23 November 2009 WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE, an Australian-made production National premiere this Thursday

The news: Warner Bros. Pictures’ classic Where The Wild Things Are which filmed in Victoria, premieres in Melbourne this Thursday.

The local story behind the international box office hit:

Victoria was chosen over Hawaii, New Zealand, Argentina and the U.S. as the only place in the world that could offer director Spike Jonze the diversity of locations he needed to create his vision for the film (he conducted a worldwide search for 18 months)

The film was shot over four months at Melbourne Central City Studios and 11 different locations throughout Victoria in 2006

It generated an estimated 670 jobs and $57 million for the Victorian economy

Locations seen in the film include Port Phillip Bay, Mt Arapiles Tooan State Park, Gilwell Park in Gembrook, Discovery Bay in Portland, Bushrangers Bay in Flinders

The locations were perfectly dramatic, vividly creating Max’s Island

The film has been described as an extraordinary merger of live action, state-of-the-art puppetry and computer animation

A number of Australians led the production teams behind this project, with local actors such as Angus Sampson and Nick Farnell donning nine-foot tall creature suits to play the ‘Wild Things’

Film Victoria worked closely with the production company to secure the project for Victoria.

About Where The Wild Things Are

An adaptation of the classic Maurice Sendak book, Where the Wild Things Are,tells the story of Max, a rambunctious and sensitive boy who feels misunderstood at home and escapes to where the Wild Things are. Max lands on an island where he meets mysterious and strange creatures whose emotions are as wild and unpredictable as their actions.