Disney Studios Australia

{{Short description|Australian film and television production facility owned by Disney}}

{{Infobox company

| name = Disney Studios Australia

| logo = Disney Studios Australia.svg

| former_name = Fox Studios Australia (1998–2022)

| type = Subsidiary

| industry = Film

| founded = {{Start date and age|1998|5|1|df=yes}}

| hq_location_city = Building 16, 38 Driver Avenue, Moore Park, Sydney, New South Wales

| hq_location_country = Australia ({{maplink|type=shape-inverse|icon=no|zoom=16}})

| owner =

| parent = {{Plainlist|

Fox Entertainment Group {{small|(1998–2019)}}
Walt Disney Studios {{small|(2019–present)}}

}}

| website = {{URL|https://www.disneystudiosaustralia.com/}}

}}

Disney Studios Australia (formerly known as Fox Studios Australia) is a motion picture and television production facility in Sydney that has operated as part of The Walt Disney Company since 2019.

Occupying the site of the former Sydney Showground at Moore Park, the studio was created in May 1998 by the now-defunct News Corporation, later split into 21st Century Fox, which Disney acquired in 2019.

The 32-acre-site, which is 15 minutes from the Sydney CBD, features eight sound stages, several production offices, workshops, and around 60 independent entertainment industry businesses.

The studio has been involved in the production of numerous major films, including The Matrix, Moulin Rouge!, Mission: Impossible 2, Star Wars Episodes II and III, Superman Returns, and Son of the Mask.

Site history

Prior to 1998, the Studio's site was host to Sydney's Royal Easter Show – the largest event held in Australia, and the sixth largest in the world. In 1881, the New South Wales Government provided land for the Royal Agricultural Society at Moore Park where the show was held for 16 years. From 1902 to 1919, the site expanded to the south and from 1920 to 1937, the Moore Park Showground expanded to the north. In 1998, the Show moved to a new showground and the former Sydney Showground at Moore Park became the home to Fox Studios Australia.

The 132,000 square metre (32 acre) site includes eight stages, production offices and heavy industrial workshops, and a community of over 60 independent businesses{{Citation needed|reason=reliable source needed for the whole sentence|date=April 2014}}. These businesses provide services such as equipment hire, travel and freight, casting, postproduction, and explosives/pyrotechnic factory, adjoining residential properties.

Disney Studios Australia houses post-production specialists in film editing, sound re-recording and sound.

Backlot Theme Park

Fox Studios Backlot was purportedly based on Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal Studios Florida, and Disney's Hollywood Studios. The $261 million park opened on 7 November 1999. An adjacent precinct provides restaurants and cafes, a retail complex, parklands, entertainment venues, and sporting facilities. The adjacent precinct was previously known as simply 'Fox Studios Entertainment Precinct'. The backlot closed down in 2001 and the entrance remains at Fox Studios Australia.

Ownership

Image:Fox Studios Australia.svg

Disney Studios Australia is owned by the media conglomerate The Walt Disney Company, under the terms of a 99-year lease from the New South Wales State Government.

The decision by the Carr Government in 1995 to allow News Corporation, predecessor of 21st Century Fox, to take over the site was controversial and attracted criticism from sections of the media such as The Sydney Morning Herald and independent MP Clover Moore. It was alleged that a secret deal took place between the NSW Government and the largest shareholder and Chairman/CEO of News Corporation, Rupert Murdoch, involving the donation of $25 million in taxpayers' money for the new site.{{Citation

| last = Dick

| first = Tim

| title = Moore readies for new Fox Studios fight

| newspaper = The Sydney Morning Herald

| location = Sydney

| date = 20 September 2004

| url =http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/09/19/1095532176616.html

| access-date = }}

{{Citation

| last = Milliken

| first = Robert

| title = Sydney enraged by Murdoch's film studio deal

| newspaper = The Independent

| location = London

| date = 26 October 1995

| url =https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/sydney-enraged-by-murdochs-film-studio-deal-1579510.html

| access-date = }}

On 20 March 2019, The Walt Disney Company completed its acquisition of 21st Century Fox, and now owns the studio, as well as 20th Century Studios and other related film units.{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2019/film/asia/new-fox-wayne-borg-los-angeles-studio-role-1203142431/|title=New Fox Appoints Wayne Borg to Los Angeles Studio Role|last=Frater|first=Patrick|date=2019-02-19|website=Variety|language=en|access-date=2019-03-20}} On 10 October 2022, the studio dropped the "Fox" branding and was officially renamed Disney Studios Australia.{{Cite web|url=https://mumbrella.com.au/disney-studios-australia-officially-renames-from-fox-studios-kingdom-of-the-planet-of-the-apes-production-begins-759480/amp|title=Disney Studios Australia officially renames from Fox Studios; Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes production begins|last=Shepherd|first=Emma|date=10 October 2022|website=Mumbrella|language=en|access-date=10 October 2022}}{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2022/film/news/kingdom-of-the-planet-of-the-apes-shooting-australia-1235397570/|title='Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' Starts Shooting at Renamed Disney Studios Australia|last=Tulich|first=Katherine|date=9 October 2022|website=Variety|language=en|access-date=10 October 2022}}