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Home baked - film and TV drama production in Australia
Australian creative talent, script writers, producers and directors are vital to our successful local entertainment industry and are the prime movers of Australia 's international film and television success stories. But Australia is also one of the most popular destinations for film making in the world with the number of major films produced here increasing every year.
According to the Australian Film Commission's (AFC) latest drama production survey, overall expenditure on the production of feature films and television drama in Australia rose by eight per cent to $662 million in 2001-02.
The AFC survey tracks production over a financial year of feature films and TV drama programs (miniseries, telemovies and series/serials). According to the survey, 39 feature films and 49 TV drama programs were shot in Australia in 2001-02, including local productions, co-productions and foreign productions.
Total expenditure in Australia increased from $611 million to $662 million. Local productions and co-production activity together accounted for two-thirds of this expenditure, a similar share to last year.
While Australian feature film and television drama production increased by seven per cent to $343 million, the value of spending in Australia by foreign productions increased by 13 per cent and Australian feature production increased by a massive 60 per cent from $82 million to $131 million. This figure was boosted in late 2002 by two high-budget fully foreign-financed features, The Crocodile Hunter and Swimming Upstream.
The Commonwealth Government's Film Licensed Investment Companies (FLICs) scheme made a significant contribution to financing Australian features this year investing around $16 million in nine titles-eight of which were shot this year. The pilot scheme gives investors in specially licensed companies a 100 per cent tax deduction and lets them spread their risk across a slate of productions.
'Private investment will always have a role, and foreign sources are particularly important in financing higher-budget local features,' said AFC Chief Executive Kim Dalton, 'but direct government funding sources continue to underpin the core Australian feature slate. Our analysis indicates that, on average, government agencies have consistently provided more than 42 per cent of the funding for locally financed features each year.'
In local TV drama, there was a shift in 2001-02 towards shorter, higher cost per hour series, with the introduction of such new programs as MDA, White Collar Blue and Young Lions .The average cost per hour for Australian TV drama series rose to its highest level since the survey began tracking this indicator in 1992-93. The number of hours produced however fell by 12 per cent to 561 hours.
'In the context of the Australian Broadcasting Authority 's review into the Australian Content Standard, it is important to note that Australian TV drama production fell from $240 million to $212 million,' said Dalton.
Although foreign production activity in Australia is increasing, it 's important to recognise that local production remains the foundation of the industry.
'Australian productions bring Australian stories to our cinema and our television screens and, over the years, they have promoted Australia successfully overseas. It is also Australian productions that discover and promote our local talent and are so often the training ground for our world-class crews.'
The AFC is the primary development agency for the film, television and creative multimedia industries in Australia, and a major supporter of screen culture. It provides the largest source of film and television development funding in Australia through script and other pre-production assistance for feature films, television drama, documentaries and animation.
The AFC's main role is in project, practitioner and industry development. It provides:
- funding for film and television development and post-production;
- support for interactive media development;
- professional development and production opportunities for Indigenous Australians;
- administration of Australia's film co-production program; and
- policy and industry performance information-Get the Picture and the National Production Survey are the most authoritative sources of information on the industry.
Contact:
The survey is available online at: http://www.afc.gov.au/nps/. For more information on the AFC visit the website www.afc.gov.au, call toll free: 1800 226 615, or email: info@afc.gov.au.