29 07 2016 Gender Matters: Final stages revealed
Screen Australia CEO Graeme Mason overnight unveiled the final two steps of the agency's Gender Matters program, Better Deals and Attachments for Women, at the MIFF 37 South Market in Melbourne. Gender Matters is the $5 million plan to ensure that production funding is targeted to creative teams that are at least 50% female by the end of 2018. Gender Matters is an ambitious initiative that aims to address the gender imbalance in Australia's screen sector.
NEW PROGRAMS
Better Deals is a $1 million pilot program that will create a new incentive for distributors considering quality female-driven feature film projects. Screen Australia will match the distributor's minimum guarantee of $100,000 or more (up to $300,000), which will be provided as a grant contribution towards the marketing of the film. This will give producers greater negotiating power to secure better deals with distributors, and encourage positive collaboration between the producer and distributor. Better Deals is open to all projects that satisfy the Three Tick Test' (female writer, director, producer and/or protagonist), and is not limited to those that have received Screen Australia production investment.
Attachments for Women is a program run in conjunction with the existing Production Investment Programs. It requires that all scripted drama projects that receive more than $500,000 from Screen Australia to have a compulsory, paid female attachment position built into the budget. This $1 million scheme will provide valuable production experience for women who want to break into long-form storytelling, extend their production experience or take the next step in their career either as creatives or crew. Participating projects will receive up to $20,000 to cover wages and other costs of the position, including supplementing childcare, travel or other suitable expenses as agreed to by the company and the attachment. This is to encourage producers to look outside of capital cities for potential attachments.
Better Deals and Attachments for Women mark the final steps of the Gender Matters program which began in December 2015 with immediate changes to Screen Australia's Assessment Criteria. This was complemented by the announcement of the 58 successful recipients of Brilliant Stories (45) and Brilliant Careers (13) earlier this month. The successful teams will share in more than $3 million in funding for story development or business infrastructure.
Mr Mason said that the latest additions to the suite of Gender Matters programs made sound commercial, ethical and cultural sense. We are seeking to address issues in opportunity, marketplace support, access to experience and credits for talented women. This is about creating opportunities, and removing the false perception that female films are more risky. These are interventions that focus on women at the supply and also the commercial distribution end of the value chain.
Screen Australia COO Fiona Cameron said: We think that Gender Matters is the circuit-breaking scheme that we need to make a real change in this industry. Gender Matters is a world first, providing opportunities to bridge the divide between education and occupation. A greater female perspective behind and in front of the camera provides balance, diversity and commercial sense.
Applications for Better Deals open on Friday 29 July 2016. Attachments for Women has been a compulsory addition to Screen Australia's Production Investment Programs since June 2016.
FURTHER INFORMATION
For further information about Better Deals and Attachments for Women please see the Brochure and Backgrounder.
For information about the successful recipients for Brilliant Careers and Brilliant Stories, visit the Gender Matters hub.
To read the report that launched the initiative, see Gender Matters: Women in the Australian Screen Industry Report (Dec 2015)
Follow the conversation on Twitter: @ScreenAustralia and #GenderMatters.
Media enquiries
Tamara Zimet
02 8113 5800 0405 185 699 tamara.zimet@screenaustralia.gov.au
Download PDF
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
13/05/2026
New Adobe Premiere Color Grading Mode Accelerated on NVIDIA GPUs
Joel Pennington May 13, 2026
0 Comments
New NVIDIA RTX-accelerated features streamlin...
13/05/2026
Grass Valley announced that dB Broadcast has delivered new IP-based outside broadcast (OB) trucks for Cloudbass, featuring Grass Valley LDX 100 Series cameras a...
13/05/2026
Ikegami will exhibit the latest additions to its wide range of broadcast production cameras, control units, viewfinders and monitors on stand 5D3-1 at Broadcast...
13/05/2026
FISE, working with the founding members of the XR Sports Alliance (XRSA), Accedo, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and HBS, have collaborated to develop an immersive...
13/05/2026
Canon Unveils New EOS R6 V Full-Frame EOS Camera and RF20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ Bu...
