NBC’s hit disaster action series “La Brea” will return to Australia for production of season two. The series will receive $11.5 million (A$16 million) of subsidy from the Australian federal government.
The move was announced on Monday by Paul Fletcher, Australia’s federal Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts. He said that the show will film again in Victoria state, but gave no specifics about the timings. NBC announced the show’s renewal in November, after seven episodes had aired.
The show’s narrative involves a massive sinkhole that mysteriously opens in Los Angeles, transporting a disparate group of strangers to an unexplainable primeval world. Meanwhile, the rest of the world desperately seeks to understand what happened. One family, torn apart by this disaster, has to unlock the secrets of the inexplicable event to find a way back to each other.
Fletcher said that filming season two in Victoria is expected to inject more than $83.1 million (A$118 million) into the economy, create jobs for 390 Australian cast and crew, and use the services of around 800 local businesses. Those are larger figures than for the first season, which government estimated had injected an estimated $60.2 million (A$84 million) into the Australian economy and created more than 475 cast and crew jobs.
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In addition to filming in Down Under, Universal Studio Group and its Australian production arm Matchbox Pictures committed to partnering with the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS) on a training initiative dedicated to virtual production.
The Victoria state government will also provide finance for the series, though the sum was not disclosed. “The Victorian Government is proudly backing the state’s screen industry through our A$192 million ($137 million) VICSCREEN strategy, strengthening Victoria’s position as a global screen powerhouse,” said the state’s Acting Minister for Creative Industries, Martin Pakula.
“La Brea is flagship international television. It is the type of project that proves and extends the capacity of the Australian screen industry,” said Matchbox COO Matt Vitins. “We are thrilled at the success of season one and to be working again with Universal Television and Keshet Studios on season two.”
David Applebaum created the series and also served as an executive producer of season one. Avi Nir, Alon Shtruzman, Peter Traugott, Rachel Kaplan, Steven Lilien, Bryan Wynbrandt, and Ken Woodruff also executive produced season one. “La Brea” is produced by Universal Television in association with Keshet Studios.
Season one starred Natalie Zea, Eoin Macken, Jack Martin, Zyra Gorecki, Jon Seda, Chiké Okonkwo, Karina Logue, Veronica St. Clair, Rohan Mirchandaney, Nicholas Gonzalez, Lily Santiago, Chloe De Los Santos, and Josh McKenzie.
