Archive for the ‘Articles – General (2010)’ Category

Sea Patrol shoots in Far North one last time

By Natalie Dixon
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
The Cairns Post

HMAS Cairns is swarming with the cast and crew of Australian drama, Sea Patrol and they blend right in.

The 100-strong group started shooting for season five in Cairns yesterday, after wrapping up at Mission Beach on Friday.

It was a hot day, making it tough on the actors who were all decked out in full navy uniforms.

But despite the heat, no one was complaining, they are making the most of their last five days in the “magical Far North”, before heading south to the Gold Coast where they will film until February.

It will be a bittersweet week, season five will be the last for Sea Patrol, a victim of its success it has been axed because of rising production costs and expired Government investment.

Production tax rebates for local dramas expires after episode 65 and the show will run for 68.

But no one is too upset, not even the producers Hal and Diane McElroy, who say they don’t mind bowing out after such a successful run.

“The show is going out on ratings high, consistently rating well over 1.1 million viewers,” Mr McElroy said.

“We have accepted the fact we are finishing up and though a bit sad, it is the way things go.

“Besides, we have had a fantastic five years filming in some magical places up here, it is like a postcard, there is no better way to describe it.”

The couple say while the Far North is not an easy place to shoot in, it is one of the most beautiful.

Another attraction for the producers is HMAS Cairns. The navy loaned the producers a fully crewed $60 million patrol boat for filming.

Categories: Articles - General (2010)

Sea Patrol begins filming on final series

Gold Coast Mail
4th November 2010

Nine’s Sea Patrol begins filming on the Gold Coast. This will be its fifth and final series.

THE fifth season of Channel 9′s drama series Sea Patrol has begun filming on the Gold Coast.

Producers of the popular show Hal and Di McElroy said series five would be the final series of the Australian Navy based drama.

In a statement to the Gold Coast Mail Hal and Di McElroy said the government does not provide a tax rebate after 65 episodes.

“The Tax Offset for TV at 20 per cent is modest compared to feature films at 40 per cent so it’s a pity that it cuts out at 65 episodes because it becomes a penalty for success.

“The show has been a fantastic performer for Channel Nine and is going out on ratings high, consistently rating well over 1.1 million viewers.

“Filming for series five will film on the Gold Coast as scheduled.”

Categories: Articles - General (2010)

Fans fight for Sea Patrol

By Lisa Simmons
Gold Coast Bulletin
October 29th, 2010

INTERNATIONAL fans have joined the rush to sign an online petition to save Gold Coast production Sea Patrol.

Channel 9 and the show’s makers Di and Hal McElroy have confirmed series five, which is filming in north Queensland before it moves to the Gold Coast next month, would be the last. It will air on Channel 9 and NBN in the new year.

Clint Rolfe launched the petition on Monday at fan site Sea-Patrol.com, which he set up in January 2007, six months before the series debuted.

Yesterday it had collected almost 600 signatures, most from Australia and New Zealand, though some came from fans in Hong Kong, Canada, the Phillipines and even Alaska in the US.

Rolfe conceded it was unlikely the network would change its mind and commission a new series, having made a decision based on budgets and some new shows on the way.

“It’s a way to say thanks to the cast, crew and makers for five years of great entertainment, to let them know their work is appreciated and to point out to the network too, that this is a show with a fan base, so don’t mistreat it in the final season with regards to storylines, don’t change its timeslot from one night to another, air it really late, or move to the secondary multi-channels.

“If there can’t be a series, why not look at doing a telemovie down the track?”

Sea Patrol stars Lisa McCune, Ian Stenlake, Conrad Coleby, Kristian Schmid and Tammy McIntosh.

The show had a healthy 1.2 million fans this year and has been on-sold to countries around the world.

Channel 9 commissioned 13 episodes for series five, down from 16 this year, which takes its total run to 68 episodes.

A production tax rebate for local dramas expires after episode 65.

Categories: Articles - General (2010)

Cairns region battles to save TV drama

Thursday, October 28, 2010
The Cairns Post

MISSION Beach locals are rushing to sign an online petition to save Australian television drama Sea Patrol.

