Victoria has landed a Hollywood coup, securing filming of the third and final season of star-studded HBO drama series The Leftovers in Melbourne.
Premier Daniel Andrews was joined by HBO’s Senior Vice President of West Coast Production Jay Roewe at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California, to make the exciting announcement.
Creating more than 250 local jobs, the production is set to inject around $20 million into the state’s economy. It will use the world-class production facilities at Docklands Studios Melbourne.
Created by Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta, The Leftovers explores a world in shock and the lives that are changed forever, when 140 million people inexplicably vanish. In the second series, the show expanded on the original concept of The Rapture that was explored in Perrotta’s bestselling novel of the same name, continuing to focus on the ways ordinary people react to inexplicable events.
The third series storyline of The Leftovers finds the Garveys drawn to Australia. Shooting on location was made viable because of attractive production incentives provided through the Victorian Government and Film Victoria.
The Leftovers, produced for HBO by White Rabbit in association with Warner Bros. Television, will commence shooting in Australia in June 2016 and will feature a range of unique Victorian locations, which are at the heart of the final season.
The Leftovers Showrunner, Damon Lindelof remarks:
“The great television shows that we aspire to all have one thing in common — an undeniable and confident sense of place. The Wire and Baltimore. Friday Night Lights and Dillon. Breaking Bad and Albuquerque.
We have always wanted The Leftovers to have a beginning, middle and end and for the audience to experience each of those chapters as distinct in and of itself. And so, we left behind the cold, bleak, depressing winter of New York in season one for the warm, spiritual energy of Texas in Season Two.
Where to next? Well… we’ve known for a while that wherever we ended up would have to be someplace strange and mysterious and funny and off-kilter… someplace both unpredictable and inevitable. And there would also need to be lots and lots of platypuses. That place, of course, is Cleveland. JUST KIDDING. We’re going to Australia. The Leftovers are headed down under.
Why? Well… it’s the only place on Earth that offered the perfect blend of mythic weirdness and post-apocalyptic imagery. Not that the world is ending. Because it’s definitely not. Probably. That said, we’re immensely grateful for the opportunity to try something that looks and feels different from the preceding season as we bring our story to its conclusion and we absolutely cannot wait for everyone to throw another shrimp on the Garvey and join us for the trip. And yes. We know that joke is terrible. But still. Platypuses.”
The first two seasons featured a star-studded cast including Justin Theroux, Carrie Coon, Amy Brenneman, Christopher Eccleston, Liv Tyler, Regina King, and Ann Dowd.
It’s the second time American entertainment powerhouses HBO and Warner Bros. have chosen Victoria as a filming location: Warner Bros. chose Victoria to film its visually stunning feature Where the Wild Things Are, and HBO selected Victoria as the backdrop to its award-winning 10-part television miniseries, The Pacific.
Quotes attributable to Premier Daniel Andrews
“When Hollywood heavyweights HBO and Warner Bros. need a spectacular location down under, of course they choose to shoot in Victoria.”
“From Hollywood to Hanging Rock, this brilliant production won’t just attract some of tinseltown’s biggest stars, but create local jobs and inject millions into the Victorian economy.”
Quotes attributable to Film Victoria CEO Jenni Tosi
“We’re delighted to again be working with Warner Bros. and HBO and we welcome The Leftovers production team to Melbourne.”
“In choosing Victoria for this impressive series, The Leftovers will reinforce our reputation for expertise, diversity and crew creativity – and see fantastic benefits flow through our world-class facilities and businesses.”
