Docklands Studios Melbourne 4.03

Docklands Studios Melbourne is a major film and television production complex located in Melbourne’s redeveloped Docklands precinct. The site is located approximately 2 kilometres from Melbourne’s Central Business District. The complex opened in 2004 and its primary function is to support Victoria's film and television industry and attract international and Australian productions to Melbourne. It is one of three major studios in Australia, the others being Village Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast and Fox Studios Australia in Sydney.FacilitiesThe studio complex consists of five sound stages with a total area of 6,318 m², various production offices, a workshop divided into bays of different sizes and parking for 800 vehicles. The sound stages vary in size from 2,323 m² to 743 m² . They are hired for production of feature films, drama series and audience based television programs as well as television commercials, music videos and corporate events.Studio historyThe push for Melbourne to build a major studio complex arose in the late 1990s amid concern that it was "losing some of its media city position to arch rival Sydney and to the Gold Coast". The strategic objectives were that construction of a major studio complex would represent Melbourne's maturity and global ambitions, develop production capacity to its next stage, and service the needs of the local film and television industry. At the time, Melbourne had a number of smaller facilities with sound stages, but did not have a large state-of-the-art complex.