BioQuest Studios among latest four firms to get Screen Queensland funding

BioQuest Studios previously received funding in 2022

Australian underwater specialist prodco BioQuest Studios is part of a group of emerging screen businesses based in regional Queensland that have been boosted with a A$200,000 (US$131,589) grant from state agency Screen Queensland.

Four companies have been selected to share in the grant, which is part of Screen Queensland’s North Queensland Regional Program, a scheme that supports regional screen business to develop capacity and growth across the sector.

The other recipients are production companies Blue Octopus Films and Resonant Films, and casting agency Platinum Talent Management.

The initiative was introduced in 2022 in the lead-up to the development of the new Screen Queensland studio facility that opened in Cairns, North Queensland, last year. To date, A$900,000 has been awarded to local screen businesses across 16 grants since its introduction.

The latest enterprise funding is the second round of support awarded to BioQuest Studios, which used its 2022 funding tranche to transform the business. The firm now has operations in Port Douglas in North Queensland, Massachusetts in the US and an island-based field studio in Moorea, French Polynesia.

In 2022, BioQuest Studios won an Emmy for outstanding nature documentary for production on Puff – Wonders of the Reef.

“That investment opened the door to international opportunities, including a collaboration with Oscar-winning director Luc Jacquet in Moorea. We’re now his underwater filming partners on an upcoming project,” said BioQuest Studios technical director Pete West.

West added that the fresh grant would support the next phase of growth for the business, including investment in resources and expansion of the technical and creative teams.

Screen Queensland CEO Jacqui Feeney said the latest North Queensland Enterprise recipients highlight some of the diverse businesses that make up the screen ecosystem.

“This year’s cohort includes two production companies developing authentic screen stories with distinctly Far North Queensland perspectives, alongside a casting company enhancing regional production services, and the intricate technical prowess of macro underwater cinematography that helps showcase places such as the Great Barrier Reef to the world,” Feeney said.

Feeney added that Screen Queensland’s regional investment programme will continue to invest across all facets of screen production and screen services in North and Far North Queensland, to ensure local and global productions have access to skilled crew, responsive local suppliers and first-class facilities.