The idyllic coastline of the Whitsundays will provide the backdrop for a new feature film, as tropical Queensland continues to cash in on a screen boom.
Production is almost complete on romantic comedy Love is in the Air, starring Australian singer Delta Goodrem as a seaplane pilot who falls for the man sent to shut down her business.
Producer Steve Jaggi said the film, based at Airlie Beach, was aimed at a domestic audience and would showcase the best of the tropics.
"I was surprised how few Australians had been to the Whitsundays, because for me, this is one of the best places on earth," he said.
"We had a near miss with a cyclone a few weeks back so there was a couple of very rainy days.
"But outside of that, it's been perfect."
Screen Queensland chief creative officer Belinda Burns said the production would deliver significant returns for the community.
"This film alone, Love is in the Air, will generate around about $2.25 million for the economy," Dr Burns said.
The film created about 70 jobs for cast and crew.
Many of them stayed at Airlie Beach hotel Mango House, which has been fully booked throughout the filming process, according to owner Pam Ashdown.
"They're boom operators, cameramen, directors, producers … some of some of them will have been here nearly six or seven weeks by the time they go," she said.
"February is one of our quietest months of the year – everyone's going back to school, people are paying off their credit cards after Christmas, and everyone's sort of settling down into the new year … so it's been great.
"The girls on their days off have been doing tours, they've been out to Whitehaven Beach, they've been to Hamilton Island – so everybody in town would have benefited."
Ticket to Paradise
The film is the latest in a recent string of TV shows and movies produced in the state's north since the pandemic.
Blockbuster romantic comedy Ticket to Paradise starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts was filmed in the Whitsundays and premiered last year.
TV series Black Snow was based in Proserpine, Irreverent was filmed at Mission Beach, and comedian Pete Davidson's film Wizards! was shot around the Daintree.
"People see the film and they're in dreary London or wherever they happen to be … and it really does entice them to travel to Queensland and have a holiday here, so there's that tourism driver as well," Dr Burns said.
Ms Ashdown said the projects had created buzz around the Whitsundays.
"It might be the new Hollywood," she said.
"COVID really, really knocked us about — it was sort of three years of nothing — and then all of a sudden it's coming back to what it used to be."
Seen as a safe haven during the pandemic, Screen Queensland is optimistic the state's regional film industry will continue to flourish.
Dr Burns said a new $6.8-million film and TV studio in Cairns would be operational by the end of 2023.
"It'll be a really strong magnet for productions, both international productions wanting to film up north, but also Queensland productions, local productions," she said.
"[COVID] really opened producers' eyes to just how diverse and how amazing it is to actually make films in the state."
