South Australia Film & Photography Production Services & Camera Crews
Are you a media company, brand, ad agency or production company looking for film / photography production support or shooting crew in South Australia? Contact us for trusted fixers, producers, directors, DoPs, videographers, photographers, and full shooting crews tailored for the specific needs of your project.
Filming in South Australia
For an introduction to shooting in South Australia see below notes on film locations, permits, when to shoot, unique local stories, costs, tax incentives, crews, talent, premiums, fringes, equipment, communications, art department, studios, post facilities, visas and work permits for filming, transport, film-friendly accommodation, and safety advice.
South Australia Film Locations
The Wine State. South Australia is located in the central southern region of Australia. The state is known for the city of Adelaide, wineries, deserts, salt lakes, caves, gorges, forests, rivers, lakes, beaches, sea cliffs, sand dunes, and lighthouses.
The Indian Pacific is a train service that connects Sydney to Perth, passes through South Australia. The journey goes through the Nullarbor Plain in what is the longest straight section of railway in the world.
Agricultural film locations include farms that produce wheat, barley, grapes, oranges, cattle, and sheep. South Australian vineyards are world famous. South Australia mines copper, iron ore, uranium, and opals. Energy locations include thermal fired power plants, as well as wind and solar farms.
South Australia has hosted productions including The New Boy (2023), The Tourist (2022), Mortal Kombat (2021), 2067 (2020), Cargo (2017), The Babadook (2014), Red Dog (2011), Wolf Creek (2005), Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002), Shine (1996), The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994), Bad Boy Bubby (1993), Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985), Gallipoli (1981), and Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975).
Film locations can be divided into the following regions:
Adelaide
Adelaide is the state capital, and the largest city. The city is located in the southeast of the state.
The Tourist (2022), Mortal Kombat (2021), 2067 (2020), Cargo (2017), The Babadook (2014), Red Dog (2011), Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002), Shine (1996), Bad Boy Bubby (1993), and Gallipoli (1981) filmed in Adelaide.
Government buildings include Parliament House, Town Hall, and State Library.
Markets of note include Rundle Mall, and Adelaide Central Market.
Beaches of note include Glenelg Beach, Semaphore Beach, Brighton Beach, and Henley Beach.
St Peter’s Cathedral, St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral, St Nicholas Church, and Central Adelaide Mosque.
Art Gallery of South Australia, South Australian Museum, David Roche Foundation, Army Museum of South Australia, Adelaide Gaol, Samstag Museum of Art, National Railway Museum, South Australian Maritime Museum, South Australian Aviation Museum, National Wine Centre of Australia, and Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute.
Universities include the University of Adelaide, University of South Australia, and Flinders University.
The South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, and the Adelaide Convention Centre were designed by Woods Bagot.
Parks of note include Adelaide Botanic Garden, and Adelaide Himeji Garden.
Entertainment venues include Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide Oval, Adelaide International Raceway, and Bend Motorsport Park.
Transport locations include Adelaide Metro stations, Adelaide Railway Station, Adelaide Airport, Parafield Airport, and Flinders Adelaide Container Terminal.
South East
The south east of the state is verdant.
South Australia’s win regions include the Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, Eden Valley, Coonawarra, McLaren Vale, and Adelaide Hills. Vineyards of note include D’Arenberg, Penfolds, Jacob’s Creek, Seppeltsfield, St Hugo, Two Hands Wines, Wirra Wirra, Skillogalee, and Bird In Hand.
Flinders Chase National Park is located on Kangaroo Island. The park is known for its beautiful coastal landscapes of white sand beaches, sea cliffs, dense bushland, rivers, and lagoons Lighthouses of note include Cape Willoughby Lighthouse, and Cape Du Couedic Lighthouse. Wildlife includes koalas, platypus, western grey kangaroos, goannas, echidnas, and little penguins.
Mt Gambier is known for its lakes, caves, volcanoes, and sinkholes. Film locations include Blue Lake, Little Blue Lake, Umpherston Sinkhole, and Cave Garden.
