By Tanya Steele
It doesn’t matter who you are but you may have smiled to learn that international superstar Liam Neeson has landed in Victoria again.
Bringing skills acquired over a long career Neeson said he is honoured to be back in Victoria working on his latest film The Mongoose.
“With one of the best crews, again, that I have ever worked with in over 100 movies,” he said.
As production begins on The Mongoose, Neeson’s third film in the state in four years local Dandenong Ranges creative Isabel chatted with the Star Mail about the welcome news as press across the state covered the action megastar’s movements.
Isabel said that regular work in her industry is a good thing.
“It’s nice to know that productions from overseas are coming in, it’s good to have them spend here, ” she said.
This current project is expected to provide more than 1,300 jobs and generate more than $55 million in economic value for the state.
Liam Neeson’s previous Victorian-based productions Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky (2023) and Blacklight (2020) have given steady work to the Victorian community.
Isabel worked on Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky (2023), as a costumier and sewing machinist and she also worked across many other film and television series in both Victoria and Queensland, bringing her own very particular set of skills to set.
“There have definitely been patches where there’s no work, especially when there was the writers’ strike in LA,” Isabel said.
Costumier creatives like Isabel can sometimes step into other avenues like the theatre for work but she said some film roles don’t have transferable skills.
Victorians won’t have to look far to perhaps catch a glimpse of the production which will shoot all over the state in Bacchus Marsh, Castlemaine and Bangholme as well as the Melbourne CBD, North Melbourne, Kensington and Moorabbin.
Minister for Creative Industries Colin Brooks visited the Bacchus Marsh Aerodrome on 12 February to meet the Taken and Schindler’s List star and production team on the action-thriller set.
Mr Brooks said they’re thrilled to welcome Liam Neeson and the team back to Victoria to make yet another action-packed movie that will create hundreds of local jobs, engage local businesses and generate millions for our economy.
“The Mongoose is the first of a strong pipeline of local and international productions that will fuel our screen industry in 2025,” he said.
“We’re excited to see Victoria on the global stage once again, and we thank the local communities across Victoria who are hosting this major production in their hometowns.”
The Mongoose stars Liam Neeson as Ryan “Fang” Flanagan, a war hero wrongfully accused of a crime he didn’t commit.
With nothing left to lose, he leads the police on an unforgettable televised cross-country car chase, aided by members of his former Special Forces Army battalion, while a captivated public cheers him on.
The Mongoose was attracted to Victoria by the government through VicScreen’s Victorian Screen Rebate and the film also received support from the Federal Government’s location offset.
VicScreen CEO Caroline Pitche said since the inception of Victoria’s Screen Industry Strategy in 2021 they have seen exceptional economic growth, creative success and cultural value delivered to Victoria.
The screen strategy has so far created 44,000 jobs and generated $1.9 billion in direct economic expenditure in Victoria.
Isabel said she loves and admires the work of her colleagues, especially art finishers.
“We make the costume and they will take them and break them down so they look worn or make it look as if a person’s lived in it, rather than it’s been off the shelf,” she said.
“They add finishes to it if there’s stunts or blood.”
Isabel said she has previously gotten quite a lot of work from the television series La Brea which was filmed in Victoria in 2021 and 2022, finishing in Queensland in 2023.
The project put more than $60 million into the Victorian economy at the time, creating jobs for 290 local cast and crew members, and work for around 295 local businesses.
“They came back to Victoria for another season, which was great,” she said.
Film sets can vary depending on their budget and Isabel said there are both positives and negatives with both.
“Sometimes smaller budgets, it can be good because you get to do more – there are fewer people, and you have to,” she said.
“With bigger budgets, that can obviously be a little less stress.”
With film sets popping up all over the state the Dandenong Ranges and Yarra Valley have seen their share of the action in the last few years with series such as The Clearing and High Country filmed across locations in Olinda.
Early last year, the Upwey community got very curious when a closed set was filmed in their suburb, later revealed to be the horror film Together starring Alison Brie and Dave Franco.
Isabel said local Aussie production is just as important to the industry as overseas production, with television shows like Neighbours based in Nunawading providing stability and vital experience to Victorians.
“It’s in the same place and it’s somewhat regular – people can have families,” she said.
“Neighbours is so welcoming and run so efficiently, it’s also a good training ground.”
The Mongoose is being directed by seasoned stunt professional Mark Vanselow and the film features an impressive international cast, including Academy Award winner Marisa Tomei, Ving Rhames, and Michael Chiklis.
It also boasts a strong local cast, featuring Ryan Morgan, Maurice Meredith, Toby Truslove, Aisha Aidara, Zac Taylor, Yesse Spence, Mario Sayana, Geoff Paine, Elias Anton, Brett Tucker, Hamish Michael, Geoff Morell, and Louisa Mignone.
Isabel said a number of her colleagues are working on the current film although due to other work commitments, she is not on the set of The Mongoose.
“I know a lot of people who are working on it and they are people who worked on the last one,” she said.
The production base will be located at the Melbourne Screen Hub in Footscray and will also create around 450 jobs for Victorian screen workers and engage 150 local businesses –including aerial cinematography by globally renowned Melbourne drone specialists XM2.
Set to put more than $19 million into the economy, with an estimated $2 million being spent in regional Victorian communities, the project reunites Neeson with Code Entertainment, producers of both Ice Road and Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky and was written by Thompson Evans (Reckoning).
Isabel said she would like to see more period films come to the state in the future.
“I would love to work on a film that was period-themed because as a maker it can be more fun,” she said.
