Screen Illawarra showcases potential filming locations to Sydney producers

A group of Sydney-based film and TV producers road-tripped from Helensburgh to Nowra to familiarise themselves with the area on Tuesday - and they're keen on coming back.

The daylong adventure, hosted by Screen Illawarra, was designed to show off the region's diverse range of locations.

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Some of those locations already are being put to use: Helensburgh and Albion Park for movie blockbuster Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, and Thirroul for the Disney drama series Last Days of the Space Age.

Ausfilm CEO Kate Marks was delighted to be a part of the tour.

"Ausfilm promotes Australia nationally as a production destination to international filmmakers so for me it's just a really great opportunity to come down and see what this beautiful place has to offer," Ms Marks said.

Ms Marks believes Wollongong's natural beauty to be its selling point.

"Just driving down and having the beaches on one side and the ridge on the other side, I realised there's so much potential in this area," she said.

Screenwriter and producer Michael Petroni has a TV series in the works with the main shooting location being Illawarra.

"I know the area fairly well, having spent a lot of my childhood down the south coast so I've been writing the series with it in mind and I think it's got huge potential," Mr Petroni said.

The escarpment and the steelworks are some of the locations Mr Petroni plans on showcasing in his production.

Destination Wollongong major events manager Jeremy Wilshire believes it is a great opportunity for Illawarra to be a part of the growing film network.

"Sydney can be busy and expensive. We are just down the road, we've got accommodation, we've got natural assets and industry resources to back that up," Mr Wilshire said.

While Mr Wilshire is appreciative of the organic growth of the area in hosting global productions, he believes it's time to take it to the next step.

"Wollongong has been growing organically but it's really more happenstance than planning, this is an opportunity to reach the industry in a strategic and planned manner," he said.

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Screen Illawarra board member Nick Bolton said the meet and greet was one of the many to come.

"We've helped bring some of the projects down already and we believe we can build the screen community here", he said, "we've got an amazing location, amazing crew, amazing facilities, accommodation and catering."

Screen Illawarra chair Sandra Pires said it only makes sense for Wollongong to be the film and TV production hub, owing to its closeness to Sydney.

"Screen Illawarra started in 2018 with a handful of us and now we've got 300 members, we are working with stakeholders, tourism industry and the councils to really showcase the Illawarra," Ms Pires said.

Some of the locations from the tour which impressed the producers were Austinmer, Bluescope, Bald Hill and Bellambi boat ramp, the Screen Illawarra crew said.

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