Outsourcing

... from China to ... Australia?

Australia’s Vue Group is completing the VFX work for the Chinese and international versions of two 3D animated features in a co-venture with production company Shanghai Hippo Animation Design. ...

Among the sequences handled by Vue’s VFX team in Bunbury WA were the last 18 minutes of the film, replete with lots of shattering effects and lightning, as an alien with angel wings flies towards the moon.

Lindsay says both projects have already recouped their budgets, helped by worldwide distribution deals, excluding Australia/New Zealand, with a US company which will be unveiled next month. ...

Chinese partners will fund 80% of the projects with the balance from Australia. The total production budget for the three films to be co-produced by the Vue Group and Hippo would exceed $57 million.

Movie studios go where they need to in order to get their project done on time and on budget. If that means going to Australia, no problem. If it means the U.S. or Britain or France, they're down with that. But as technical expertise and know-how spreads to every continent, there's the looming question of:

"So how much free money can you give me?"

Which explain why the Aussies are considering new tax incentives for movie work, just as Canada, the U.K., France, New York already do. Just as California is close to doing.

Corporate welfare. You can never have too much.