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Canberra’s quiet January atmosphere looks set to be spectacularly disrupted next week as the city centre plays host to a thrilling Hollywood car chase scene. Blacklight, starring Liam Neeson, is currently shooting in Melbourne, but will shift to Canberra for four days to film a “crucial car chase sequence” on Bunda Street. Parts of Civic will be blocked off intermittently between January 14 and 17, as carefully mapped out action scenes are filmed. Director Mark Williams – creator and producer of Ozark – will use “world-leading pre-visualisation technology” to transform Canberra into downtown Washington DC. Head of Screen Canberra Monica Penders said the film was originally going to be shot entirely in Canberra, but COVID-19 intervened. “It looked for a while like we were going to get the whole production, but getting the car chase sequence is huge,” she said. The shoot will generate jobs for up to 60 local crew and should bring more than $1.5 million into the local economy. “We’ve never done anything of this size before, and it has really tested our systems in communicating with government and the public as well,” she said. “It’s new for everybody, so it’s good having a chunk of a major production here, rather than the whole production, as a way of training us up.” She said the capital could soon become a go-to destination for high-thrill car chase scenes. “[Veteran stunt director] Guy Norris said, after walking around Canberra last year, that we were one of the best places in the world because we don’t have to block off many streets,” she said. “He said he’d love to do one a year here.” The production team will be looking for extras to take part; those interested can register online at the Canberra-based website filmplus.com.au. Ms Penders said Canberra is increasingly becoming the location of choice for television and film productions, including TV series Total Control, Secret City and The Code. A number of documentaries have been filmed here, as well as, most recently, horror film Sissy, which has just finished filming. For details about road closures next week, visit www.cityservices.act.gov.au For faster access to the latest Canberra news, download The Canberra Times app for iOS and Android.
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Canberra’s quiet January atmosphere looks set to be spectacularly disrupted next week as the city centre plays host to a thrilling Hollywood car chase scene.
Blacklight, starring Liam Neeson, is currently shooting in Melbourne, but will shift to Canberra for four days to film a “crucial car chase sequence” on Bunda Street.
Parts of Civic will be blocked off intermittently between January 14 and 17, as carefully mapped out action scenes are filmed.
Director Mark Williams – creator and producer of Ozark – will use “world-leading pre-visualisation technology” to transform Canberra into downtown Washington DC.
Head of Screen Canberra Monica Penders said the film was originally going to be shot entirely in Canberra, but COVID-19 intervened.
“It looked for a while like we were going to get the whole production, but getting the car chase sequence is huge,” she said.
The shoot will generate jobs for up to 60 local crew and should bring more than $1.5 million into the local economy.
“We’ve never done anything of this size before, and it has really tested our systems in communicating with government and the public as well,” she said.
“It’s new for everybody, so it’s good having a chunk of a major production here, rather than the whole production, as a way of training us up.”
She said the capital could soon become a go-to destination for high-thrill car chase scenes.
“[Veteran stunt director] Guy Norris said, after walking around Canberra last year, that we were one of the best places in the world because we don’t have to block off many streets,” she said.
“He said he’d love to do one a year here.”
The production team will be looking for extras to take part; those interested can register online at the Canberra-based website filmplus.com.au.
Ms Penders said Canberra is increasingly becoming the location of choice for television and film productions, including TV series Total Control, Secret City and The Code. A number of documentaries have been filmed here, as well as, most recently, horror film Sissy, which has just finished filming.