Channel Nine has confirmed the fifth season of the popular show, filmed in the Mission Beach and Innisfail areas, will be its last.

The show has been axed due to rising production costs and expired government investment.

Nine commissioned 13 episodes for series five taking its total run to 68 episodes.

Unfortunately, a production tax rebate for local dramas expires after episode 65.

Mission Beach residents are devastated.

The absence of production teams brings to an end an estimated $2 million the show has pumped into the local economy each season.

A petition on fan website Sea-Patrol.com was started earlier this week and already has more than 400 names begging Nine executives to change their mind.

Dunk Island Sport Fishing co-owner and Mission Beach local Kerri Pike said she would be adding her name and she was sure a number of other locals would too.

“We are going to miss them so much. I can’t imagine the cast and crew not being here every year, she said.

“Sea Patrol film when normally it would be quiet in Mission. It is not just about the economic benefits they bring, it is the buzz and the excitement of them being here.”

Sea Patrol producers Hal and Di McElroy said they always knew it would be tough to continue the show after the tax offset cut out.

“We are optimists and we did want to think it would last forever,” Di McElroy told The Cairns Post.

Categories: Articles - General (2010)

TVTonight: Success all at sea

TVTonight.com.au
By David Knox on October 27, 2010

The fifth and final season for Sea Patrol is a reminder that television production doesn’t enjoy the same level of government investment as that of feature film.

Television is often seen as the lesser sibling of film, despite the fact it is a much bigger employer and far more widely viewed by Australian audiences.

This week it was confirmed that the Nine drama will come to an end in 2011 as the tax rebate expires at 65 episodes.

Producers Hal and Di McElroy told TV Tonight, networks don’t have a bottomless pit of money.

“The Tax Offset for TV at 20% is modest compared to feature films at 40% so its a pity that it cuts out at 65 episodes because it becomes a penalty for success,” they said.

With its huge location costs, the Nine drama will wrap at 68 episodes, with 3 less this season than the last.

This year has again been a strong one for Australian TV drama, but as some dramas are pitted against one another in competing timeslots there is a risk that they can corrode one another.

“There’s always been competition for viewer loyalty,” said the McElroys. “Research suggests the audience run a ‘must watch’ list in their head – and there’s only room for 5 or so shows! So you’ve got to be good to get there which is a healthy goal. We’re not scared of competition – it energises us.”

And while there are suggestions that the new multichannel environment impacts on the likelihood of drama renewals, the McElroys agreed that there is now a new benchmark in measuring the success of a local drama.

“Yes, its psychological really – north of one million in 5 capital cities on Free TV,” they said.

“Pay TV is looking to come up to that number over their rotation. Competition splits the audience up into smaller and smaller pieces. But that’s true of all media, indeed all manufacturing. Cost of production becomes the decider in terms of audience reach.

“Of course we’re sad that Series 5 will be the last, but we’re proud of what we have achieved and all of us are determined to make our last our best.”

Sea Patrol will continue filming its fifth series until February.

Categories: Articles - General (2010)

Production costs sink popular Queensland-based Ch9 drama Sea Patrol

By Geoff Shearer
The Courier-Mail
October 27, 2010

SEA Patrol – the only Queensland-made adult drama TV series on air – has been sunk by production costs.

The fifth season, which is currently being filmed in Mission Beach in far north Queensland before moving to the Gold Coast next month, will be its last.

The Nine Network commissioned 13 episodes for series five, down from 16 this year, which takes its total run to 68 episodes. A production tax rebate for local dramas expires after episode 65.

Nine said yesterday it would not be commissioning the HMAS Hammersley and its crew, including Lisa McCune, Ian Stenlake, Conrad Coleby, Kristian Schmid and Tammy McIntosh, for a sixth series.

”Sea Patrol will go out on a high of consistently good ratings and with a loyal audience, but it is too expensive to produce without the government assistance (even with huge overseas sales),” a Nine source said.

