If you haven’t watched Clickbait already, we’re confident it should be next on your list. The new Netflix thriller series has quickly risen the ranks within days of its release on the streaming platform—and you don’t have to look far to know why.
The premise follows the story of Nick Brewer, a seemingly normal family man from Oakland, California who lives a simple life. That is until he’s kidnapped and forced to appear in a ransom video. In the chilling clips, cue cards reveal he will be killed when it reaches five million views.
In an accurate reflection of modern society today, the video understandably goes viral, with his family also watching in horror.
The eight-part series has a number of mind-boggling, albeit incredibly clever plot twists that leaves the viewer desperately seeking more. And of course, nothing compares to the shocking ending, which ultimately reveals the fate of Nick and the person responsible for it.
While the character Nick himself (played by Adrian Grenier) is locked up indoors for a decent portion of the series, there’s plenty of visuals to set the scene of his Californian life.
The plot also follows his family and friends as they navigate the shocking and horrific nature of his kidnapping, with a background of cityscapes and neighbourhoods painting a picture of the location.
But interestingly behind the camera, the real life setting was far from the US.
So where was Clickbait filmed?
Clickbait was actually filmed right here in Australia—Melbourne, to be exact.
Co-creator and producer Tony Ayres is from Australia, and while the production team shot several scenes in Oakland to give it a little extra authenticity (including the Tribune Building and the Bay Bridge), the bulk of the series was shot in Melbourne due to its similarities to the narrative’s US setting.
Speaking to EW, Ayers explained: “Pragmatically, we needed to find a place which we could double in Melbourne… When I drove through Oakland, I felt like I’d come home to Melbourne. They could be sister cities.”
Specifically, most of the filming occurred in Broadmeadows, which is located near Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport. To add, several scenes seen in busy outdoor streets were filmed in inner-north suburb Fitzroy.
Of course, Clickbait isn’t the only major international production to be shot Down Under.
Australia has recently seen a surge in feature film productions making their way into the country. Both our infrastructure and accessibility are attractive feats for those in the Hollywood film industry.
Franchises like Marvel Studios have set their sights on Australia, and Amazon Prime’s Nine Perfect Strangers was also filmed on-shore near Byron Bay in 2020.
With this in mind, it’s no wonder Clickbait has now been added to the ever-growing list. And if you haven’t watched it already (you can do that via Netflix here, FYI), we strongly recommend you do so, not least for spotting a favourite Fitzroy hideaway…
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