Naman Shrestha
Loosely inspired by the rivalry between the founders of Rip Curl and Quiksilver surf brands, The CW’s ‘Barons’ is an Australian drama series that follows a group of best friends who surf together and get inspired by the ocean to build two of the most popular rival surf brands. Along the way, they realize that even in paradise, there is a place for ambition, greed, and rivalry. Soon, their friendship turns into personal rivalries as they build competing surfwear companies, the success of which tears their friendship and world apart.
However, as the young surfers’ businesses get popular, they get pulled into a world of jealousy, politics, racial tension, and homophobia. Created by the trio of Liz Doran, Michael Lawrence, and John Molloy, the drama show features impressive performances from a group of talented actors and actresses, including Ben O’Toole, Jillian Nguyen, Sean Keenan, Hunter Page-Lochard, and Lincoln Younes. Given the beachside scenes and the backdrop of the open waters where the group of friends surf and begin their business, the audience tends to wonder about the filming sites of ‘Barons.’ Well, if you are one such curious soul, we have got you covered!
Barons: Where Was it Filmed?
‘Barons’ is filmed in its entirety in Australia, particularly in New South Wales. The principal photography for the debut season of the Australian series seemingly commenced in May 2021 and wrapped up in September of the same year. Originally, the filming unit had also planned to shoot in the US and Indonesia but their plans got canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. So, let’s not waste any time and get a detailed account of all the specific locations that make an appearance in the drama series!
New South Wales, Australia
All the pivotal sequences for ‘Barons’ are lensed across New South Wales, the Australian state situated on the country’s east coast. The production team sets up camp in various suburbs in the capital city of New South Wales, that is, Sydney. They are Avalon Beach, Narrabeen, Warriewood, Collaroy, and Palm Beach. Several key beach scenes are reportedly taped on Turimetta Beach while various other exterior parts are recorded on location in Waratah Park at 13 Namba Road in Duffys Forest.
The filming unit also travels to other locations outside of Sydney in New South Wales for shooting purposes. The locales of the beachside town of Byron Bay and the suburb of Long Jetty are some prominent production locations that feature in several important sequences. In a March 2022 interview with Variety, one of the co-creators, Michael Lawrence, talked in detail about the production process of ‘Barons.’
Lawrence said, “So, we got really clever about how and where we shot the surfing, mostly around Byron Bay. Our goal was to make this the most authentic surfing show ever. A lot of time went into working with the stunt doubles. Some of the cast are absolutely amazing surfers themselves. George Pullar, who plays Hunter George, is probably as good if not better than his stunt double. When you see the trailer with George on the inside of the wave in a barrel, that’s actually George. He wasn’t getting out of the water until he got that shot.”
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