CEO's 2019 Year in Review and 2020 Preview
21/01/2020
The Australian Dream, Parked, Ride Like A Girl
Today the Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia (MPDAA) published the finalised box office data for 2019, with Australian films taking $40.2 million at the local box office. Rachel Griffiths' directorial debut Ride Like A Girl, which was funded through Screen Australia's Gender Matters program, was the highest-grossing feature.
The data completes the set of annual, objective metrics Screen Australia utilises to monitor the health of the local screen industry, including the annual Drama Report, ratings, viewership, and the agency's own spend on content.
The Australian screen industry performed solidly in 2019, with creators not only producing works that resonated with audiences, but with the sector remaining incredibly resilient despite the upending of entertainment business models globally, said Graeme Mason, CEO of Screen Australia. In part that is due to the bedrock of direct and indirect government funding that ensures Australian stories are told, but the bottom line is a film or series needs to be quality to attract the kind of solid viewership we're seeing. To that end, our local creators are to be congratulated.
Despite the explosion of choice, Australians are still seeking out local stories on television, at the cinema and online. Compared to other English-speaking markets, Australia produces exceptional, internationally regarded content at a fraction of the budget one would expect in the UK and US, and at a volume that belies our small population.
Where and how Australians are consuming that content is undeniably changing, with real time TV viewing shrinking as catch-up is growing. We're also seeing consumers make very deliberate choices about the type of film they want to see at the cinema, as opposed to enjoying at home, compounded by the continued squeeze on the indie film market. Documentary remains popular, particularly on the public broadcasters, and the resurgence of theatrical docs that started in 2016 is continuing. The online content we're funding is growing in production values and often duration, and the fact the 2019 top trending YouTube video in Australia was a scripted series by Superwog is extraordinary.
How commercial success can be measured is diverging by format, and as an industry we need to take a more nuanced approach rather than relying on old metrics in isolation. Linear television series are still expected to perform strongly from episode 1, as are films on their opening weekend. Yet in practice, this is the opposite of the viewing behaviour that streamers and online platforms like YouTube are training us to adopt, where you discover and consume content in your own time.
Whilst the viewer may make no distinction about how a piece of content got on their screen, in reality productions are now also financed in completely different ways. Producers of a film made for cinema or a terrestrial TV series will typically enjoy a long tail of income as international, home entertainment and auxiliary rights are sold. Conversely, streamers are now buying the worldwide release of a title for a flat fee, providing a swift payday and incredible profile to creators, but with no further income due and no promise they will ever know how many people watched their work. Online platforms are offering an entirely different business model again, and in Australia we often see scripted creators supplementing that income with live theatre offerings.
As a result, at Screen Australia we are looking to fund productions that are not only creatively exceptional, but are crafted and financed for the new market conditions. We want to see very deliberate choices in budget, the use of Offsets, target audience, release strategy and international partners, with success measures that are realistic. The aim is to support creatively and culturally significant work that resonates with audiences, and from which the creators financially benefit.
Screen Australia directly injected nearly $76 million into the screen sector in 2018/19, including over $54 million in TV, film and documentary production funding which triggered over $360 million in activity (refer appendix 3). An additional $207.69 million was provided by the Federal Government through the Producer Offset tax incentive administered by Screen Australia.
The latest Drama Report found 2018/19 expenditure on Australian scripted titles was a record-breaking $768 million, driven by an all-time record spend on Australian television and a five-year high spend on Australian features.
All signs point to 2020 being an incredibly busy year for both the production and release of Australian stories. Coupled with the fact the production of foreign works in Australia has been bolstered by several large productions, Australia has become a very robust and competitive screen market.
As of January 2020, Screen Australia has 35 films, 29 feature documentaries, 14 TV shows, 27 TV documentaries, 10 kids' shows, 12 online series and 10 online documentaries in various stages of production or release.
2020 cinema releases have already begun with True History of the Kelly Gang and Go! (to be released as Go Karts outside of Australia on Netflix), with confirmed release dates for H is for Happiness (6 Feb), Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears (27 Feb), The Wishmas Tree (27 Feb), Undertow (27 Feb), Never Too Late (23 Apr), I Am Woman (21 May), The Dry (27 Aug), and Penguin Bloom (1 Jan 2021). Indigenous anthology Cook 2020 will also screen. Gender Matters developed feature Relic will have its world premiere at Sundance Film Festival and H is for Happiness will have its international premiere at Berlinale.
The Gloaming (Stan) began the 2020 television debuts, to be followed later
LINK: | https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/sa/media-centre/news/2020/01-21-ceo... |
See more stories from screenaustralia |
Asia, Australia & Oceanic Stories
24/04/2024
SBS marks Earth Day as The Cook Up with Adam Liaw becomes first Australian show to have its carbon footprint validated through SSA
SBS marks Earth Day as The Cook Up with Adam Liaw becomes first Australian show ...
24/04/2024
Save money every day with SBS's Ricardo Gonalves and Peggy Giakoumelos on new Cost of Living Secrets podcast
Save money every day with SBS's Ricardo Gon alves and Peggy Giakoumelos on n...
24/04/2024
Screen Australia celebrates Australian projects bound for Cannes Film Festival 2024
24 04 2024 - Media release Screen Australia celebrates Australian projects bound...
23/04/2024
Social entrepreneur Hedayat Osyan wins Les Murray Award for Refugee Recognition
Social entrepreneur Hedayat Osyan wins Les Murray Award for Refugee Recognition 23 April, 2024 Media releases The prestigious award is now in its third yea...
22/04/2024
SBS marks Earth Day with Australian TV milestone as The Cook Up with Adam Liaw becomes first show to measure its carbon footprint
SBS marks Earth Day with Australian TV milestone as The Cook Up with Adam Liaw b...
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...