A young female private investigator teams up with a disgraced cop to solve mysteries in far north Queensland in a TV drama brimming with crime, crocodiles and fascinating characters.

Pre-COVID, Lisa Duff, head of scripted at EQ Media Group in Sydney, would have found experienced crew in a heartbeat to work on Troppo, the adaptation of crime author Candice Fox’s best-selling novel Crimson Lake.

Now she is among the growing number of local producers struggling to crew their producers struggling to crew their productions in a dire skills shortage driven largely by the influx of overseas films taking advantage of federal government incentives and COVID-safe practices.