13/05/2026
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honors Beth Morrison and Moses Pendleton at Comme...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Creative software developer Foundry today announced the latest developments on Nuke Stage. A purpose-built application for end-to-end virtual production and in-...
13/05/2026
A definitive portrait of one of Ireland's most influential musicians
New TV documentary airs Monday 18 May on RT One and RT Player at 9.35pm
Watch the...
13/05/2026
Agentic AI is changing the way users get work done. Following the success of OpenClaw, the community is embracing new open source agentic frameworks. The latest...
13/05/2026
Reinforcement-learning agents - AI systems that learn by trial and error - can c...
12/05/2026
Beyond the Hype: A Strategic Post-Hoc Analysis of NAB 2026 If NAB Show 2026 had an underlying theme, it was a quiet, industry-wide pivot from the high-energy sp...
12/05/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D), a Panoptec Technologies Group company, and CT Square, led by Chandresh Shah, have announced a joint venture to distribute G&D and V...
12/05/2026
With 30 days until the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the tournament in the United States, has announced th...
12/05/2026
The NHL has announced the return of Stanley Pup for its third consecutive year, a 90-minute special featuring adoptable rescue dogs competing on a miniature rin...
12/05/2026
NBCUniversal presented its 2026 Upfront to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall, detailing upcoming programming across NBC, Peacock, Bravo, and Versant properti...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced funding for the Fandom and Social Connection Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Publ...
12/05/2026
TNDV and Live Media, both divisions of Live Media Group, supported live broadcast coverage around NCAA Final Four weekend in Indianapolis, including the March M...
12/05/2026
The European Football Alliance (EFA) has announced a content distribution agreement with Fubo Sports Network, the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel ...
12/05/2026
For the first time, Spanish-speaking fans in the U.S. will have two separate tel...
12/05/2026
CP Communications led a comprehensive spectrum management initiative on behalf of Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week, coordinating RF assets across the ...
12/05/2026
LiveU has announced a strategic partnership with DRONERESPONDERS, a 501(c)3 non-...
12/05/2026
Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BMC TV, a specialist in IP transport of broadcast content, has selected the Open Broadcast Systems 5G Flyaway solution...
12/05/2026
NEP Europe, part of NEP Group, has announced it will deliver broadcast solutions...
12/05/2026
Grass Valley has announced continued collaboration with Ravensbourne University ...
12/05/2026
Stats Perform has announced the launch of Opta Pulse, an AI-assisted video creation and distribution platform for leagues, rights holders, and broadcasters. The...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced a collaboration with Sesame Workshop to integrate Sesame Street characters into FOX Sports' FIFA World Cup 2026 programming. Conten...
12/05/2026
To date, NHL Productions has produced 19 broadcasts with commentary in American Sign Language
NHL in ASL (American Sign Language) may be just one show, but the...
12/05/2026
Google's Brian Albert: creators, athletes, highlights, nostalgia, second-scr...
12/05/2026
A still from Past Lives by Celine Song, an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | p...
12/05/2026
Spotify is where fans and artists come together, turning discovery into somethin...
12/05/2026
Features patented Marco-MMC clocking technology
Black Lion Audio's latest release combines the company's expertise in clocking with their renowned p...
12/05/2026
New Track Panel, sequencer upgrades & more
Following their recent public beta release, Reason Studios have announced the full release of Reason 14. With the...
12/05/2026
One month to go! SBS reveals expansive FIFA World Cup 2026 lineup beyond the pi...
12/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at...
12/05/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has developed a modified fund raising p...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Tyrell Corporation, specialists in high-end live sports and entertainment broadcasts, was tasked with delivering compelling broadcast coverage of premier equest...
12/05/2026
Registration is now open for IBC2026 as the global media, entertainment and technology community prepares to converge on the RAI Amsterdam from 11 14 September ...
12/05/2026
Ross Video, a global leader in live video production technology, will present its latest innovations and integrated production workflows at BroadcastAsia 2026, ...
12/05/2026
500 selected leaders from around the world across start-ups, corporates, and venture capital. Over 50bn in assets under management among attending investors, a...
29 07 2016 Gender Matters: Final stages revealed 
