Mortal Kombat

Mrs POWER (Elder) (12:41): I move:

That this house—

(a) recognises the commencement of filming of Mortal Kombat;

(b) acknowledges the significant contribution of the film to the South Australian economy;

(c) acknowledges the contribution of the film to the South Australian screen industry; and

(d) congratulates Warner Bros on delivering 800 South Australian jobs and supporting 675 South Australian businesses during production in our state.

When the minister asked me to move this motion, I was quite pleased to do so for two reasons: (1) to acknowledge all those in the arts sector and the great work they do, particularly with the challenges they have faced during the COVID pandemic; and (2) the importance of this film to South Australia in bringing jobs. The Marshall Liberal government has a strong commitment to growing more jobs and ensuring that South Australians have great job opportunities here in their own state.

In May last year, the exciting announcement was made that South Australia would be the stage for Mortal Kombat, a highly anticipated, epic action film from Warner Bros New Line Cinema. It was based on the hit computer game which has become one of the most successful franchises in the history of video games, I am told, selling over 35 million units since 1992.

Now is an opportune time to recognise the anniversary of the commencement of filming of Mortal Kombat and what it has brought to our South Australian film industry, despite the recent impacts of COVID-19. Filming for Mortal Kombat took place across the state, taking in regional and metropolitan locations, and wrapped up at the end of last year. Post-production then immediately commenced, also here in South Australia.

Warner Bros are to be congratulated on utilising approximately 688 South Australian vendors, and the production and post-production has delivered an estimated total of 800 jobs. Interestingly, there were 3,000 applicants for the 1,500 extras roles, and this demonstrates the incredible interest that this film has had in our state and in our state's film industry.

Our local post-production and visual effects companies, supported with programs such as the state's PDV rebate, continue to contribute to film production long after the cameras stopped rolling. These companies include Rising Sun Productions, KOJO, Resin and others. While the COVID-19 pandemic has halted the majority of film production globally, and has certainly impacted our local industry, Mortal Kombat work has enabled South Australian post-production and visual effects companies to retain staff and continue to work through this time of uncertainty.

Several of the post-production vendors have advised that the film has been of critical importance for the viability of the company over recent months, providing a constant pipeline of work during the COVID-19 pandemic. I think we can all appreciate how important that is. Post-production will continue through to October 2020. In addition to the international recognition for and boosted reputation of the South Australian screen industry, the film is on track to eclipse the projected $70 million contribution to the state's economy.

There is a diverse mix of skills and experience required on productions of this scale, and we have seen locals from our theatre, event and festival sectors having their first experience on a film set. Some of the key roles secured that have boosted local talent and business experience include Adelaide Studios tenants, Heesom Casting, who secured the contract to run the national selection of cast, and Mark McGowan of local company Jetty Films, who won the contract for the unit publicity.

Many key production and crew positions were filled by South Australian residents. South Australian director Ms Victoria Cocks was appointed to the prestigious position of director's attachment. There were similar attachment appointments made within special effects, editing, accounts and electrics. Such attachment positions on productions of this scale are a terrific opportunity to advance career development with our local industry.

Perhaps the intrinsic value of putting the SA film industry onto the global stage is best summed up by E Bennett Walsh, the executive producer of Mortal Kombat. He told us that South Australia is a wonderful place to make a production because of the ease of getting around our city, such enjoyable and unique places to film, such as Coober Pedy, Leigh Creek and Mount Crawford, and the world-class post-production sector that we have here.

Obviously that is no news to South Australians. We know how our great our state is, but it is fantastic for it to be spoken about on the global stage in the film industry. Mr Walsh adds, and I quote:

I have produced movies throughout the world as well as in the eastern states, and one of the benefits here in Adelaide and South Australia is the ease and the support you get from the government and the SAFC to problem solve what we needed to make a successful production.

He went on to say, and I quote:

It's an industry, and the South Australian government recognises that, so they are right there with you saying, 'OK, what can we do to help?' You don't get that in the eastern states.

I think all of us as South Australians can be exceptionally proud. I certainly commend the minister and his team for his work in securing this great opportunity for our state and, most importantly, this opportunity for South Australians to advance their career, be exposed to new experiences and for all the jobs this has created here in our state. I commend the motion to the house.

Ms STINSON (Badcoe) (12:47): I rise to support the motion celebrating the filming of Mortal Kombat and expressing support for the broader South Australian screen industry. I thank the member for Elder for bringing this important motion to the house. It is of course easy for Labor to get behind this motion, seeing as Labor is the party that realised the value of investing in this exciting sector over the past decade or more.

