South Australian Government pitches future plan for Adelaide Entertainment Centre

The South Australian Government has revealed its plans for the Adelaide Entertainment Centre (AEC), which would see the venue replaced by 2026.

Since July 1991, the AEC has played host to some of the biggest names in music, entertainment and sports.

The plan is for the Centre, the city’s largest indoor venue with an 11,300 capacity, to be replaced by 2026 by the Riverbank Arena.

The new 15,000 seat venue is needed, the SA Government said, to attract the major concerts, musical productions, conferences and other events that are currently bypassing SA.

The Government’s plan is for the Centre’s 28,900 sqm / 7ha site in Hindmarsh to be turned into a major film hub working on international productions.

SA’s screen sector currently injects $187 million into the economy each year and employs 2,000.

Premier and arts minister Steven Marshall unveiled the AEC plan at a Property Council lunch last Friday.

It will become home of the SA Film Corporation, SVOD services, producers, directors and screen composers.

“I know that the Adelaide Entertainment Centre will be an absolutely incredible facility for the screen sector and I know there’s already interest in that sector,” the premier told the audience.

He added there was international interest, and companies had expressed interest in building it.

He declined to mention their identities. But the Adelaide Advertiser, which first reported this story, revealed Netflix, Stan and Amazon Prime have had early discussions about setting up.

Artist image of Riverbank Arena

Marshall made it clear to business leaders in the audience that his Government needed to be voted back in this year’s state elections for Riverbank Arena to get green-lighted.

The music and arts sector hailed the Riverbank idea. Others have a problem with spending $700 million on an arena in these challenging times.

The Labor opposition has made it clear it will scrap the idea and put the money into health and paramedics if it is successful at the polls.

The Government’s push for a major film hub at the Entertainment Centre comes as its investment in SA’s screen sector has been recouped with more international productions coming on board.

In 2018, it introduced the $15 million PDV Rebate to cover post-production, digital and visual effects work, on top of a 10% SA spend production grant and a payroll tax exemption.

Companies such as Rising Sun Pictures (which did some visual effects in the Harry Potter and X Men movies), Mill Film and KOJO benefitted.

PDV expenditure doubled from $35 million in 2017/2018 to a record high of $75 million in 2019/2020, according to Screen Australia’s Annual Drama Report.

Mortal Kombat was made in SA

The making in SA of 2021 US martial arts fantasy film Mortal Kombat – which grossed $83.6 million worldwide against a $55 million budget – made $70 million for the SA economy.

It generated an estimated 180 jobs in PDV in SA on top of the 535 local cast and crew employed, and 808 extras engaged during production.

Also confirming its investment was Rising Sun Pictures’ receiving a 2021 Emmy nomination for its work on the US series The Boys.

An additional $22.8 million topped up the rebate scheme last year.