Left image via Marvel / Right image via Warner Bros. Pictures //

Definitely wouldn’t hurt…

The film & television industries have definitely taken a huge hit due to COVID-19, countless projects forced to suspend production in order to limit the spread of the virus. And although America, the global hub of film & television, isn’t looking likely to resume productions in a fashion that resembles that of the pre-COVID era any time soon, Australia is looking like the next best choice, and the Aussie government is trying to capitalise on that.

Thus, international productions will be tempted with $400 million in cash grants named ‘the Location Incentive’, in an attempt to take advantage of the nation’s low rate of infections. The government will offer the new incentive on top of existing tax breaks, which has so far attracted films such as Thor: Love and Thunder, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and Godzilla Versus Kong due to the current ‘Location Offset’.

If successful, the government estimates that the move could attract around $3 billion in foreign expenditure in Australia, while creating 8,000 new jobs per year over the course of seven years.

The news comes as the U.S. has recorded over 3.4 million cases of COVID-19, with more than 130,000 deaths as numbers continuing to rise. So, this could very well be a possibility, and will be a much-needed boost to the Aussie arts and entertainment industry, which has definitely suffered way too much. Fingers crossed it happens.