To that end, we believe this motion can go further. We would like to recognise the hard work and investment over many years of previous governments to build, promote and invest in the film industry and we would like to ensure that commitment is continued with investment by this government in the arts, creative industries and entertainment sectors, which has been sorely lacking and is desperately needed at this time. To that end, I move to amend the motion as follows:

Insert new paragraphs (d) and (e):

(d) acknowledges the significant investment in the SA film sector, particularly the SA Film Corporation, under former Labor governments, growing a strong screen sector capable of attracting job-creating productions to our state;

(e) calls on the current Marshall Liberal government to invest in the future of the arts in South Australia, particularly considering the severe job losses and underemployment in the sector due to pandemic restrictions;

Mr Acting Speaker, I want to start by walking you through the circumstances leading up to Mortal Kombat coming to South Australia because it is important to reflect upon and recognise how these things are achieved.

Back in 2011, the Rann Labor government had the foresight to create a film hub at Glenside, the Adelaide Studios. It was a decision mocked by some of those opposite at the time, but that ambitious and visionary approach saw an investment of $8 million for the studios, featuring two sound stages, state-of-the-art mixing theatres, a Foley stage, a 100-seat screening theatre and a set construction workshop, among other things.

This investment followed the Rann government's revival of the Adelaide Film Festival in 2002 with a new fund ensuring it could commission or invest in new work. It was a Labor government that introduced an uncapped rebate for visual effects—which the member for Elder referred to earlier—the Post Production, Digital and Visual Effects rebate, which provides companies with a rebate of 10 per cent on top of their South Australian expenditure, added to the 30 per cent rebate available from the feds. Importantly, the PDV rebate was not limited, meaning an increase in the scope and diversity of productions that were able to bring their post-production to South Australia.

This is an investment that has created hundreds of South Australian jobs in post-production and generated an estimated $200 million at last count in economic benefit for our state. It was Labor that invested $2 million in a dedicated video game industry hub, Game Plus, to raise the profile and professionalism of South Australia's gaming, animation and software development sector. This investment also saw app developer Mighty Kingdom sign on as an anchor tenant at the Pirie Street headquarters, with company director Phil Mayes saying at the time that this was a game changer, and so it has proven to be.

The rebate has also drawn other players, like Technicolor. I remember being with Jay Weatherill at my local cinema, the beautiful Art Deco masterpiece that is the Capri on Goodwood Road—in the member for Unley's seat, I believe—to announce with the Technicolor bosses, who had flown in from France, that they would be setting up shop in our city. We talked about how they needed a place where their young employees could work and build a life, somewhere with small bars, a bit of night-life and good schools so that they retained their young workers, somewhere affordable so that their workers' hard-earned dollars went further.

They found that place, they told me in early 2018, and that was right here in Adelaide. Technicolor announced their plans to establish a 500-person visual effects centre in Adelaide, propelling South Australia as an international film production hub. They established Mill Film in Adelaide, which many may be familiar with, a $26 million 3,000-plus square metre visual effects studio. Technicolor worked on films such as The Shape of Water, which is one of my favourites. It is an absolutely beautiful film that was nominated for 13 Oscars.

I have a giant list of other things that they have worked on, so they are an impressive international operation. This investment was a massive boost for existing Adelaide VFX businesses, with the centre of excellence and academy attracting talented artists to South Australia from across the world. The Weatherill Labor government provided nearly $6 million from the economic investment fund to support the project, which generated an economic benefit estimated at around $250 million over 10 years.

The fact the Mortal Kombat production team chose to shoot in Adelaide is no accident, and it should be put in its rightful context. It, and the attraction of several other high-profile productions, has been the result of those wise decisions and investments of those who came before us. In my previous life as a reporter, I was almost sick of the amount of times the Weatherill government dragged us out to Adelaide Studios for announcements; however, as a young reporter, I also got quite a collection of selfies with the various movie stars who have held press conferences out there over the years. Everyone loves a movie star, of course, myself included.

At that time, I saw how committed those in the former governments were to screen production and the arts more generally, and that has informed and inspired the work I do as shadow minister today. The fact is that the screen sector is an exciting one, but it is also one that creates jobs—high-end, lucrative jobs. It is an intense industry and there are knock-on benefits in terms of accommodation, food, travel and professional services.

The second part of my amendment to the motion addresses the need for this government to do more to assist the screen and wider arts and entertainment sector. At this very challenging time, the arts sector has necessarily pretty much ground to a halt. Of course, we need to put people's health first; however, the pandemic restrictions, particularly for national and international travel and constraints on crowd numbers, have cost thousands of jobs and strangled an otherwise active sector, both here and around the world.

However, there is an opportunity for South Australia right now. We just need to harness that same vision that those before us did. South Australia's relatively good result in tackling COVID, thanks to leadership from Nicola Spurrier and Grant Stevens, means that South Australia is in a prime position to compete on the world stage when it comes to nabbing large and lucrative productions from interstate and overseas.

