The monster-focused Global Creatures company shed more than half its earnings last financial year yet still managed to top the BRW rich list for Australian entertainers in a year in which the earnings of the top 50 dropped by 29 per cent.
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The Sydney-based production company behind stadium spectacular Walking With Dinosaurs earned $62 million in 2011, down from $140million in 2010, when the show packed arenas around the world.
With King Kong, How to Train Your Dragon and Warhorse all opening in 2012-13, the company is likely to stay at or near the top for some time yet.
Perennial high achievers the Wiggles finished in second spot, with earnings of $28.2 million.
But the big surprise was Naomi Watts, whose $19.1 million made her Australia's highest-paid actor, ahead of fifth-placed Nicole Kidman on $18.6 million.
BRW editor Kate Mills said, ''When we look at what someone like Naomi is earning we're not just looking at her fees for the movies they appear in, we're looking at their endorsements as well.''
Watts had only one movie released in Australia last financial year - Fair Game, a thriller based on the story of CIA operative Valerie Plame, whose identity was deliberately leaked after her husband wrote an article critical of the Bush administration. She will next be seen here in J. Edgar, a biopic of the founder of the FBI, in January.
The bulk of Watts's 2011 income has come from endorsement deals with Pantene (hair products), Ann Taylor (fashion), and Angel (perfume by Thierry Mugler).
Nicole Kidman has a similar deal with Omega (watches) and those deals have kept the dollars flowing even while both have tended to favour films that lean more towards the arthouse than the box office.
''The entertainment industry is really volatile, and the smart performers are looking for other revenue streams to stabilise that,'' Mills said.
''We tend to look at them and think they're not doing that well in Hollywood, but Naomi Watts and Nicole Kidman have been really savvy.''
Notably absent from the top 50 earners was Russell Crowe, who had no movies released last financial year.
Fourth on the list was promoter Michael Gudinski. Along with fellow promoters Michael Coppel, Michael Chugg and Paul Dainty, he has made the top 50 every year since the list was first compiled 15 years ago.
The total earnings of the top 50 were down from $579.5 million in 2010 to $409.7 million, a dip that had less to do with the economy than with the fact that two of last year's biggest tours have come to an end.
Like Walking With Dinosaurs, AC/DC's world tour came to an end, dropping the band's earnings from a staggering $131million in 2010 to a relatively small $9million this year.
Basketballer Andrew Bogut topped the sports list, earning an estimated $13million. Behind him were world motorcycle champion Casey Stoner ($9.5million), Formula One driver Mark Webber ($9 million) and motocross rider Chad Reed ($8.5million).
Rounding out the top five was Tour de France winner Cadel Evans, whose earnings more than doubled from $2.1 million to $5 million.
The rich list is published in BRW today.
