Victoria continued to assert its global presence in the screen industry with US cable television series Hunters being filmed in Melbourne in 2015. The 13 episode series was shot at various locations around Melbourne.
Film Victoria CEO Jenni Tosi said that the Hunters series, produced by Universal Cable Productions, a division of NBCUniversal, was secured through Film Victoria with support from the Victorian Government.
“We were thrilled that Universal Cable Productions recognised the many attributes of the Victorian screen industry and again chose Melbourne as the location for its next series," said Ms Tosi. “In 2014 Victoria enjoyed a welcome mix of local and international production activity including The Moon and the Sun and The Dressmaker. With Childhood’s End in pre-production and Hunters following in 2015, it demonstrated the enormous confidence in the depth and creativity of film and television practitioners in Victoria, providing valuable employment and business activity.”
Hunters is from Valhalla Entertainment and executive producer Gale Anne Hurd (The Walking Dead and The Terminator Trilogy), who was in Melbourne as a special guest at the 2014 Screen Forever Conference, an annual gathering of over 700 of the world’s most influential screen industry practitioners. Natalie Chaidez (12 Monkeys and Heroes) is executive producer and writer with Universal Cable Productions serving as the studio.
Executive Vice President, Universal Cable Productions Mark Binke said, “We had a very productive and pleasant experience working with the Victorian Government getting Childhood’s End off the ground and we head into production in just a few weeks”.
“It was a natural choice for us to come back to Victoria with Hunters, which is one of our highest profile projects. We look forward to growing our relationships with Melbourne’s creative community and to continue collaborating with the team at Film Victoria.”
Universal Cable Productions produced Hunters in collaboration with Melbourne-based company Matchbox Pictures. Managing Director Chris Oliver-Taylor said, “Matchbox Pictures was delighted to work with such world class talents as Gale and Natalie to deliver this fantastic series".
Hunters is based on Whitley Strieber’s best-selling novel Alien Hunter, where the disappearance of a decorated Philadelphia police officer’s wife, leads him to a secret government unit assembled to hunt a group of ruthless terrorists - shadowy figures that may or may not be from this world.
Hunters is scheduled to premiere in the USA on the SyFy Channel in April 2016.