Qantas To Bring "Modern Family" To Australia

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Qantas has announced a partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Television and Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products to bring the top-rated American comedy series "Modern Family" to film in Australia.  

Qantas will fly the cast and crew from Los Angeles in February as the Pritchett-Dunphy-Tucker clan takes a vacation down under for an episode to be broadcast later this season. Filming in Australia is expected to take two weeks.

Lauded for revitalizing the television sitcom, "Modern Family" is one of the largest critical and commercial hits of the past decade.  The recipient of four consecutive Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series and a Golden Globe Award for Best Comedy Television Series, "Modern Family" is both Network Ten and the ABC Television Network's top-rated comedy series.

The partnership between Qantas and Twentieth Century Fox Television's "Modern Family" and Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products follows the airline's support in 2013 for a visit by The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which provided a 22 percent increase in inbound flights to New South Wales alone, as well as overall boost in destination awareness for Australia.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said it is a huge coup for Australia to feature in an episode of the multi-Emmy award-winning show.

"We are excited to partner with Twentieth Century Fox to promote what Australia has to offer to the world through this special holiday episode. The humor of the show is a great fit with Australia's own and as the national carrier we are proud to support this innovative way of encouraging more people to fly to here," said Mr. Joyce.

"Qantas is the biggest private investor in promoting Australia as a destination, and the United States is one of the biggest source markets for people visiting our country. An estimated 25 million people will watch this episode when it first airs, which is fantastic exposure and great news for tourism," he added. 

The entire "Modern Family" cast, including, Ed O'Neill (Jay), Julie Bowen (Claire), Ty Burrell (Phil), Sofía Vergara (Gloria), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Mitchell), Eric Stonestreet (Cameron), Sarah Hyland (Haley), Nolan Gould (Luke), Ariel Winter (Alex), Rico Rodriguez (Manny) and Aubrey Anderson-Emmons (Lily) will join co-creator and executive producer Steven Levitan for the visit to Australia.

"We are so excited about our trip down under and we promise not to do any 'down under' jokes.  We look forward to a fantastic shoot in many exotic locations.   We loved the family vacation episodes we shot in Hawaii and Wyoming – this one is certainly our most ambitious yet. We promise to feature a kangaroo, a koala and a boomerang.  I'm sure there will be lots more, but so far that's all we know about Australia – our American school system is a disaster.  So we thank Qantas for this amazing opportunity to broaden our horizons.  Plus it'll be nice to go to a place where everyone looks like Hugh Jackman and Miranda Kerr. Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! " commented Levitan. 

"As the leading carrier between Australia and the U.S., Qantas will not only bring the highest level of expertise in travel for our production, they are also bringing a great amount of creativity to the overall partnership," said Jeffrey Godsick, president of Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products. 

"Modern Family" producers will travel to Australia in advance of the shoot in January to scout and identify preferred filming locations and potential storylines.

The series is produced by Twentieth Century Fox Television in association with Picador Productions and Steven Levitan Prods. Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd are the creators/executive producers. Danny Zuker, Dan O'Shannon, Bill Wrubel, Paul Corrigan, Brad Walsh, Abraham Higginbotham, Jeffrey Richman and Jeff Morton also serve as executive producers.

Qantas is one of the world's longest-established airlines. With almost 80 flights per week across the Pacific, including on its flagship Airbus A380 aircraft, it is the leading carrier between Australia and the United States.

SOURCE Qantas