Series creators and producers Hal and Di McElroy said they knew it would be tough to continue the show past when the tax offset cut out.

”But of course we love the show,” they told fans through the Sea-Patrol.com website. ”We’re all proud of it and as optimists we want it to last forever. But all good things come to an end. So boy, are we going to go out on a high.”

Clint Rolfe, who established Sea-Patrol.com in January 2007, six months before the series first aired, yesterday said Nine’s timing on its decision gave the producers limited chance to prepare.

”Nine held out a little too long to tell them this,” he said. ”Rather than say while they were writing season five, ‘This is your last season, take it out with a bang’. I don’t think Hal and Di will now have the chance to go back and write a fitting end that all fans want.”

The website, with 3888 registered members, is arguably the most successful individual TV show fan site in Australia. In the last month Sea Patrol was on air, it recorded 6 million hits – 86,000 being unique.

A petition has been established on the site to try to convince Nine to change its mind.

Sea Patrol averaged a healthy 1.2 million viewers nationally this year. It has been on-sold to more than 100 territories. Season five will air on Nine next year.

The cancellation will have less impact on McCune, who is taking a lead role and a co-producer’s hat for the prime-time drama project Reef Doctors, to be filmed by Coast-based Jonathan M. Shiff Productions in and around Port Douglas.

Screen Queensland said yesterday Sea Patrol had made a valuable contribution to the Mission Beach community and the state economy.

”It has been a privilege for Queensland to be the production base for a series the calibre of Sea Patrol,” a spokeswoman said.

In the financial year 2009/10, SQ contributed two grants totalling $1.2 million to the series, divided between season four and five.

The government body said yesterday that Sea Patrol also has a loan of $3,924,266 under the Revolving Film Finance Fund.

The ‘Save Sea Patrol’ petition, launched on Sunday, had 391 signatures as of last night. Find it at Sea-Patrol.com

Categories: Articles - General (2010)

Sea Patrol sets sail on final series

TVTonight.com.au
By David Knox on October 26, 2010

Channel Nine’s next season of Sea Patrol will be its final series.

Currently filming in Queensland, the series will bring to a close five seasons aboard the HMAS Hammersley.

The drama, starring Lisa McCune and Ian Stenlake, averaged 1.2m viewers last season.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that a production tax rebate expires after 65 episodes. Next season’s 13 episodes takes the total number of episodes to 68. This year it had 16 episodes.

Sea Patrol has been a shiny success story for Nine, produced by McElroy All Media. With its Armidale-class patrol boat from the Royal Australian Navy, and mix of action and romance, it has sold to over 100 territories principally via the Hallmark Channel.

McCune and Stenlake both return for the final series along with Conrad Coleby, John Batchelor, Matt Holmes, Kristian Schmid, Nikolai Nikolaeff, Danielle Horvat, Tammy McIntosh plus Ditch Davey and Renai Caruso.

But some fans are already looking to save the series from ending.

Clint Rolfe who runs website SeaPatrol.com told TV Tonight, the show had been written off by some observers in its first season but has built a loyal legion of fans. A Petition to save the show is already gathering signatories.

“The fans all feel for the cast and crew, who still have to deliver Sea Patrol 5. That said, fans aren’t taking the news lying down,” he said.

“Athough it’s almost impossible to change a network’s mind, the Hey Hey fans did it, so maybe the fans of Sea Patrol will have some success. Even if Nine won’t fund another series, how about an explosive movie length episode to take the series out on a high? In any case, we’ve started a petition and would love more support.

“Although it isn’t the highest rating Australian drama on TV, and costs a mint to make, the quality gets better and better each series.

“The only bright light is we still have 13 solid episodes to look forward to.”

Reports of a final series follows news last week that Seven is yet to decide on the future of City Homicide for 2011. A 6 episode-arc will screen next year while the network promises a decision early next year.

Nine is yet to confirm the future for COPS L.A.C. while TEN has not announced any renewal yet for Rush.

