SYDNEY -- The vast state of Western Australia is one of Oz's least populated regions. It boasts the most isolated capital in the world, Perth, and until now it has had hardly any screen exposure.

According to ScreenWest topper Ian Booth, limited previous exposure means that for filmmakers there's lots to discover, and judging by booming production levels, the region is the next big thing Down Under.

The value of production this financial year will top A$27 million ($24 million) -- double the amount last year.

Three domestic pics are in production in the area, and last year Baz Luhrmann spent five weeks in Kununurra filming his epic romance "Australia" for Fox.

Two successful pics of the last decade lensed portions in the state -- "Japanese Story" and "Rabbit Proof Fence" -- and there have been a handful of others over the years.

But movies shot wholly in Western Australia have been few and far between. "Last Train to Freo" received a limited release in 2006, "Under the Lighthouse Dancing" with Jack Thompson and Jacqueline McKenzie was a saccharine drama set on Rottnest Island in the 1990s that didn't even get released in the eastern states.

State film agency ScreenWest sinks $7 million into development, production and screen culture each year, with half its funding derived from a lottery.

A new grant worth $3 million over two years is available for investment in new primetime television series.

The money, from premier Alan Carpenter's $66 million Ignite cultural funding boost announced in late 2007, will go only to producers and network executives prepared to promote the state, like "McLeod's Daughters" did for rural South Australia.

"It is about more profile," Booth says.

On primetime Aussie TV, Perth and Western Australia barely exist. But last month, the premiere of Perth-produced primetime detective series "Who Do You Think You Are?" pulled in a record 863,000 viewers, pubcaster SBS' largest-ever audience share for a local production.

Outside primetime, Western Australia is faring well. SBS' critically-acclaimed remote indigenous legal drama "The Circuit," which aired last year, is preparing a second season, as is the AFI award-winning kids' series "Lockie Leonard" and "Who Do You Think You Are?"

Peter Greenaway has accepted an invitation to address the Australian Intl. Documentary Conference later this month.

And while Heath Ledger is no longer around to champion his beloved hometown, a fellow Perth-hatched thesp Sam Worthington is taking up the mantle. Worthington is now filming the lead role James Cameron's "Avatar."