Rising Sun Pictures

The release in November 2005 of the latest in the Harry Potter movie series – Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – had special significance for 55 highly talented young people in a large open-plan office above the restaurant strip in Adelaide’s Gouger Street.

It’s the headquarters of the internationally acclaimed visual effects studio Rising Sun Pictures which, 10 years after its formation and a more sedate life in the suburbs, relocated into the City. The first impression as you enter its doors tells part of the reason why – a huddle of bicycles parked beside the stairs shows that a lot of people in this office ride to work.

The company’s CEO Didier Elzinga paints the rest of the picture: “We specifically chose to be in Gouger Street,” he says. “We now attract talent from around the world, with people working here from Germany, France, Italy, England and the US. What we have outside our front door enables us to give them the best Australia has to offer.

“There’s the Central Market, cafes and restaurants, coffee and wine – all of it equal to anything in the world. It helps us to compete not just with Sydney, but London and New York.”

Rising Sun Pictures began in 1995 when Tony Clark, Gail Fuller, Wayne Lewis and Steve Roberts met over a beer in the Rising Sun Hotel in Adelaide. What started as a general film post-production company has grown to become one of the best visual effects studios in the Southern Hemisphere – in a city that no-one in Hollywood had ever heard of.

Its breakthrough onto the world stage came with major commission on the Lord of the Rings – Return of the King.

“Since then we haven’t looked back,” Didier says. “Now, we do more A-list feature film work than anyone else in Australia, nearly all of them made in the US.”

These include The Last Samurai, Paycheck, The Lord of the Rings - Return of the King, and more recently Superman Returns, Charlotte’s Web, not to forget Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Fast Facts

● Relocated to the City from fringe area
● Highly skilled staff
● Cultural vibe, accessibility and convenience benefits