Categories: Articles - General (2010)

Final cruise for Sea Patrol

by David Knox Freelance TV.com writer

Season five of Nine’s maritime drama will be its last.

With news that Seven may not renew City Homicide for 2011 comes word that next year’s series of Sea Patrol will be its last.

The decision to wrap up Sea Patrol is due to financial assistance ending for production under a government tax rebate.

The rebate was available to producers McElroy All Media for 65 episodes, but next year the series reaches 68 episodes.

With its mammoth locations and logistics, Sea Patrol is at the high end of production costs.

The fifth series will clock in at 13 episodes, three less than in 2010, with the return of cast members including Lisa McCune, Ian Stenlake, Conrad Coleby, John Batchelor, Matt Holmes, Kristian Schmid, Nikolai Nikolaeff, Danielle Horvat and Tammy McIntosh.

Ditch Davey will also return as Captain Jim Roth and is joined by Renai Caruso as the aptly-named Madelaine Cruise.

Sea Patrol began in 2007, the same year as City Homicide, with a mix of action and romance on the high seas. Its border patrol plotlines have capitalised on interest in topical themes while delivering broad stories for a mainstream audience. It has aired globally via the Hallmark Channel.

Last season it averaged over 1.2 million viewers per episode, which is considered a good figure in today’s multi-channel environment.

Where this leaves Nine’s future drama output in meeting local quotas is unclear.

So far in 2011 Underbelly may be made into three telemovies, Rescue: Special Ops has been renewed for an increased 22 episodes, while Cops L.A.C. is under-performing so much it could well be on its way out.

Last week Seven announced it was undecided if it would renew City Homicide for a fifth season. At this stage six new episodes will air in 2011.

Sea Patrol is currently filming at Mission Beach, Cairns and on the Gold Coast for its last hurrah, with a series it brands “Damage Control”.

Executive producer, Di McElroy, said: “Our cast and crew love the thrills, spills and very real danger of shooting on a warship on the high seas.”

Executive producer, Hal McElroy, agreed: “We’re determined to make this our best season yet.”

Filming concludes in February.

Categories: Articles - General (2010)

Sea Patrol to Go Out With A Bang

From SMH: The Guide

Sea Patrol will sail into its fifth season with a stellar list of guest stars. Signing up for Nine’s navy drama are Ditch Davey (Blue Heelers), Diarmid Heidenreich (Underbelly), Pia Miranda (Looking for Alibrandi), Myles Pollard (McLeod’s Daughters) and Nicholas Bell (The Games). A production tax rebate that is one of the show’s major funding sources expires after 65 episodes, which means the fifth season, which takes it to 68 one hour episodes, will be the last. The series has been sold to NBC Universal-owned channels in Britain, Australia, Russia, Poland and Greece, plus RAI in Italty. It will air on Nine next year.

Categories: Articles - General (2010)

Sea Patrol filming boost for Mission Beach

Friday, October 15, 2010
The Cairns Post

AN estimated $2 million will be pumped into Mission Beach over the next month as another season of hit drama Sea Patrol is filmed in the area.

Not surprisingly, local business owners have rolled out the welcome wagon.

Sea Patrol 5 – Damage Control follows the crew of HMAS Hammersley as they patrol the coastline of Australia, protecting the nation’s borders.

Lisa McCune heads the cast, along with Ian Stenlake and Conrad Coleby. There are up to 150 cast and crew.

Mission Beach business owners say the production brings $2 million-plus to the beachside town’s economy each year.

Mission Beach Holidays owner Vicki Wiltshire said practically every business in town benefited.

“They always film at the same time each year, right at the end of the September school holidays,” she said.

“It extends the season for us by over a month and that positively affects every business in town in some way.

“Whether you are renting accommodation, building supplies for the set or selling petrol or beer, it is brilliant for the local economy.

But it’s not just the economic benefits that the locals like. It’s the return of the people that have now become old friends after so many seasons filming in the community.

“They have been coming here to film every year for a few years now and they are such great people you can’t help but get to know them,” resident Kerri Pike said.

Categories: Articles - General (2010)