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VICTORIA TAKES CENTRE STAGE IN INTERNATIONAL DRAMA SERIES LA BREA

Media Releases  3 May 2021

Victoria’s screen industry is roaring back into action with filming now underway on the drama series La Brea, the biggest television series to come to the state in more than a decade.

Minister for Creative Industries Danny Pearson today visited the set in Docklands with Federal Minister for the Arts Paul Fletcher to meet the cast and crew.

The high-end Universal Television drama series will see Melbourne double for Los Angeles and follows a family’s survival after they are separated by a massive sinkhole that mysteriously opens in the city.

With the shoot, post-production and visual effects taking place in Victoria, the project is expected to inject more than $71 million into the Australian economy, with more than $60 million being spent in Victoria alone. The last production of this scale to shoot in the state was the HBO series The Pacific in 2007-08.

La Brea will create work for around 295 local businesses, with jobs for 290 local cast and crew members and more than 1,000 local extras, with production to be overseen by local company Matchbox Pictures (Clickbait, Stateless).

Alongside a cast of US TV actors including Nicholas Gonzalez, Eoin Macken, Natalie Zea and Jon Seda, Victorian actor Rohan Mirchandaney will make his US TV debut without leaving home.

La Brea is one of four major television productions currently underway in Victoria including the Paramount Television and Apple TV+ series Shantaram shooting at Docklands Studios Melbourne, NBCUniversal and Tony Ayres Productions series Fires shooting in Melbourne and regional Victoria for the ABC, and the Netflix series Surviving Summer shooting along the Surf Coast.

La Brea was secured for Victoria through the Victorian Screen Incentive which was part of the Victorian Government’s $33.8 million boost to the state’s screen industry announced last year. The production has also been backed by the Federal Government through the Location Incentive.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Creative Industries Danny Pearson

“After a challenging year, our screen industry is well and truly back with a strong pipeline of projects now shooting across the state and more projects on the way, supporting Victorian jobs and talent.”  

“We have a long-standing relationship with NBCUniversal and we warmly welcome them back to Melbourne with their series La Brea.”  

Quote attributable to Federal Minister for the Arts Paul Fletcher

“The filming of La Brea in Victoria will allow us to accelerate upskilling the next generation of screen industry professionals.”

Quote attributable to Film Victoria CEO Caroline Pitcher

“Film Victoria is proud to play a role in enabling our state’s screen industry to reap the benefits of local employment, rewarding careers, and inward investment. This would not be possible without excellent collaboration between State and Federal governments, the international screen market and our local industry.”

Quote attributable to Matchbox Pictures Chief Operating Officer Matt Vitins

La Brea is a super-premium, effects driven drama that will build capacity in the Australian screen industry.”

Media contact:
Common State | Charly Binney, Senior Account Manager 0435 356 530