Sudoku championships in Goa, India.

The Drowner has been in development for several years.  Van Mil says the script is being finalised by John Collee and Schepisi and he is determined it will shoot in 2014.

 

  1. Stephen van Mil is an inspiration and to command such a flagship studio as outlined is no small feat. He shows ingenuity and courage at a time WA is crying out for innovation in other fields beside mining. Perhaps now we as a State can ‘mine’ our interior life in the visual arts on another level. Well done Impian Films.

    Graeme Bond
    CEO
    Birdsong Press
    WA

  2. Impian has been claiming for years now that they are in pre production on The Drowner. Someone might need to inform Stephen Van Mil what that actually means. It really surprises me that outlets continue to give this guy the time of day when he hasn’t produced a feature film before. There’s a lot of hype but no follow through. Congratulating someone for not having done anything but self promotion seems a little misguided.

  3. Mark, cheer up friend. A wise man once said the thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness, but every one who is impatient hastens only to want. Stephen is working his butt off for the greater good. How about some encouragement. Next time you run into an embattled producer give her or her a hug. They need it.
    Graeme Bond
    Birdsong Press

  4. Mark Taylor

    I believe you should be careful with your judgements. Extraordinary Ltd who are Mr Stephen van Mil’s partners in Perth have a team that has financed 70 films and countless tv series- the reason we are his partners- He has the balls to do something rather than sit around doing nothing but complaining….

    As a matter of interest Mr Taylor how many movies have you produced?

    Kindest Regards,

    Chris Samwells
    CEO

    Extraordinary Ltd

  5. I’m sorry, I have to agree with Mark on this one. I’ve seen this sort of thing too many times to be fooled by Stephen Van whats his name. Pick 4 locations in obscure parts of the world to build Movie Studios…. For what? Wake up WA! I guarantee nothing will happen and you’ll be out of pocket for the experience. My hat’s off to you Stephen. Well played sir.

  6. Reading comments highlights WA and it’s tall poppy syndrome, it’s such a shame… Perth has a great climate and great locations, we should be a film powerhouse for the Australasian region so it’s great we are getting such a facility. I’ll be filming in it in a few years 🙂 Well done to all involved!

  7. Identifying a scam is not tall poppy syndrome. Additionally if you are referring to Van Mil as a tall poppy “Simon ” then you are as deluded as Van Mil – maybe Simon and Van Mil are one in the same? Common sense by now must tell us that a vet who wants to make a film so he calls himself a producer does not mean that he is a producer! Van Mil is finally outed as man who suffers from delusions of grandeur…as does Chris Samwells and his Extraordinary disappearance. “How many movies have you produced” says Mr Extraordinary Disappearance to Mr Mark Taylor. Like you need to have made a movie to identify a sociopath and a sociopathic deluded vet. Heaps of investors want their money back Stephen! What are you going to do about that? Now where is that Scamwells? What happened to the grand plan?…over to you Mr Troll Van Mil. A man who spends more time boxing at shadows than learning the ropes of 101 “producing”. WHAT A JOKE!

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