The rise of Sydney’s creative industries

Sydney is a global powerhouse for creative industries, renowned for its talent development and innovation. With top educational institutions, a thriving startup culture that fosters collaboration and idea-sharing, and a dynamic mix of urban and natural beauty, the city attracts the world’s best talent to live, work and create. 

How Sydney aligns creativity with commercial success 

Sydney’s adventurous spirit enables it to excel creatively while being supported by strategic leadership. Professor Richard Mackay, AM, says this blend of innovation and business acumen is what allows the city’s creative sector to thrive on the global stage. The founder and Director of Possibilities at Mackay Strategic, Mackay is a cultural heritage expert with over 40 years of leadership in public and private sector heritage management.  

This strategic approach is essential in a world where creative talent needs to be nurtured but also requires pathways to translate ideas into tangible, market-driven outcomes. Mackay’s work with various creative businesses highlights the city’s role as a major player in fostering creativity and innovation.  

He stresses the importance of supporting the infrastructure that sustains creative careers while also driving economic impact.  

Strong government support plays a significant role. In December 2023, the NSW Government launched the Creative Communities policy, a 10-year plan supporting arts, culture and creative industries, which already represent 10 per cent of the state’s economy. The new initiative aims to foster creativity across sectors such as First Nations cultures, performing arts, music, screen and design. The policy prioritises collaboration, investment in creative spaces and sustainable industry growth.  

Sydney’s technological landscape fuels success in digital animation and visual effects 

Sydney’s evolving landscape of emerging technologies has enabled a remarkable number of creative industries to flourish. The $466 billion global digital gaming industry presents a major opportunity. NSW aims to boost its digital games sector with incentives like lowering the Digital Games Rebate threshold making it accessible to more developers.  

The Digital Games Rebate is a financial incentive designed to support local developers, attract new talent, and foster the growth of the digital games sector in NSW. An additional $1.5 million investment will support small developers through skill-building programs and networking. 

In 2021-22, the NSW screen industry contributed nearly $1.1 billion to the state’s economy. It’s home to 51 per cent of Australia’s screen production and 49 per cent of post-production businesses.  

To further nurture this sector, the NSW Screen and Digital Games Act will be launched in 2025 to establish NSW as a film-friendly destination, streamline regulations and enhance collaboration between the government and filmmakers. A three-year screen and digital games strategy will focus on three key priorities: championing Australian storytelling, nurturing the next generation of creative talent and driving growth in the digital games sector. 

Animal Logic’s success is a shining example of Sydney’s contribution to the global film industry. A Sydney-based digital animation and visual effects (VFX) studio founded in 1991, it specialises in creating stunning visuals for feature films, television and digital media. It’s renowned for its groundbreaking work on major blockbusters such as The Lego Movie series, Happy Feet, and Peter Rabbit, as well as contributions to The Matrix trilogy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. 

Co-founder and former CEO Zareh Nalbandian says Sydney’s contribution to the global creative industries space comes down to one thing: talent. 

“So you have great companies like Animal Logic and international companies like ILM and Flying Bark, as well as smaller companies like Studio Blackbird and slatevfx. There’s just such an incredible ecosystem of talent. 

“Sydney is a city that has fostered an environment where talent and innovation can thrive,” Nalbandian says. “When we first started Animal Logic, we had a vision to create something world-class, and we were fortunate enough to have Sydney’s creativity and talent pool as our foundation. It’s the city’s energy that drives us forward.” 

The power of collaboration 

Collaboration is a central theme in Richard Mackay’s and Zareh Nalbandian’s work. Sydney’s creative industries thrive because they are not siloed but deeply interconnected across sectors. 

Mackay highlights the significance of collaboration in the creative industries, saying, “One of the most exciting aspects of Sydney’s creative economy is the breadth of collaboration that exists between artists, technologists and business leaders. Creative industries don’t operate in isolation – they thrive on partnerships that allow new ideas to take flight.” 

For Nalbandian, collaboration is the lifeblood of successful animation production. “Animation is about building relationships across teams – whether it’s between animators, directors, or technology specialists. It’s the synergy of these relationships that makes a film like The Lego Movie a success. Sydney has been a great place for building these kinds of relationships because of the diverse talent it attracts from all around the world.” 

As Sydney’s creative industries continue to grow, the city’s ability to bring together diverse skills and talent from multiple sectors allows it to lead on the global stage in digital and creative innovation.  

For Nalbandian, Sydney is uniquely positioned to support these kinds of collaborative efforts. “Sydney’s creative community is an exciting place to be because there is so much cross-pollination of ideas. It’s a city where artists and technologists can come together to push boundaries.” 

Mackay adds that Sydney is an ideal location to host conferences related to the cultural sector or the creative arts industries. 

“One reason for this is that for a number of decades, we have been absolute leaders in terms of cultural heritage, practice adaptation and creative approaches to conservation. We have exciting venues like the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct, where you have performing arts spaces in historic structures, and global icons like the Sydney Opera House.  

“It is absolutely a world-class venue for performing arts and creative performances, but it is also a world-class exemplar of how to do conservation in a contemporary setting and modify a historic structure in a way that gives it a continuing relevance and use in the community.  

“The Opera House, to my mind, sits at the absolute heart of any program or venue opportunity for Sydney, and it is surrounded by a constellation of extraordinary monuments and historic sites in the centre of the city. Sydney is absolutely up there in terms of providing ideas, innovation and best practice examples of how to do cultural heritage at our historic monuments and sites.” 

Sydney’s creative future 

Sydney is constantly evolving, offering limitless possibilities for those who seek to make a mark in the creative industries. With its commitment to nurturing creative talent, the city’s creative industries will continue to thrive and produce interesting and impactful work that makes the world sit up and take notice. 

Read more about some of the Creative Industry events that have been hosted in Sydney such as ACM SIGGRAPH Asia, an annual event that rotates around the Asian region, attracting the most respected technical and creative people from all over the world in research, science, art, animation, gaming, interactivity, education and emerging technologies, as well as the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) a non-government global professional association that works for the conservation and protection of cultural heritage places around the world on our website besydney.com.au.