Dhilba Guuranda–Innes National Park has a coastal landscape of sea cliffs, beautiful beaches, and sand dunes. Wildlife includes New Zealand fur seals, western pygmy possums, dolphins, southern right whales, western grey kangaroos, Australian sea lions, short-beaked echidnas. and a diversity of birdlife.
Mount Remarkable National Park has a landscape of rugged mountain ranges, dramatic gorges, steep vegetated valleys, and exposed red quartzite cliffs. Of note are Alligator Gorge, and Mambray Creek. Wildlife includes kangaroos, emus, echidnas, wallabies, goannas, and a diversity of birdlife including Australian ringneck parrots, emus and wedge-tailed eagles.
Naracoorte Caves National Park is known for its caves that are home to important fossils of Australian megafauna.
Murray River National Park has a landscape of wetlands, floodplains, riverine woodlands, as well as the mighty Murray River. The park is home to a diversity of birdlife.
Deep Creek Conservation Park is a coastal landscape of lush bushland, waterfalls, and beaches. Wildlife includes western grey kangaroos, bandicoots, short-beaked echidnas, bearded dragons, and many species of birds.
Coorong National Park has a landscape of white sand beaches, saltwater lagoons, and wetlands. The park is home to a diversity of sea birds.
Onkaparinga River National Park has a landscape of gorges, cliffs, rivers, rockpools, and wetlands.
Martindale Hall, locate near Mintaro, was filmed for Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975).
Burra was filmed for The New Boy (2023).
Great Australian Bight
The Great Australian Bight region is located in the coastal south west of the state.
Coffin Bay National Park has a coastal landscape of bays, islands, reefs, limestone cliffs, white sand surf beaches, dunes, and swamps. The park includes a diversity of sea birds including white-bellied sea eagles, ospreys and albatrosses. Gallipoli (1981) was filmed near Coffin Bay.
Nullarbor National Park is located along the Eyre Peninsula coastline. The Bunda Cliffs are the world’s longest continuous sea cliffs. The area is an important breeding ground for Southern Right Whales.
North
The north of the state is an arid desert region that includes parts of the Great Victoria Desert, Simpson Desert, and Strzelecki Desert.
Coober Pedy is the opal mining capital of the world. Film locations include the Umoona Opal Mine & Museum, Old Timers Mine & Museum, underground Serbian church, underground homes and hotels, and the spectacular Breakaways geological formation. Mortal Kombat (2021), The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994), and Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985) were filmed in Coober Pedy.
Munga-Thirri–Simpson Desert National Park is Australia’s largest national park, covering an area of 3,600,000 ha (14,000 sq mi). The park has a landscape of dune systems, extensive playa lakes, spinifex grasslands and acacia woodlands.
Lake Eyre, Australia’s largest salt lake is located in Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre National Park. Typically a 1.5 m (5 ft) flood occurs every three years, a 4 m (13 ft) flood every decade, and a fill or near fill a few times a century.
Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park has a landscape of rugged mountains, and tree-lined gorges. Wildlife includes red kangaroos, western grey kangaroos, wallaroos, yellow-footed rock-wallabies, goannas, dragon lizards, and a diversity of birdlife.
Lake Gairdner National Park is home to Australia’s third largest salt lake.
Gawler Ranges National Park is known for its landscape of unique rock formations including the Organ Pipes. Wildlife includes yellow-footed rock-wallabies, wombats, and a diversity of birdlife including emus and black cockatoos.
Anna Creek Station is the world’s largest cattle ranch at 6 million acres and 160,000 head of cattle.
Maralinga was the site of the British nuclear tests in the 1950s.
RAAF Woomera Range Complex is a major Australian military and civil aerospace.
South Australia Film Location Permits
Location Permits. Saturday afternoon and Sunday are the best times to film in Adelaide’s downtown business district. All other times are much more restricted. Most inner city locations requiring exclusive use of public space require at least 7 days to process permits. Tracking shots and road closures require up to 10 days. Locations outside of major cities are easier to permit. Please contact us for location specific information.
Insurance. It’s also important to note that most locations require proof of public liability insurance of at least $20 million.
