Written by new-contact on Nov 25, 2014. Posted in On Location

Syfy makes Australia filming commitment with Hunters and Childhood’s End

Cable channel Syfy has committed to an extended slate of location filming in Australia. Television dramas Hunters and Childhood’s End are both scheduled to shoot in Melbourne, using Docklands Studios as a base.

Hunters will be a 13-part miniseries adaptation of Whitley Strieber’s novel Alien Hunter and has Gale Anne Hurd – whose credits include The Walking Dead – involved as an executive producer.

The drama will tell the story of a Philadelphia cop who becomes involved with a secret government unit hunting a mysterious terror group that may have alien origins.

Syfy is already in Melbourne and about to start filming the miniseries Childhood’s End. The production is based on a classic story of humanity’s first contact with alien life, based on a novel by the influential sci-fi author Arthur C Clarke.

“We have had a very productive and pleasant experience working with the Victorian Government getting Childhood’s End off the ground and we head into production in just a few weeks,” said Mark Binke, Executive Vice President of Universal Cable Productions.

“It was a natural choice for us to come back to Victoria with Hunters, which is one of our highest profile projects. We look forward to growing our relationships with Melbourne’s creative community and to continue collaborating with the team at Film Victoria.”

Docklands Studios Melbourne is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. The facility has five sound stages a short distance from the city centre. In recent months the studio has hosted Kate Winslet’s feature The Dressmaker and Pierce Brosnan’s The Moon and The Sun (above), which recreated the Palace of Versailles.

Australia’s production industry is enjoying a higher international profile and will host location filming for Pirates of the Caribbean 5 in 2015.