HECTOR CRAWFORD

ADVANCING THE BUSINESS OF AUSTRALIAN CONTENT

Mr. Adams has reminded us that the modern Australian screen content business was built by passionate advocacy for the telling of Australian stories, said Matthew Deaner, Executive Director of Screen Producers Australia following the delivery of the Hector Crawford Memorial Lecture by Phillip Adams, AO. The end result of that advocacy were standards for Australian content on television and support for feature films which has allowed us to build businesses making stories for Australia and the world.

As an advertising executive, Phillip Adams was involved in the Advance Australia campaign to buy Australian products and was influential in lobbying government for the establishment of a national film school and the introduction of funding for Australian feature films.

Film projectors project so much more than film. They project ideas and ultimately belief systems... it is my belief that the only way forward for our troubled industry is to retrace those steps and make the same arguments loud and clear, said Adams.

The reason Australians won support in the late 60s and early 70s was because we argued the Australian case. To see our own landscapes, hear our own voices, tell our own history, celebrate our own heroes. That and that alone gave us political leverage... If you are to win ongoing support from government - and it matters little what brand of government you re dealing with these days - the only weapon you have has Australia written on the blade. It is still the most powerful word, whether used as noun or adjective.

This reminder is exceptionally relevant now as the foundations of our businesses face the uncertain future created by what Mr. Adams refers to as the blurring of borders created by digital technology and the internet, said Deaner referring to the unregulated content available on the internet which allows Australian consumers to access programs from anywhere in the world. We are now faced with the same problems that Hector Crawford confronted before interventions by government were taken,when Australian content had to compete against foreign product dumped here at a fraction of its production cost,

This requires a two-fold response in an industry that has never been more global. Australian producers will need to be nimble in developing partnerships in a way that embraces rather than undermines our unique culture. But equally, Australia must accept the ongoing importance ofcontent obligationsand other support measures if we are to continue to have businesses capable of making programs where, in the words of Mr. Adams, we can see our own landscapes, hear our own voices and dream our own dreams, concluded Deaner.

THE HECTOR CRAWFORD MEMORIAL LECTURE

Australia as a nation, cannot accept, in this powerful and persuasive medium, the present flood of another nation's culture, without danger to our national identity : Hector Crawford 1959.

The Hector Crawford Memorial Lecture was first instituted by Screen Producers Australia as a keynote feature of the annual conference in 1992. The lecture was designed to to honour the pioneering work of Hector Crawford (1913-1991) in the development of Australia s film and television industry and to emphasise the importance of independent production in Australias cultural life. Melbourne based Crawford Productions made over 4,000 hours of television including the early iconic Australian television drama series such as Consider Your Verdict, Homicide, Division 4 and Matlock Police.

The Hector Crawford Memorial Lecture has continued to provide reflections on the Australian story and has been delivered by commentators as diverse as commercial television network executive Nigel Dick, publisher Hilary McPhee, Aboriginal lawyer Noel Pearson, Mambo founder Dare Jennings, Mother and Son author Geoffrey Atherden, and Vietnamese Australian comedian Anh Do.

The views expressed in Hector Crawford Memorial lectures do not necessarily reflect the views of Screen Producers Australia.

LINK:	http://screenproducersaustralia.org.au/news/hector-crawford/...
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