Derrick Borte’s Russell Crowe L.A.-set action-thriller Bear County sent a frisson through Hollywood last year when it was announced the production was shooting on Australia’s Gold Coast.

Russell stars as an ageing L.A. night club owner whose plans for a comfortable retirement are put on hold when he robbed by a masked gunman.  He is joined in the cast by Nina Dobrev, Aaron Paul and Daniel Zovatto.

The movie is adapted from Thomas Perry’s 2010 novel ‘Strip’ which unfolded around Hollywood Boulevard and throughout the San Fernando Valley.

A news item on Deadline announcing the start of shoot in January 2025, sparked a flurry of comments at the time, and criticism of California Governor Gavin Newsom for failing to stem runaway production.

Responding to a question from Deadline at a news conference at the Taormina Film Festival where the film world premieres this evening, producers Mark Fasano of Nickel City Pictures, and Jeffrey Greenstein of A Higher Standard explained the rationale behind their decision to shoot in Australia.

“It’s very expensive to shoot films in the United States these days and so many films are shot abroad because of that,” said Fasano.

Quizzed if he felt “guilty” about leaving the L.A. for the shoot, at time when the production business is in crisis there, Fasano said emphatically: “No, because the legislation is intrusive actually… we want them to change the legislation there and make it more film friendly. So, we’re going to continue to shoot wherever we need to shoot to get our films made until they make it easier for us to come back.”

Greenstein added: “The reality is, it’s not our doing. We didn’t create the system, we just work within it and we make the movies in the place creatively that fits and that make financial sense so until the unions and the tax credits in the U.S. can make it more conducive to shooting, we’re going to continue filming movies and we’ll welcome any and every crew that wants to work.”

Director Borte, for his part, praised the quality of the crews and services on the Australian Gold Coast, adding that he had found locations that stood in well for the L.A. locations in the film.

“Creatively it was just about finding places that would play as L.A. We knew we wanted to set most of this in Koreatown, which is a specific look really that a lot of people haven’t seen, but on camera, people that live in L.A. don’t think it’s shot in Australia, they think it was shot in L.A.,” he said.

“And then we got Manhattan beach and a few like places in LA that don’t typically show up in movies,” he added. “On a practical note, the crews were amazing in Australia. The day player actors were great and outside of a hurricane, the weather was great.”

Aside from the locations, crews and services, the feature also tapped into Screen Queensland’s incentive package.

Bear Country will world premiere this evening to a 4,500-strong audience in an open-air screening at Taormina’s Ancient Greek amphitheater.

Crowe, who will receive an International Achievement Award at the gala screening, has been joined Dobrev, Paul and Zovatto alongside the director and producer.

The movie marks Borte and Crowe’s second collaboration together after 2020 road rage drama Unhinged.

Speaking at an earlier press conference, Borte said it had been Fasano and Crowe who first brought Perry’s novel ‘Strip ‘to his attention.

“Russell and Mark had the book, and we just knew there was something really great in there with these characters,” he said of the film’s genesis.  

Crowe added: “Mark had the book. He sent it to me, I read it and he said, ‘Who should I send it to?’ And I said, ‘My mate Derrick’.”

Borte added he had liaised with Crowe over the screenplay, which he co-wrote with with Daniel Forte (American Dreamer).

“Typically, with the writing process, having done two films now with Russell, we do a draft,” he said. “He looks at it, we get together, we throw things against the wall, see what sticks, see what works with the characters, see what works with the story and refine it to get to the point where we’re ready to cast.”

Tonight’s world premiere kicks off a summer preview tour across Italy for the film ahead of an August 26 release by 01 Distribution on behalf of Minerva Pictures with Rai Cinema.