47% of Screen Australia titles that received production funding are female-led projects
06/08/2017
Nikki Britton stars in Sheilas
Speaking at MIFF 37 South, Screen Australia COO Fiona Cameron today revealed that 47% of successful production funding applications had female-led creative teams across a two-year average (2015/16 2016/17 inclusive). Announced in December 2015, the Gender Matters KPI is to have 50% of successful production funding applications be female-led projects by the end of 2018/19.
Whilst we are getting close to gender parity across the titles that receive our production funding, the results are uneven with the television and online sectors continuing to do the heavy lifting, noted Fiona Cameron. However, successful applications for female-led feature films have jumped considerably to 39% in 2016/17, from a low bar of 22% in 2015/16. Documentary is also slowly inching towards parity, with 42% of successful production funding applications going to projects from female-led teams across the last two financial years.
A 17-person Gender Matters Taskforce was also announced, drawn from leaders across the screen industry including ABC Managing Director Michelle Guthrie, actor Deborah Mailman, the Seven Network's Head of Drama Julie McGauran and The Dressmaker producer Sue Maslin.
One of the distinguishing factors of Gender Matters is that the whole industry is along for the ride in recognition of the overriding commercial imperative, said Fiona Cameron.
--
Screen Australia released updated industry-wide female participation data for feature film, which now includes the three most recent financial years. Feature film has historically had the lowest female participation rates, and the percentage of female producers, writers and directors has not changed since the data was last released (1970/71 - 2013/14).
--
The number of women currently working in feature film industry-wide is also low across the 5-year period 2012/13 2016/17, with just 34% of producers, 15% of directors and 22% of writers being female. Creatives only needed to work on one project in the period to be counted.
This data stands as a reminder that just because gender equality in the screen industry has been a point of discussion, doesn't mean that it's translating into action industry-wide, particularly in feature film, said Fiona Cameron. This is why we are supporting organisations like the Australian Directors Guild (ADG) and Endemol Shine Australia's Smart for a Girl: ROAR, because they are targeting the problem areas of chronic female underutilisation like directing and writing.
GENDER MATTERS PROGRESS Web series Sheilas has become the first of the 45 Brilliant Stories alumni to progress to production, securing Screen Australia funding to make the 8 x 4 minute comedy to be released early next year.
Producer Nikita Agzarian said, We are over the moon with getting Sheilas into production. Screen Australia, in particular the Gender Matters initiative, has not only given us the opportunity to tell the forgotten stories of amazing women from Australian history, but also to become badass b*tches ourselves.
Of the 11 Brilliant Careers industry opportunities, some have already been completed, such as LevelK Australia's paid internship for Debra Liang which has since resulted in Debra obtaining a permanent job with the sales and distribution company.
Larger career development opportunities are in progress, such as the ADG's commercial sector mentor program, where eight directors were placed at production companies and two have since been signed with them. The ADG's Shadow Directing program is also active, with Darlene Johnson on Home & Away, Lucy Gaffy on Doctor Doctor and more to come.
For writing opportunities, Endemol Shine Australia's Smart for a Girl: ROAR program received 935 applications for 12 places. The successful applicants were announced on Friday, with the opportunity increased to 15 places due to the quality of applicants. Under the guidance of renowned producer Imogen Banks (Offspring) and screenwriter Alice Bell (Puberty Blues, The Beautiful Lie), participants get a paid writers' room experience.
Imogen Banks said, The great pleasure of Gender Matters was the unearthing of new voices. Alice and I were inundated with applications for Smart for a Girl, we were incredibly energised by the quality of stories and voices. It's exciting for the future of our industry.
Seven women have already completed Gender Matters Attachments on TV and film projects, with another six active now. There are eight more attachments in the works.
These paid placements offer genuine work opportunities, with Lizzie Cater currently working in post on Picnic at Hanging Rock and Vanessa Orzlowski with the camera department on TV series Sisters. Charlotte McConaghy was a script editor on Pulse, while Mel Sawyer was a producer's assistant on the new Helen Mirren film Winchester and has since been hired to see the project through to post.
The pilot attachment program has been so successful it has been extended. From 1 July 2017 Screen Australia now facilitates a wider range of inclusive attachment opportunities.
Unsurprisingly, with few female-led feature films coming into the market, Gender Matters Better Deals distribution assistance has been slower to activate. Nevertheless, Jennifer Kent's The Nightingale and Marion Pilowsky's The Call Back have both accessed the funding and the program has been extended for 2017/18.
TASKFORCE It was also announced today that the Gender Matters Taskforce has been significantly expanded to now cover all corners of the industry, from TV to distribution, across a range of career stages. Co-creator and producer of international juggernaut Dance Academy, and three-time Emmy nominee Joanna Werner
LINK: | https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/sa/media-centre/news/2017/08-06-gen... |
See more stories from screenaustralia |
Asia, Australia & Oceanic Stories
18/04/2024
Alone Australia goes from strength to strength
Alone Australia goes from strength to strength 18 April, 2024 Media releases The program again delivers for SBS with significant uplifts in digital BVOD vi...