When To Shoot?
The southeastern part of the state has a Mediterranean climate with short mild wet winters and long hot dry summers. The desert north of the state has very hot dry summers.
For monthly weather statistics please see here.
Events of interest to filmmakers and photographers include:
• The Santos Tour Down Under is a cycling race that takes place in January.
• Adelaide Fringe Festival takes place in February / March.
• The Adelaide Festival takes place in March.
• WOMADelaide takes place in March.
• Great Southern Slam Roller Derby is held in Adelaide, in June, every two years.
• OzAsia Festival is held in Adelaide, in October / November.
• VALO Adelaide 500 is a supercar race that takes place in December.
Public holidays may affect timing, availability and costs. See here for public holiday dates in Australia.
Unique Local Stories
Brands are looking for local stories that match their brand narrative. Our local teams are a great lead for sourcing those unique stories and characters.
If you are looking for stories for your next shoot, send us your brief and we will pitch you ideas.
If you have a unique story you would like to pitch to a brand anywhere in the world, pitch us your idea. We have well-established processes to ensure that your ideas are properly seen and protected.
Costs & Tax Incentives
Costs. Recent devaluations in the Australian dollar have made filming in Australia a more cost competitive option. Distance is a major expense. Both in terms of getting to Australia as well as getting around Australia (the country is roughly the size of the US Lower 48). Australia is a very well established and sophisticated production centre so factors of production cost accordingly. Post production is one area that remains a cost saving attraction with high quality post 30-40% less expensive than in the US. Ultimately, whatever the project, our locally based fixers and service producers will negotiate deals and provide the appropriate level of production support to match every budget.
Tax Incentives. Australia offers qualifying co-productions a Producer Offset 40% tax rebate for feature films, and a Producer Offset 30% tax rebate for documentaries, TV series, telemovies, and short form animation. Some states may offer additional production incentives. For more information visit AUSFILM. There are no tax incentives for commercials.
Film Crew & Talent
Crews. Adelaide has a small but good experienced pool of directors, directors of photography and stills photographers, several being of the highest international standard. Professional and technical crews have had decades of experience servicing long and short-form projects from all over the world. The result is a very deep pool of well trained crew with a great attitude and a world-class reputation.
Contact us if you are looking for a director, DoP / cinematographer, videographer / camera operator, stills photographer, or any other film crew for your shoot in Adelaide, Australia.
If you are an exceptionally talented Adelaide based director, DoP / cinematographer, videographer / camera operator, or stills photographer, introduce yourself here.
Talent is union and non-union. Talent buyouts are negotiable since the Offshore Agreement expired. For more information about the talent union please visit MEAA.
English is the official language but given Australia’s culturally diverse population, hundreds of other languages are also spoken.
Australia boasts a very large and experienced pool of multicultural talent. The majority of Australians are of European decent. The country’s large population of Asian actors and models makes it a popular destination for visiting productions from Japan, Korea, China and India. Australia also has talent minorities of Pacific Islander and African decent.
Heading outside of the cities, filmmakers and photographers can find a wealth of aboriginal cultures.
Australia also offers unique animals for filming including kangaroos, crocodiles, koalas, wombats, emus, and a wide variety of birds, bugs, and reptiles.
Fringes. Crew are either Company or Pay As You Go (PAYG). If the crew member is Company then they take care of their own superannuation and in some cases, workers compensation. Some crew members with Australian Business Numbers require workers compensation to be paid for them. If crew is PAYG then we must pay an additional 9% superannuation and 3% workers compensation. There is a 6% payroll tax.
Premiums. Australia has an eight hour shooting day, time and a half for the next two hours and double time after that. Shooting after 8:00pm is a 25% loading. Sunday is a 100% loading. The industry is currently campaigning for a 10 hour day.
South Australia Film Equipment
Equipment. Australia offers both Panavision and Arri equipment as well as many boutique equipment companies. There is a great depth of standard and more specialised camera gear including digital cameras (Alexa, RED, Sony, Canon), film cameras (16mm and 35mm), high speed cameras (Phantom), Three-axis stabilized heads (Scorpio, Libra), Motion Control, and much more.
