Queensland Production Boom Part 2: The Companies to Watch North of the Tweed

Something is happening in Queensland. The sunshine state north of the Tweed River has long been the ambitious younger sibling of its southern counterparts, and any conversation with a Queenslander at State of Origin time will reveal that chip on the shoulder. But after so long spent as the bridesmaid, has Queensland finally become the bride?

With amazing locations, excellent studios, and an emerging labour force to service productions as crews, Queensland is emerging as a production powerhouse. We caught up with some of the emerging and established companies in this space to find out what it is about Queensland that makes it all the more enticing for production crews.

3P Studio

Cornelius Ionescu has been the GM of 3P Studio for two years and came from a long stint in marketing. But despite this background, Cornelius feels most at home in the expanding, boutique post-production studio in North Brisbane.

“Interestingly, I come from a client background,” Cornelius says. “I guess I've come down to the complete opposite side of the dark side if that’s what you’d call the agency side. But moving away from that corporate structure brings you into a totally different world.”

3P began seven years ago when the company founder left another Brisbane post-house, and slowly grew into a business boasting almost 30 full-time staff. Last week, 3P opened their brand-new, state of the art post-production facility in Milton. Designed from the ground up with creative collaboration at the forefront, 3P Studio now hosts seven new editorial suites, online and grade rooms, audio suites, and over 30 VFX suites.

Like its peers, 3P Studio sees the upcoming Olympic Games in the city as a potential harbinger of opportunity. As the economy prepares itself for such a large-scale event with developments in infrastructure, more work is likely to be directed to local companies across industries.

“There's been a massive number of people coming to Queensland and calling it home. With that comes an organic move of people that own businesses and brands deciding to move head offices to Brisbane”, Cornelius explains. “With high costs in other cities, young people in the production space could enjoy some real opportunities in Brisbane.”

Rosco Audio

If you ask anyone in Brisbane production “What are the local sound-houses?”, the first thing you’ll hear in response is “Rosco Audio”.

Rosco Audio, the passion project of local industry veteran Ross ‘Rosco’ Batten, specialises in audio post.

“Audio post, voice recording, voice direction, and we also specialise in finding new talent,” Rosco says. “And on top of that, sound design – making sound that appeals and tells stories.”

Ross started in the industry in 1991, and after 18 years as head of sound at Cutting Edge Studios, he cemented his name as the sound guy to work with. When he finally started his own business he thought of a number of possible names, but his friends all told him the same thing.

“You need to be Rosco’, they said. And that’s what I went with, because people know no matter how big or small the project, I can do what you need.”

In the eight years so far that Rosco has existed, a lot of things have changed – new clients, new collaborators, and a much busier schedule. But to the inveterate Queenslander, some things always stay the same.

“I still pretty much live in the same suburb I was brought up in. I toyed with moving, but this is really the place to be.”

Rosco Audio specialises in short form projects, though they do the occasional long form. Having carved this niche, Rosco Audio has now turned one eye to mentoring new and emerging sound-designers. 

“I think Brisbane is a great place to start. There's always people out there willing to give someone a go to show what they can bring –  but Brisbane has always had that. 

“I've always said of young people coming into the industry, if you ask ‘how do you become a sound designer?’ straight away I know they aren’t the ones who will find their feet. The people you encounter who are going to make it are the ones who can’t help but be drawn to sound, who you have to tear away from it. They don’t ask how, they just do it.”

RUCKUS

When it comes to Queenslanders, not many have as much connection as RUCKUS' Matt Dye. Having always lived in Brisbane, Matt has grown up in the industry with more than 20 years of experience.

"I spent my childhood in agencies and post houses. Then kicked off my career back in 2001 in a junior position at one of the few Post Production companies in Brisbane," Matt says.

"Back then, there were really only two post-production studios in town that offered any animation. The landscape has changed quite a bit."

"Three years ago, my business partner and I, Ricky Marks, wanted to start something different. We knew there was a gap in the market for the way we wanted to work. So, it was a no-brainer for us to kick off RUCKUS and start creating great work with our clients."

The week Ruckus first launched, Brisbane went into its first covid lockdown. "Talk about a time to wonder if starting a business was going to work out. But while the lockdown heavily impacted film shoots and production companies, animation companies like RUCKUS were able to adapt and deliver."

"We hit the ground running. We got busy really quickly. Since then, we've been incredibly well-supported, especially by the local industry. The projects continue to get bigger and our creative input grows with each brief. We've been able to grow our team as well as keep a lot of freelance talent busy. Now we're working with interstate agencies, production companies and direct-to-business. We're also beginning to pull work in from the UK and USA. So it's been a great 3 years."

RUCKUS works predominantly in the short-form world, often in TVCs, Branded Content as well as Titles for TV series and Films. Their most recent work, a Spider-verse-themed Baskin and Robbins promotion, creating characters for Yates Australia & NZ, First Nations teaching aids for Deadly Choices, Hyne Timber, and guiding Michael Hill into an entirely CG world and products for the first time, is a testament to their extensive abilities in their work.

"With sporting brands looking to Brisbane for the upcoming Olympics, the next 5-10 years will have a whole lot of opportunities for people coming up in the industry, as well as the growth for other businesses that reap the benefits of an event of that size."