Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has reeled off another coup - and has announced the hugely popular reality TV show, Australian Survivor, will be filmed in Queensland.
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Season 6 of the award-winning show will be filmed in Cloncurry and nearby properties.
Hosted by Jonathan LaPaglia, it is estimated the show will inject $14.6 million into the state's economy and create approximately 150 jobs for Queensland crew.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said Queensland had competitive incentives, fantastically diverse locations, best-in-the-business local crew and one of the world's most COVID-safe environments.
"From big-budget feature films to hit TV series, and now one of Australia's best-loved reality shows, there really is no limit to the scope, scale and volume of what's coming through our door," the Premier said on Thursday.
Screen Queensland CEO Kylie Munnich said it was positive news for Cloncurry, which will benefit from jobs for local crew and be showcased nationally and internationally on the program.
"It's rewarding to see such a big show as Australian Survivor heading to outback Queensland-a region that knows adversity and hardship first-hand, and whose people, I expect, share those human qualities celebrated in the show: courage, endurance and strength," Ms Munnich said.
"Queensland has enormous capacity to cater for a wide range of screen productions-from international features through to reality juggernauts like Australian Survivor.
"Outback Queensland is also the setting in part for ABC's Total Control Season 2, which returns to film in Winton this year with support from Screen Queensland."
Chief Content Officer and Executive Vice President, ViacomCBS Australia and New Zealand, Beverley McGarvey said, "We are thrilled that our new Australian Survivor castaways will have the chance to outwit, outplay and outlast each in other, right here in Queensland, Australia. Outback Queensland's harsh climate and challenging weather conditions will turn the game on its head.
"Moving from the beaches of Fiji to the outback of North Queensland will shift the game in a way we haven't seen before. If the castaways think they know how to play the game, they will need to think again."
Endemol Shine Australia CEO, Peter Newman said they looked forward to showcasing Cloncurry's unique beauty to audiences both in Australia and around the world.
"Importantly, the production acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land, the Mitakoodi People, and are consulting with the local Aboriginal community to gain a deeper understanding of the country on which the series will be filmed," Mr Newman said.
Australian Survivor sees a group of diverse and tenacious Australians taken away from their everyday lives and left to fend for themselves in a remote location with little more than the clothes on their backs - and the drive to be the sole survivor.
Pushed physically and mentally, contestants must build their own shelter, light their own fires, gather their own food and play the ultimate social and strategic game.
Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