We should be ambitious. So far this government has shown relatively little interest in the creative sector, with both of the Marshall Liberal government's budgets slashing funding to the arts to the tune of somewhere around $35 million, but here is an opportunity and an invitation to do more and to create jobs in SA, one I hope those opposite will embrace.

As I mentioned earlier, there is always a buzz around movie stars, and the filming of a new production injects energy into our city, or even the smaller regional towns where filming is done amid our beautiful landscapes and those character-filled towns. It was exciting for all those Adelaideans who tried their luck getting an extra's gig and lining up at auditions for Mortal Kombat, it was exciting for the workers who were cordoning off roads for shooting all while looking out for a star, it was exciting for film students able to see real-life production in a field they hope to work in one day.

Of course, it is exciting for the Adelaide-based companies that benefit from these productions, from the catering companies to the super-specialised visual effects experts we are lucky to have in Adelaide. In fact, I ran into English actor Martin Freeman at the optometrist in Hutt Street while he was here filming in 2016. He was shooting a zombie horror flick called Cargo at the Adelaide Studios. Members might recall that Martin Freeman appeared in The Hobbit, in which he played Bilbo Baggins, as well as Black Panther, Captain America, the classic The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy—a breakthrough role—the UK version of The Office and, one of my all-time favourite rom-coms, Love Actually.

This megastar and I had a nice little chat, as he waited for his special effects contact lenses to be a zombie. He remarked on our pretty city and state and about wanting to come back for a holiday. He enjoyed the shops and restaurants and commented fondly about how friendly we all are here in Adelaide.

I tell this story not simply to name-drop—although that is a benefit—but also to say that that wonderful encounter was exciting. It made me proud of where I live and what we can achieve. I told so many people about that, and he was in the star-spotting section of The Advertiser. It is all part of that buzz of Hollywood coming to town and that buzz, those little everyday interactions, do something for a city. It makes it alive and happening, a place where people want to be and one they can be proud of. It makes us want to reach higher.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Cowdrey): Member for Badcoe, I hesitate to interrupt but, before your time expires, as a matter of process I need you to read into Hansard exactly your insertion of paragraphs in the amendment you wish to make.

Ms STINSON: I have already done that, sir. I did it earlier in my speech.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Cowdrey): Not specifically the changes.

Ms STINSON: Yes, I read the changes into Hansard earlier in my speech, sir. If you would like me to do it again I can.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Cowdrey): If you can, please, just for the clarity of the house—that is, amending the motion by inserting paragraphs (d) and (e).

Ms STINSON: Yes.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Cowdrey): That is what you are wishing to do?

Ms STINSON: To repeat what I said earlier, I will be inserting a new paragraph (d), which reads:

(d) acknowledges the significant investment in the SA film sector, particularly the SA Film Corporation, under former Labor governments, growing a strong screen sector capable of attracting job-creating productions to our state;

and also inserting paragraph (e):

(e) calls on the current Marshall Liberal government to invest in the future of the arts in South Australia, particularly considering the severe job losses and underemployment in the sector due to pandemic restrictions;

Existing paragraph (d) would then become (f), which is the line that talks about congratulating Warner Bros.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Cowdrey): Thank you very much.

Ms STINSON: No problems. Just to conclude, as the shadow minister for arts I offer my congratulations to Warner Bros on delivering 800 South Australian jobs and supporting 675 more, and I wish them all the best in their endeavours. I am excited to see their contribution to the growth of our local film industry here in South Australia. I commend the amendment to the house, and I commend the motion as it stands with the amendments—

Time expired.

The Hon. D.G. PISONI (Unley—Minister for Innovation and Skills) (12:59): Amazing, a starstruck response there from the member for Badcoe, who completely misunderstands the purpose of the film industry here in South Australia. It is not about the stars who are imported from overseas; it is about the people who live here in South Australia having access to creative and interesting careers. That is what this government is all about. It is faux congratulations from those over there. They did nothing but complain about the trip to Los Angeles by the Premier and I that directly resulted in landing—

Ms Stinson: We did nothing but set up an industry for you to benefit from and crow about and not do anything to improve and then you cut the whole arts sector.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Cowdrey): Member for Badcoe!

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: —Mortal Kombat here in South Australia. They were majoring in the minors, worrying about the expenses that were incurred travelling around Los Angeles and having these appointments with the studios in Los Angeles, including Warner Bros. That was their focus and because we pulled off the biggest ever production in South Australia—

Ms Stinson interjecting:

The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Cowdrey): Minister, please be seated.

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: —now they are trying to get a piece of it.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Mr Cowdrey): Minister!

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: They had nothing to do with it, sir. I seek leave to continue my remarks.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.

Sitting suspended from 13:00 to 14:00.