The Location Offset’s training and capacity-building requirement is helping launch Australian screen careers, creating opportunities for emerging practitioners like Ella Keough.
International projects that access the Location Offset must contribute to training opportunities or the broader production and infrastructure capacity of the Australian sector.
Sydney-based Ella Keough is one of many to benefit:
“I can’t believe I finished university, then two weeks later, set foot on a huge Hollywood set.”
Ella’s now worked in the locations department on three large-scale films. Location Offset projects have invested an estimated $16 million into training and capacity building.
One month, Ella Keough was studying at the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) – the next, she was working on Sam Raimi’s horror film Send Help.
“It was my first ever full-time job: a 20th Century Studios production,” Keough says. “I [couldn’t] believe I [had] finished university, then two weeks later, set foot on a huge Hollywood set.”
Keough was one of five graduates selected for the paid traineeships, which were part of a collaboration between AFTRS and Walt Disney Company Australia and delivered under the Location Offset’s training and workforce capacity building obligation. The program’s ‘set ready’ training helped transition her into the location department of Send Help, shadowing location manager David Watts.
“I spent a lot of the time on Send Help asking a million questions because I had no exposure to the location department on short films,” Keough says, adding that when she produced short films, locations was just one of many hats she wore.
“The great thing about locations that I discovered, particularly on Send Help, was that it’s at the intersection of all of the other departments, so you have to build and foster relationships with grips, rigging, production office, accounts. You have to have a literacy of what they all do in order to do your job well. So having that time in the trainee role to zip around and be curious was so beneficial.”
The traineeship was made possible in part because of the Federal Government’s Location Offset – in order to be eligible for the 30% rebate, international productions must contribute to training opportunities or the broader production and infrastructure capability of the Australian screen sector.
Jump-Starting Emerging Careers with On-Set Experience
AFTRS Director of Partnerships and Development Matt Ravier says in addition to the traineeships, the collaboration with The Walt Disney Company included the creation of three On Set Onboarding courses in 2025, which enabled AFTRS to deliver high-quality, practical training to 45 early-career screen practitioners.
“While Disney supported that training phase, including through curriculum input, AFTRS’ role extended to selecting the five graduates who were ready to step into a fast-paced professional environment, and Ella was among those who demonstrated both skill and exceptional promise,” Matt said.
“Being placed on Send Help allowed Ella – an AFTRS Bachelor of Arts Screen: Production graduate – to translate that foundation into real experience, surrounded by seasoned crews and working at a scale that would otherwise be difficult to access so early in a career.”
Matt Ravier, Director of Partnerships and Development at AFTRS
Keough agrees: “I can’t imagine I would have had such a speedy and intense entry into such big scale productions without the training opportunities”
The Domino Effect into Sustainable Work
For Ella, Send Help was just the beginning.
Keough’s dedicated work on the film earned her another job – working as a location assistant on an independent international film Place to Be and then as location coordinating assistant on the large-scale feature Street Fighter.
“It was great to see how the location department can bend and morph into what those productions need,” she says.
Lisa Scope, supervising location manager on Send Help and Street Fighter, said it’s been great to see Keough’s knowledge and confidence grow.
“On Send Help, Ella had a well-rounded experience, starting in prep as an office assistant and then moving on set alongside our incredibly experienced on-set location manager, David Watts,” she says.
“International productions play a really important role in creating pathways for emerging crew to step into larger teams and more specialised roles. The opportunity to learn on set and access training in a real working environment is invaluable.”
Lisa Scope, Supervising Location Manager on Send Help
Keough says she feels privileged to have been mentored by people like Scope. What started out as a traineeship straight out of film school, evolved into a year of work and career development under Scope’s mentorship.
“In so many ways, the trainee roles have helped me. I was afforded a unique opportunity of getting onto three back-to-back projects, and I worked 12 months straight. It gave me stability and I got a plethora of different experiences in the office, on set, and working with different teams,” she says.
More Training and Capacity Building on the Horizon
On Set Onboarding and the traineeships were not the first program of their type either. AFTRS worked with The Walt Disney Company on traineeship programs for films such as Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love & Thunder and 20th Century Studios’ Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. And in 2025, ITV Studios Australia collaborated with national organisation Screen Careers to launch a long-term training program called the ‘ITV Studios Australia Crew Academy’, which spanned multiple projects and delivered credits, training and skills to build long-term careers.
According to Ausfilm’s project tracking, 18 large-scale international feature and TV titles went into production in Australia in 2024/25 – and the Location Offset requires each project to invest into training and capacity building. Ella’s story is one of many.
Scope says international productions and their trainee obligations give emerging crew meaningful, practical experience.
“A consistent pipeline of these projects helps people like Ella build sustainable careers while also strengthening the crew base across the entire sector.”
Lisa Scope, Supervising Location Manager on Send Help
Ravier adds that these opportunities can make all the difference for a practitioner trying to break into the industry.
“What excites us most is seeing how quickly opportunities like this can accelerate someone’s trajectory. Ella’s subsequent work on productions such as Place To Be and Street Fighter shows the lasting impact that targeted training, combined with on-set immersion, can have on emerging talent.”
Matt Ravier, Director of Partnerships and Development at AFTRS