Unlike the US system most gear is provided by individual crew. Grip and lighting trucks are privately owned by crew who accompany them to set. Anything required in addition to this is outsourced. Crew charge a rate for the truck and then individually for lights and gripping gear, burn time and labour rates. Australia offers a great variety of standard and specialised grip and lighting gear including cranes (Technocrane, Phoenix, Giraffe), 3D camera rigs, car rigs, tracking vehicles, sea rigs, helicopter mounts, and underwater housing. Companies of note include Panavision, Red Apple, Brownie Grips, and Big Toys.
For productions looking to bring in film equipment, Australia is an ATA carnet country.
Communications. Communication is key. Our agility and global experience allows us to customise the right communications systems for every shoot.
Web posted casting, scouting, and videoconferencing.
For clients that are unable to attend set we offer a virtual video village solution. This dedicated and secure high-resolution video streaming platform allows clients from one or multiple timezones to view setups without compromise and to participate in real-time with the team on set. Separate systems can be set up for the discrete conversations that are required to make a job run right. Working remotely with our local teams reduces your content production costs, turnaround times, carbon footprint, and risks associated with unpredictable global events.
Art Department, Studios, Backlots, & Post Production
Art department, set construction, Studios, Post Production. Adelaide Studios have sound stages, art department, set construction, edit rooms, and production offices. The Tourist (2022), Mortal Kombat (2021), 2067 (2020), Cargo (2017), and The Babadook (2014) filmed in Adelaide Studios.
Visas & Work Permits
Short stay visa for visits under three months or business visas (meetings) are the most expedient way of gaining entry to Australia. Please note that you cannot attend meetings through the Tourist stream and may be turned around at the airport if there is suspicion in relation to your motives whilst in Australia. In addition, the business holiday visa can only be to attend meetings, sign contracts or undertake (limited) training. Any activity that would normally attract remuneration would need a work visa.
Productions that intend to stay longer than 3 months require Entertainment Visas, unless the production is not being shown in Australia, then a subclass 400 visa will be required.
For international crew to enter into Australia for work purposes, they must be covered by a subclass 408, Entertainment Visa. The local service company sponsors each visitor. For a 408 application the service company also needs to get approval from MEAA, the local Entertainment Union. To process the sponsorship visas, MEAA requires to see the deal memos between the overseas production company and each crew personnel. A similar thing has to be done with the cast’s deal memos as well.
Western passport holders travelling as tourists can an obtain an Electronic Travel Authority prior to departure. Passport holders of EU nations can enter under the E-visa program. Both allow stays of up to 90 days. Given recent changes to Australian immigration policy we would only advise travelling to Australia as a tourist if you intend to only undertake genuine tourist visa activities. Anyone found working on the wrong visa will be deported from Australia and face an immediate three-year ban from applying for temporary Australian visas.
Our local service producer / fixer can assist with organising Australian visas, including turning around last-minute applications.
Transport & Accommodation
Transportation Infrastructure. Major roads are up to international standards. Some outback roads require 4WD transport. Australia is serviced by most major international carriers and several domestic airlines.
Accommodation. See here for recommended film friendly hotels in Adelaide.
Final Notes
Safety. South Australia is a very safe and reliable filming centre. Strict work place procedures also ensure safety on set. See here for up to date travel advice.
Down Time. Visit Kangaroo Island.
Projects. For an example of TV commercials, stills campaigns, online content, corporate videos, virtual reality 360 content, feature films, TV series and documentaries shot in South Australia, please see below:
Hire South Australia Production Support & Shooting Crew
If you are looking for a film or photographic production service company, line producer or fixer for your shoot in South Australia, please contact us.
If you are looking for a shooting crew for your shoot in South Australia, such as a director, DoP, photographer, videographer (cameraman / camera operator), camera assistant (focus puller), sound operator, grip, gaffer, stylist, hair and makeup, PA / runner, production driver, please contact us.
We are able to provide you with answers, references and bids quickly.
