Director Ridley Scott has appealed directly to foreign minister Julie Bishop about the possibility of shooting a film in Australia.
Bishop is currently in New York for the United Nations General Assembly and, amidst announcements about Australia’s bid for a seat at both the UN Security Council and UN Human Rights Council, she revealed that Scott had sought her company to discuss the prospect of bringing a film to Australia.
“Ridley Scott is very keen to produce a film in Australia and he wanted to talk to me about the possibilities of doing that,” Bishop told Sky News Australia.
“I was very interested to hear from him and it’s certainly a matter I’ll take up with prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and treasurer Scott Morrison,” she said, adding that she would relish the opportunity to “promote our creative economy”.
“If we can promote film production in Australia then I think that’s a great opportunity for more jobs in our creative economies.”
Bishop said she was unsure of how the meeting came about but said, “maybe it was through Robert De Niro – I don’t know”. She dined with the actor/restaurateur and a number of celebrities including Hugh Jackman and Deborra-Lee Furness, and James Packer and Mariah Carey, at a charity dinner earlier this week.
At the recent Toronto International Film festival, Scott revealed that there would be multiple sequels to Prometheus. His latest movie, The Martian, opens in cinemas this week.