18/04/2024
Screen Australia and Dynamic Television announce new Scripted Initiative
18 04 2024 - Media release Screen Australia and Dynamic Television announce new Scripted Initiative Savage River Screen Australia and Los Angeles-based telev...
16/04/2024
ABS Agility Beyond Space announces Appointment of Mark Rigolle as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
ABS Agility Beyond Space announces Appointment of Mark Rigolle as its Chief Ex...
11/04/2024
Alone Australia Ep 2 reaches over 1m Australians
Alone Australia Ep 2 reaches over 1m Australians 11 April, 2024 Media releases The program continues to consistently grow week-on-week in linear audience w...
11/04/2024
Screen Australia and Meta launch fourth year of First Nations Creators Program for Instagram
11 04 2024 - Media release Screen Australia and Meta launch fourth year of First...
10/04/2024
Screen Australia announces over $2.3 million for nine documentaries
10 04 2024 - Media release Screen Australia announces over $2.3 million for nine documentaries Guardians of the River Screen Australia has announced nine doc...
09/04/2024
Groundbreaking NITV documentary series Our Law expands across Australia from Thursday 9 May
Groundbreaking NITV documentary series Our Law expands across Australia from Thu...
09/04/2024
Psst; inflo transcribes with Whisper
Techtel, the creators of inflo, today announced that a new speech to text transcription engine from openai called Whisper, is available to inflo customers who a...
04/04/2024
Manu Feildel, Miranda Otto and Pat Rafter join life-changing new season of Who Do You Think You Are?
Manu Feildel, Miranda Otto and Pat Rafter join life-changing new season of Who D...
04/04/2024
Alone Australia season 2 continues to redefine Australian TV viewing through on-demand digital consumption
Alone Australia season 2 continues to redefine Australian TV viewing through on-...
27/03/2024
Living Black, the longest-running Indigenous current affairs television program in Australia, returns for its 21st year with new guests
Living Black, the longest-running Indigenous current affairs television program ...
26/03/2024
Crime is relative in SBS's new Canneseries nominated crime-family dramawith a difference
Crime is relative in SBS's new Canneseries nominated crime-family drama with...
25/03/2024
SBS gears up for Season 2 of Alone Australia with the creation of Alone Cologne'
SBS gears up for Season 2 of Alone Australia with the creation of Alone Cologne...
22/03/2024
SBS Learn partners with the Islamic Museum of Australia to support classrooms in understanding Ramadan and Eid with new teacher resource
SBS Learn partners with the Islamic Museum of Australia to support classrooms in...
21/03/2024
Screen Australia announces over $1.6 million in support of the games industry
21 03 2024 - Media release Screen Australia announces over $1.6 million in support of the games industry Which Way Up: Galaxy Games Screen Australia has anno...
18/03/2024
Screen Australia and VicScreen launch new Screen Careers initiative
18 03 2024 - Media release Screen Australia and VicScreen launch new Screen Careers initiative LTR Denise Eriksen, Esther Coleman Hawkins, Caroline Pitcher, K...
15/03/2024
The Creators 2024 Participants Announced
15 03 2024 - Media release The Creators 2024 Participants Announced The Creators program recipients. L-R Thomas Duncan-Watt, Vanessa Gazy, Sarah Lambert, Lea...
14/03/2024
SBS to mark Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr with all Australians
SBS to mark Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr with all Australians 14 March, 2024 Media releases Content in 22 languages*, a collection of movies to stream free on d...
14/03/2024
Notice of Nominees for Directors (Resolution planned, June 19, 2024)
March 14,2024 -- KDDI Corporation KDDI Corporation resolved at a meeting of the Board of Directors held today to change (newly appointed, retire) a director ...
13/03/2024
Screen Australia announces dramas Critical Incident and Sunny Nights for Stan
13 03 2024 - Media release Screen Australia announces dramas Critical Incident and Sunny Nights for Stan Critical Incident: Akshay Khanna and Zoe Boe. Photo c...
07/03/2024
Explore the afterlife with SBS podcast Grave Matters'
Explore the afterlife with SBS podcast Grave Matters' 6 March, 2024 Media releases Most of us are woefully unprepared for one of life's few certai...
06/03/2024
Multi-award winning electronic music duo to represent Australia at this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Malm, Sweden
Multi-award winning electronic music duo to represent Australia at this year'...
06/03/2024
GITAI and KDDI Successfully Demonstrates Robotics Construction Capabilities for Lunar Communications Towers
Developing Lunar 3GPP Mobile Network Technologies for Moon Exploration GITA...
04/03/2024
SBS announces new development fund to discover Australia's biggest and riskiest new factual hit
SBS announces new development fund to discover Australia's biggest and riski...
28/02/2024
Yumi Stynes returns for season two of SBS podcast SEEN'
Yumi Stynes returns for season two of SBS podcast SEEN' 26 February, 2024 Media releases Eight new trailblazers join feminist Australian icon Yumi Sty...
