If you’ve ever wondered why this event has been labelled as ‘Hollywood on the Gold Coast’, you’re about to find out.
Just last year, the Gold Coast played host to many a film for their set location including 'Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales'; 'Thor: Ragnarok'; 'Kong: Skull Island'; 'The Shallows'; 'Unbroken' and 'The Age Of Adaline' just to name a few.
This year will be the 15th annual Gold Coast Film Festival with a programme full of everything from European drama to alternative Australian to artsy American... It’s all there! From it’s beautiful beaches to seedy swamps, city scenes to waterfalls in the hinterlands, the Gold Coast offers a versatile range of film settings all in the one spot.
'Cage Dive'The film festival may have been established in 2002, but The Gold Coast boasts a heritage of filmmaking with the international industry as early as the 1980s. Since then, US producers and filmmakers have chosen the Gold Coast as a shooting location and racked up a combined budget of AU$1.7 billion! Way to boost the economy!
Last year, the 2016 Gold Coast Film Festival attracted over 14,000 attendees across the event and continues to attract more each year. So what is it exactly? Well, it’s a festival that is celebrating film culture and delivers a programme that features special guests, art, workshops, seminars, feature films and special events for attendees to engage in. It promotes all aspects of filmmaking and is a major event for the Australian Film Industry and ambitious filmmakers alike.
The Gold Coast Film Festival also supported Australia’s first online video maker award ceremony, the Australian Webstream Awards in 2003, a ceremony for Australian YouTubers and online video makers. The festival is supported by the Queensland State Government and provides a great tourist event for overseas or interstate travellers. It also provides a great introduction and educational insight for high school and university students interested in the film industry, directing, producing and writing presented by industry leaders.
'Pork Pie'As well as a number of events within the programme, the festival also offers visits to schools where students are able to engage in a Q&A with film industry panels and filmmakers.
The festival will kick off on Wednesday 19 April, complete with a red carpet entrance around 6PM. Why not squeeze into your best animal print onesie and head on over to the 'Zoolander' model boat party? Models only of course.
The first round of tickets have already sold out, but show them your best blue steel face and you might just score yourself a limited ticket on board the deluxe Wyndham Cruise boat for a night of open air cinemas up on the top deck. VIP, darling!
'The Circle'If you do miss out, you’ll still have another opportunity to get your outdoor cinema experience at SIPFest, a free event at Surfers Paradise Beach. It will showcase a number of rookies or amateurs starting out in their career of short film. This year, the SIPFest jury will include international programmer for the London Short Film Festival Thomas Grimshaw; VP at Screen Queensland Kasie Moore; President of the WIFT NSW and Festival Director For Film’s Sake Sophie Mathisen; and Creative Director at Like A Photon Creative Nadine Bates.
There will also be an opportunity for you to cast your vote on the night for the People’s Choice Award and finalists will be competing for cash prizes.
