Almost $90 million worth of animated films will be produced in Western Australia as part of a deal struck with a Chinese studio.
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The deal will create roles for up to 50 animators at Bunbury company The Vue Group and boost the local economy by an estimated $15 million.
The two deals - $57 million with The Vue Group and $30 million with Perth-based ZAC Films - are the result of a special effort on behalf of ScreenWest and its partners to create relationships in the Chinese market, which currently has 18,000 cinema screens and is opening more at a rate of 25 each day.
New partnerships like these are especially important given the downturn in some Australian industries, said Culture and the Arts Minister John Day.
"Given the major changes which are occurring in the Australian economy and the announcement about the motor vehicle industry and departure of Holden from Australia yesterday, I think that this sort of agreement is really very timely," he said.
"[It] does provide some hope for the future for the further development of the economy and using digital economy and knowledge industries in particular in taking advantage of what is a huge market in China."
Shanghai Hippo Animation Design Company founder and CEO Kerr Xu – described by one of his business partners as the next Walt Disney – said The Vue Group managing director Alan Lindsay had made more trips to China than "any westerner" he knew and had set the ground work for further projects.
"That's what it takes, particularly in China, to make things happen," Mr Xu said.
"We are not going to be the job-stealers, we are going to be the job creators.
"We're gonna be the guys adding more value to this country, to this state and to this city."
The partnerships have locked in the production of six films, including Jungle Master 2, The Awesomes and Deep Sea, with talk of that expanding to ten.
"It's a very big thing for Bunbury and the South West but also Australian and worldwide," Mr Day said.
"I think what's being started off here is the embryonic form of what can really grow much more widely.
"There are some very talented and highly skilled people here in WA, there's a huge market for entertainment in China and really this does set the ground for some wonderful new opportunities."
Just two months ago it was announced that Australian production company Impian Films had partnered with a British company to build a $50 million Perth Film Studio.
The studio could be located at Murdoch University and is planned to open in 2016.
The announcements also cap off a huge year for the WA film industry, which produced a record five feature films including Ewan McGregor's Son of a Gun and Simon Pegg's Kill Me Three Times.
