Director of Photography Services

Here is how this works in practice. Our Director of Photography roster across Australia spans senior cinematographers with global feature credits and emerging DPs trained at AFTRS Sydney (since 1973), the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, RMIT, and Griffith Film School on the Gold Coast.

Sydney-based DPs typically run ARRI Alexa 35, Alexa Mini LF, and Sony Venice 2 packages out of Disney Studios Australia (formerly Fox Studios) and through rental houses like Lemac and Panavision Sydney.

Here is the short of it. Melbourne shooters work the Docklands corridor and St Kilda commercial scene, while Gold Coast DPs operate from Village Roadshow Studios — the home base for Aquaman, Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Men Tell No Tales, Elvis (Luhrmann 2022), and Furiosa (Miller 2024).

Here is the breakdown. We match DPs to your reference reel, format (anamorphic, large-format, 6K open-gate), and shoot window — Sydney and Melbourne shine March-May and September-November, Queensland is reliably dry April-October, and Outback work around Uluru and Alice Springs is window-limited May-September before the 40 degree summer extreme returns.

The cinematography heritage shaping our DPs runs deep.

Here is what that looks like on the ground. Russell Boyd ACS ASC won the Best Cinematography Oscar for Master and Commander (Weir 2003), John Seale ACS ASC for The English Patient (1996) before returning for Mad Max Fury Road (Miller 2015), Greig Fraser ACS ASC for Dune (2021) and Dune Part Two (2024), Don McAlpine ACS ASC defined the visual language of Moulin Rouge! (Luhrmann 2001), Mandy Walker ACS ASC shot Elvis and Australia, and Ari Wegner became the first woman ever solo-nominated for Best Cinematography for The Power of the Dog (Campion 2021).

Here is how the picture comes together. We set up Producer Offset 30%, Location Offset 30% (QAPE 30M+ AUD), and PDV Offset 30% paperwork through Screen Australia, liaise with Screen NSW, VicScreen, Screen Queensland, SAFC, ScreenWest, Screen Tasmania, and Screen Territory on permits and rebates (stackable up to 40%+ good), and handle Aboriginal Land Council and AIATSIS consultation where filming touches sacred sites like Uluru-Kata Tjuta or Kakadu.