28/02/2024
Screen Australia announces over $810,000 in development funding for 29 projects
28 02 2024 - Media release Screen Australia announces over $810,000 in development funding for 29 projects Willy Screen Australia has announced 23 feature fi...
27/02/2024
Michael Ebeid AM appointed as new Screen Australia Chair
27 02 2024 - Media release Michael Ebeid AM appointed as new Screen Australia Chair Michael Ebeid AM and Megan Brownlow The Hon. Minister for the Arts, Tony...
26/02/2024
KDDI, Sony Honda Mobility Start Collaboration to Drive Connected Businesses Globally
Supporting AFEELAs entertainment experience and global launch with a communicati...
21/02/2024
Screen Australia and Australians in Film Announce Applications Open for UNTAPPED 2024
21 02 2024 - Media release Screen Australia and Australians in Film Announce App...
21/02/2024
Sony and KDDI Accelerate Efforts to Promote Digital Transformation in the Broadcasting and Media Industries
Aiming to deliver new video-related solutions utilizing 5G SA this year Son...
21/02/2024
KDDI Teams Up with Kyoto Sanga F.C. to Start Demonstration Test for Fan Engagement Services with Smartphone Game
Support the team with gifts while enjoying AR games in the stadium KDDI COR...
21/02/2024
U and Google's Gemini model to Provide Generative AI Services for Everyday Use
KDDI CORPORATION February 21,2024 -- Tokyo, February 21, 2024 From February 2...
20/02/2024
The Approval of SORACOM's Listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market
KDDI CORPORATION February 20,2024 -- KDDI announces that its consolidated subsidiary, SORACOM, INC. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo, CEO: Ken Tamagawa, herei...
15/02/2024
Alone Australia Season 2 Returns 27 March | Meet the Cast
Alone Australia Season 2 Returns 27 March | Meet the Cast 15 February, 2024 Media releases Smash hit series Alone Australia returns Wednesday 27 March on S...
15/02/2024
NITV's flagship footy show Over the Black Dot returns Tuesday 5 March, live and in high definition
NITV's flagship footy show Over the Black Dot returns Tuesday 5 March, live ...
15/02/2024
Screen Australia announces over $560,000 for crew and gamemaker skills programs
15 02 2024 - Media release Screen Australia announces over $560,000 for crew and gamemaker skills programs Liz Keogh Palmer (Australian Production Design Guil...
13/02/2024
2024 is a landmark year for SBS's award-winning current affairs line-up, covering the most impactful local and global stories
2024 is a landmark year for SBS's award-winning current affairs line-up, cov...
13/02/2024
Six Australian projects bound for South by Southwest Festival in the US
22 01 2024 - Media release Six Australian projects bound for South by Southwest Festival in the US Audrey, Birdeater, The Moogai Six Australian screen projec...
12/02/2024
Screen Australia and YouTube Australia Launch Skip Ahead 9
12 02 2024 - Media release Screen Australia and YouTube Australia Launch Skip Ahead 9 Uncovering Street Dance: Australia from Skip Ahead 8. Photographed by Ry...
08/02/2024
Screen Australia and ABC announce Bay of Fires is back for season two
08 02 2024 - Media release Screen Australia and ABC announce Bay of Fires is back for season two Marta Dusseldorp as Stella in Bay of Fires ABC, Screen Austr...
07/02/2024
4 in 10 Australians battling sleep issues as nation's sleep crisis grows
4 in 10 Australians battling sleep issues as nation's sleep crisis grows 7 February, 2024 Media releases Dr Michael Mosley and the sleep scientists fro...
06/02/2024
Six screen creatives selected for the 2024 SBS Emerging Writers' Incubator initiative
Six screen creatives selected for the 2024 SBS Emerging Writers' Incubator i...
02/02/2024
SBS Scripted TV Lunch sessions return for another year of connecting with creatives
SBS Scripted TV Lunch sessions return for another year of connecting with creati...
02/02/2024
Financial Results for the Third Quarter of the Fiscal Year Ending March 2024
February 2,2024 -- KDDI Corporation KDDI announced the financial results for the third quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2024. Summary In the third q...
31/01/2024
Filming Begins on SBS' Romantic Original Drama Four Years Later' in India
Filming Begins on SBS' Romantic Original Drama Four Years Later' in Ind...
30/01/2024
A stellar 2024 for SBS podcasts kicks off with The SBS Book Club' and Humans of the Australian Deaf Community'
A stellar 2024 for SBS podcasts kicks off with The SBS Book Club' and Huma...
29/01/2024
The host with the most, Adam Liaw, is back with an all new inviting season of The Cook Up
The host with the most, Adam Liaw, is back with an all new inviting season of Th...
22/01/2024
Eddie's Lil' Homies premieres on NITV and Netflix on Friday 16 February
Eddie's Lil' Homies premieres on NITV and Netflix on Friday 16 February 22 January, 2024 Media releases Animated comedy series inspired by AFL grea...
22/01/2024
Five Australian projects bound for South by Southwest Festival in the US
22 01 2024 - Media release Five Australian projects bound for South by Southwest Festival in the US Audrey, Birdeater, The Moogai Five Australian screen proj...