Scenes of the Yarra Ranges will be shown in new TV series The Dispatcher as the region goes from strength to strength as it delivered a $50 million boost to the state’s economy.
Warburton, Mount Dandenong and Hoddles Creek were the locations for separate scenes from the new psychological drama starring Gotham Award-winning actor Patrick Brammall.
Based on Ryan David Jahn’s novel of the same name, the story was adapted by Victorian writer and executive producer Kris Mrksa, where Mr Brammall starred as a former police detective who is searching for his missing daughter.
The Dispatcher is the latest of screen productions filmed in the Yarra Ranges, with the original Stan series Gnomes also having drawn upon Warburton’s picturesque setting.
Screen productions can significantly boost the economies of the towns it features – this production created 768 jobs for Victorian cast and crew, employed 900 background artists, booked 21,000 hotel nights across the state and engaged 735 local businesses.
Minister for Creative Industries Colin Brooks recently visited The Dispatcher set at Docklands Studios Melbourne to meet actor Brendan Cowell, director Christian Schwochow and executive producers Hakan Kousetta and Joanna Werner as filming on the six-part series wrapped up after 20 weeks in Victoria.
It also provided invaluable training, development and employment for 22 emerging Victorian screen practitioners in diverse roles such as shadowing director, assistant director, shadowing producer and across areas including production design, lighting, transport and scriptwriting.
The series also stars BAFTA Award nominee Maxine Peake (Words of War, Say Nothing, Black Mirror), Brendan Cowell (Dune: Prophecy, Plum), Daniel Henshall (Mickey 17, How to Make Gravy), Jessica Wren (Mr. Inbetween, Return to Devil’s Playground), Zahra Newman (Thirteen Lives, Addition) and newcomer Chloe Jean Lourdes.
The series is executive produced by Emmy® Award winners Jamie Laurenson and Hakan Kousetta from 60Forty Films (Slow Horses, Hijack), alongside Christian Schwochow, Kris Mrksa and Joanna Werner at Werner Film Productions, who have provided local production services. They are joined by producer Katharina Haase, co-producer Stuart Menzies and line producer Amanda Crittenden.
The Labor Government’s screen strategy has so far created 44,000 jobs and generated $1.7 billion in direct economic expenditure in Victoria – securing the state’s reputation as a global destination for screen and games production.
The Dispatcher was backed by the Labor Government’s Victorian Screen Incentive and also received support from the Federal Government’s Location Offset, administered by the Office of the Arts.
