Fights, camera, action, by Garry Maddox - 1st May 2004
(Credit: The Sydney Morning Herald)

The habitat of the endangered giant dragonfly has been saved - but at what cost to the Australian movie industry? Garry Maddox reports.

The director Rob Cohen knows how to make a Hollywood blockbuster. After racing turbo-charged cars in The Fast and the Furious, he had Vin Diesel playing a secret agent in xXx.

It was the whole Hollywood experience ... motorcycles, fast cars, ski-mobiles, explosions, gun battles and a Bond-style chase down a river to stop a futuristic speedboat carrying lethal gas.

His latest movie, Stealth, is about the American military's attempts to control a rogue Stealth fighter plane. The $130 million action-adventure, starring Josh Lucas and Jessica Biel, has been filming at Fox Studios and locations around Sydney since the start of the year. Early on, the Australian cinematographer Dean Semler said it would make Top Gun seem like On Golden Pond. But in the past week it has turned into The Perfect Storm.

In the eye of the storm was a planned two-day shoot in a Blue Mountains wilderness area. Environmentalists blocked the move in the Land and Environment Court, which decided that filming contravened the laws covering national parks.

The Premier declared that the ruling threatened the country's reputation as a paradise for overseas filmmakers and pledged to use "all legal options" to give the filmmakers access to the Mt Hay wilderness. This included an appeal to the Supreme Court and possible new legislation to override the court decision.

But the filmmakers couldn't wait, not with delays said to be costing $500,000 a day and the crew scheduled to leave for filming in the Flinders Ranges and Thailand. "The film needs the certainty of a location this week," they said.

So, they'll find an alternative site.

It is not clear whether the filmmakers will seek compensation from the Government, given that they had been working closely with the National Parks and Wildlife Service to shoot in the Grose Wilderness.

Instead of damaging the habitat of the endangered giant dragonfly, the controversy has damaged Carr's ability to deliver to international filmmakers along with his conservationist credentials.

"The message that would go round the world if these producers now can't shoot these scenes here is that there are real difficulties about doing things in Australia," he told ABC radio before the filmmakers announced their decision.

THE dispute recalls the widely publicised claim that Hollywood filmmakers destroyed an idyllic section of a Thai national park for The Beach, starring Leonardo Di Caprio, in 1999. The damaging allegations, repeatedly denied by the film's star, have encouraged filmmakers to take extra care to preserve pristine locations.

So was Carr risking the environment in the chase for Hollywood dollars? Or was a two-day shoot subject to strict conditions unlikely to damage a vast wilderness area? And do authorities take enough care to ensure sensitive locations are protected?

Like the Matrix trilogy and Star Wars - Episode II, Stealth has brought economic benefits to the state. On one estimate, the production has spent $60 million here and created 500 jobs.

The Stealth director insisted the protesters were misinformed about his plans. Describing himself as a member of Greenpeace and other environmental groups, Rob Cohen said the Mt Hay sequence involved nothing more high tech than his lead actress being chased on foot by actors playing Korean soldiers. "It's not like there's a huge gun battle."

A Greens MLC, Ian Cohen, who spoke at the protest rally, said Rob Cohen might be well-meaning but he knew nothing about the giant dragonfly or the impact on a hanging swamp. "He's obviously not understanding that wilderness in the act clearly means no commercial filming."

He called the Premier a hypocrite for being prepared to challenge the court's ruling. "It makes a mockery of the concept of Bob Carr being any sort of reasonable conservationist. He's seeking to override what the courts are clearly indicating - that wilderness should be protected."

He believed other locations were suitable for filming, including Newnes near Lithgow.

The chief executive of the NSW Film and Television Office, Jane Smith, said the filmmakers had been allowed to shoot at Mt Hay only after a 147-page review of the environmental issues. "It took three months of consultation, it was on public exhibition for three weeks, a whole lot of different groups were consulted."

The production company undertook to build temporary boardwalks to protect the landscape and pay for a National Parks officer and an environmental consultant to be on set. The crew and actors had to wear rubber-soled shoes and retrace their steps so no new paths were created.

"Apparently in this area they run canyoning tours so it's an area that has been used for other purposes," Smith said. "But [the filmmakers went] to a lot of effort to try and protect the environment."

She said that Mission: Impossible 2, which had 40 per cent of its shoot in national parks around Sydney, proved to have very little impact on the environment. "Filming is quite a low-impact, relatively environment-friendly activity, assuming it's handled properly. But it does need to be properly planned and managed."

Ideally, this planning also minimises disruption to daily life. When The Matrix sequels wanted to fly a helicopter through central Sydney, there was intensive planning to minimise the risk and the impact on residents, traffic and spectators.

International publicity about the protests and the abandoned shoot could now damage the chances of attracting production to major studios in Sydney, the Gold Coast and Melbourne.

But decisions on where to film are usually driven by many factors, including the value of the dollar, the variety of locations and the availability of studios and crew.

Trisha Rothkrans, the chief executive of AusFilm, which markets Australia as a location for international filmmaking, is worried.

"It is very unfortunate for Australia that the producers of Stealth have had this interruption to what has been a very successful shoot," she said.

"This experience is placing other big-budget productions that AusFILM has been pitching for in jeopardy."

Rothkrans said it was imperative that there was a "whole-of-government approach" to organising access to locations.

"We need to support National Parks with legislation that gives them the ability to process filming applications as soon as possible."

Articles

Movie Makers and Movie Stars - What makes a Star?

Media Man Australia

Entertainment

Movie Reviews