ROLLING CREDITS ON 2024

 Grace, Percy and Gilbert at Luna Park in Melbourne

2024 was another great year for Victoria’s screen industry, with local talent thriving, global stars and major studios bringing unique screen stories to life in iconic locations across the state, and Melbourne playing host to some world-class industry events. Victoria continues to hold its reputation as a global screen leader. Discover more about what made 2024 such a stellar year below. 

LOCAL TALENT SHINES

Max Turner as Keithy Cobb and Lennox Monaghan as Percy Boy in Windcatcher

It’s been a big year for VicScreen with a raft of exciting local film, TV and games projects commencing production and hitting our screens in 2024. The year kicked off with the appointment of Sam Dinning as VicScreen’s new Head of Content. Followed by the announcement of the second iteration of VicScreen’s hugely impactful Originate Games initiative returning. Originate Games invites some of the state’s most promising developers to fine-tune their games with the goal of securing publishers and platform holders in the near future. 

Documentaries continued to soar in 2024 with several VicScreen-supported factual projects like Last Chance to Save a Life, Trailblazers and This is Going to be Big receiving critical acclaim and scooping up awards in the process. 

Children’s film and TV also stole the spotlight this year with the release of Windcatcher, the commencement of Andy Lee’s new animation series Do Not Watch This Show, season 2 of Spooky Files, and the release of Season 4 of the much loved kids’ animation Little J & Big Cuz.  

A new six-part drama for the ABC, The Family Next Door, started shooting around Melbourne’s bayside suburbs, as well as regional Victoria, showcasing Victoria’s stunning coastline, while Patrick Hughes (The Hitman’s Bodyguard) set up units in regional Victoria for his new sci-fi film War Machine.

There is no shortage of Victorian talent both in front of and behind the camera. One such talent, Yorta Yorta and Wurundjeri man and Artistic Director of Birrarangga Film Festival, Tony Briggs, shared with us how he has carved out a sustainable career in the screen industry. 

We also spoke to the Cairnes brothers, whose homemade indie horror film Late Night with the Devil premiered at SXSW before smashing box office records for their U.S. distributor IFC. 

And we heard from writer and director Adam Elliot and producer Liz Kearney about making their award-winning clay animation film Memoir of a Snail.

HOLLYWOOD COMES TO MELBOURNE: INTERNATIONAL PRODUCTIONS TAKE CENTER STAGE

Antony Tulloch, Colin Brooks MP, Sarah Snook, Caroline Pitcher and Louisa Coppel. Photo by Sarah Enticknap

A host of international productions set up bases in Melbourne and across Victoria this year, with Liam Neeson (Taken) returning to shoot Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky, Sarah Snook (Succession) coming home to shoot a new thriller All Her Fault, and a new Sony Pictures film, Beneath the Storm, took advantage of Docklands Studios’ state of the art water tanks for a new thriller film about sharks and tornados. 

CELEBRATING EXCELLENCE: FESTIVALS AND INDUSTRY EVENTS

Melbourne International Film Festival dazzled audiences for its 72nd year; you can read about some of our MIFF 2024 highlights here and hear from the 2024 Bright Horizons finalists here. The 15th Indian Film Festival of Melbourne attracted thousands of community members to welcome the biggest names in Indian cinema for 10 days of film festivities; you can find photo highlights of IFFM here. And the 10th Melbourne International Games Week showcased the very best in local and international games across a jam-packed week. 

In October, 55 game developers from around the country pitched their projects to leading international and local publishers, platform holders and investors at Play Now Melbourne, Australia's pre-eminent games market. Catch up on all the buzz from Play Now 2024 here. 

VicScreen also announced a new screen culture program in 2024, to continue investing in events and activities which contribute to Victoria as a vibrant arts and cultural hub. 

PRIORITISING SKILLS AND INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT

Yardanos Embaye on the set of Swift Street. Photo by Jane Zhang

VicScreen continued to prioritise the skills and development of emerging screen practitioners this year by facilitating dozens of life changing career placements and professional attachments for crew behind the scenes. 

At the start of October, VicScreen announced the establishment of the GameChanger Academy – an Australian-first, animation, visual effects (VFX) and games training provider that will be run by specialist provider CG Spectrum.  

In collaboration with Screen Australia, VicScreen also launched a bold new initiative to address skills shortages in the Australian screen industry. Over the next four years, the agencies will provide a combined $1.4 million to support Screen Careers, which will be based out of Melbourne. Discover more about Screen Careers and their tailored, industry-led training programs here. 

You can also read about VicScreen skills placement alum Yardanos Embaye’s trajectory from a TV devotee to working in the AD department on several VicScreen-supported projects in 2024. 

Melbourne stop-motion animator, Lucy Davidson, also got the opportunity of a lifetime as an attachment on Adam Elliot’s film Memoir of a Snail; an opportunity which catapulted her career and lead to a coveted opportunity at Aardman Animations. Learn about Lucy’s journey here. 

CONNECTION AND COLLABORATION 

Melbourne Screen Hub Footscray location launch. Photo by Dan Mahon

Victoria’s screen industry is bolstered by a range of programs and initiatives that keep the screen ecosystem thriving. In 2024, VicScreen launched its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion roadmap, a 10-year strategy towards an equitable and inclusive screen industry. And Melbourne Screen Hub celebrated the opening of its new location in Footscray; you can check out a gallery of all the highlights here. 

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