15 08 2018 - Media release Gender Matters KPI update and new industry data released
Megan Wilding as Mary Ann Bugg in Sheilas / Photo by Ash Berdebes
Screen Australia has released the second instalment of tracking against its Gender Matters target, which reveals in the year 2017/18 the majority of feature film, documentary, television drama and online dramas that received production funding from the agency, had women occupying at least half of the key creative roles. This is the first time that this has occurred across all content types since tracking began in 2015/16.
Screen Australia's Gender Matters target is that by the end of 2018/19, half of the projects that receive production funding will have women occupying at least 50% of key creative roles.
On a three-year average, Screen Australia has met its overall Gender Matters target for the first time since the initiative was launched, with 51% of all projects receiving production funding having at least half of the key creative roles occupied by women. However, while there has been real improvement in female participation, there is still work to be done, particularly in the feature film sector which is a high profile part of the industry.
The entertainment industry is cyclical. You cannot plan for who will have a great idea and when. So whilst we saw a noticeable upswing in titles where women occupy at least half of key creative roles getting production funding in 2017/18, we're already seeing that trend soften in our most recent funding rounds, said Joanna Werner, Screen Australia Board and Gender Matters Taskforce member. Although it's good to see we have hit our Gender Matters target early, it remains to be seen if the trend will hold. Coupled with the fact industry-wide data clearly shows areas of chronic under-utilisation of female talent remain, I would interpret today's Gender Matters tracking data as a sign we are on the right track not by any means at the end of the track.
--
Werner added, As we move into the final year of the original Gender Matters plan, both Screen Australia and the members of the Gender Matters Taskforce will be considering where to focus our attention in 2018/19 and beyond to ensure the improvements in female participation are sustained. We know we still have a lot of work to do.
Although the Gender Matters KPI only relates to production funding, Screen Australia has also released an update on all application data (available here), covering both successful and unsuccessful applications across development and production. This data gives a sense of the pipeline of stories that may transition from development into production in the coming years.
What stands out in our recent application data is that women are well represented, with 57%* of all incoming requests for funding being for projects where women occupy at least half of the key creative roles, noted Werner. Furthermore, those projects are typically successful in obtaining funding, with 55%* of all approved applications being for projects where women occupy at least half of the key creative roles.
But we're very aware that television projects are much more likely to include female creatives than feature film, so our top line application numbers need to be read with the understanding that whilst female participation is increasing industry-wide, it is uneven.
Whist we have seen steady improvement in the film figures over the last three financial years, women are still significantly underrepresented in key roles, so our focus is to see much more advancement in this area. To that end, our new development programs will undoubtedly assist a wider group of creators to be able to workshop their projects, which will not only bring new voices into the market, but give concepts the time and resources to incubate.
All Screen Australia funding is based on merit and the Gender Matters initiative does not include a quota.
The next Gender Matters tracking data will be released in August 2019.
*three year average 2015/16 2017/18 inclusive.
INDUSTRY CONTEXT Screen Australia has also released new industry-wide data charting female participation in Australian feature film, documentary and for the first time, television drama. The data reveals women made up less than half of all producers, directors and writers working in each format (2011-2017), except for producing in television drama where women represented 52% of the workforce.
The percentage of female directors working in feature film (16%) has not improved since the previous industry-wide data set was released by Screen Australia in 2015 covering the period July 1970 to June 2014.
However feature film is a smaller sector compared to television drama in terms of the volume of content being produced, so the number of opportunities for creatives to work in feature film are less. For instance, Screen Australia's Drama Report showed that in 2016/17 $321m was spent to make 457 hours of Australian television drama. In the same period, $284m was spent on 41 Australian features.
-- GENDER MATTERS FUNDING In July 2016, $3.7m was distributed to fund the development of 45 female-driven stories (Brilliant Stories) and 13 female-driven businesses (Brilliant Careers).
Three alumni of Brilliant Stories have already proceeded to production, with online comedy Sheilas from Hannah and Eliza Reilly launching later this month (sheilas.tv) and Rachel Griffith's Ride Like a Girl feature film about Michelle Payne's life is currently in post-production. Last month Natalie Erika James' feature Relic received production funding and has just finished shooting in Victoria.
The suite of Brilliant Careers recipients focussed on either slate development or providing career opportunities for individuals, with the aim of creating self-sustaining enterprise. Sophie Hyde and
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
06/12/2025
In a live broadcast from the Reagan National Defense Forum, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher Kubasik joined Morgan Brennan on CNBCs Closing Bell: Overtime. Ku...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Introducing New Perks to Help You Get Even More from LinkedIn Premium Published on Dec 5, 2025 Categories: Company News, Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Co...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
04/12/2025
SBS launches Future Frames initiative to support emerging First Nations video ed...
15 08 2018 - Media release Gender Matters KPI update and new industry data released 
