‘Paradise Lost’ Finds Production and Post in Sydney

Acting NSW Premier and Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Stoner announced on
20 July that the forthcoming film Paradise Lost will be produced in Sydney. He and the
film’s director Alex Proyas made the announcement at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney.

‘Paradise Lost’ is expected to bring an estimated $88 million in production expenditure and an estimated 1,300 jobs to NSW, including over $20 million expenditure on visual effects and 200 VFX jobs. The film will involve about 20 weeks of pre-production, eight weeks of principal photography and motion capture, and 72 weeks of post-production and visual effects work. The visual effects supervisor is Chris Watts. The project also involves motion capture work to be undertaken in Sydney.
Mr Stoner said securing the production of Paradise Lost, a fantasy epic based on the John Milton poem, should help to strengthen Sydney’s position within the international visual effects and filmmaking industries. On a recent trip to Los Angeles, Mr Stoner said he met the team at Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures, and discussed the production to encourage them to produce Paradise Lost in Sydney. Alex Proyas, Legendary Pictures and Vincent Newman will produce the movie, and Warner Bros. will handle worldwide distribution. The film will star Bradley Cooper as Lucifer and is targeted for release in 2013. Meanwhile, Mr Stoner said the NSW government has secured a commitment from Digital Domain in California to establish a base in Sydney that will continue beyond the production of ‘Paradise Lost’. He said, “The latest Federal Budget doubled incentives for visual effects films to be produced in Australia. The production of Paradise Lost and Digital Domain's local presence will expose NSW visual effects and film professionals to new technology and methods as well as opportunities to work on US studio-financed film projects. Past films directed by Alex Proyas whose past films include ‘Knowing’ ‘I, Robot’ and ‘Dark City’ also said that  working on ‘Paradise Lost’ was a valuable opportunity for local artists and that he appreciated the industry’s support and interest in the project. Legendary Pictures recently wrote to Mr Stoner to say they also appreciate the support of the NSW Government. The final agreement will be negotiated between Triune Productions and the Department of Trade and Investment.  www.screen.nsw.gov.au