Can’t beat Hollywood? May as well join them.
The Australian government’s support of Hollywood blockbusters is defeating the purpose of building a sustainable local film industry says Jason Kent, in a piece that first appeared in Encore.
One of the biggest hurdles for Australian filmmakers is competing with the big budget American studio films. Indeed, this is one of the reasons the government gives for subsidizing Australian films. However, it seems to be at odds with the support given to American films like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
The government chips in for local films to help the Australian industry produce content that competes with the American films, and then they turn around and fund the American films as well. It kind of defeats the purpose.
They’re basically buying film-making jobs from the US to keep film-makers and the electorate happy but the trouble is, when the short-lived jobs end, all of the film’s profits go straight back to the US.
If we were to focus on making our own films, we could create jobs as-well-as profits and the profits could be turned into future jobs. It’s a far more sustainable business model.
Unfortunately the Australian government has found it largely impossible (even with hundreds of millions of dollars to spend) to make commercially viable films. They blame film-makers but it’s really their fault. They’re the ones who pick and choose which films are made and often which scripts are developed.
Now they’re picking American scripts. Maybe they figure if you can’t beat them join them. But is it even possible for the government to import a ready-made film industry from the US and turn it into a sustainable industry here? I doubt it.
McDonald’s gave us the McOz Burger but it’s hardly Australian and anyway, do we really want to become a sweatshop for American studios? Is that the best we can do? It might seem like a fast track, but there’s a limit to how large and how fast such an industry can grow, especially if it’s pegged to subsidies.
I know one Australian screenwriter who has written a period seafaring adventure, not dissimilar to Disney’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, but unfortunately for him it’s an Australian film not an American film. In our government’s desperate attempt to pick winners, it’s turning its back on the very reason it claims to be in the film business in the first place: to promote the Australian culture.
At least The Great Gatsby has an Australian writer-director in Baz Luhrmann and Craig Pearce, and if anyone can lure US money to fund truly Australian films, they can.
Of course there are benefits to American films being made here, but we shouldn’t confuse American films made in Australia with Australian films made in Australia. There’s a big difference.
Jason Kent is the founder of Pure Independent Pictures.
This story first appeared in the weekly edition of Encore available for iPad and Android tablets. Visit encore.com.au for a preview of the app or click below to download.
It’s a bit simplistic to think you can only have one or another. Clearly it’s important to support Australian films but it’s also important to keep the blood flowing through the local production industry and keep our practitioners at home and at the top of their games. Anyone who’s crewed on a big Hollywood movie will tell you what invaluable experience it afforded them (not to mention the pay cheque).
Screen Australia has a cultural remit, not a purely commercial one, so you wouldn’t expect them to strive for or achieve the hit rate of a corporate-owned US studio, and not even the latter have any kind of practical recipe for commercial success.
It’s a mug’s game. But hey, you can go out and shoot a potential masterpiece with your mates on the weekend for next to nothing, and that’s the allure.
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was plenty of blood running through the car industry and now look at it… we shouldnt give up on trying to make money from aussie films… then we can also have the best of both worlds and attract American films here
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Isn’t it about “Brands”? We need better Brands not just stories.Your mate who’s writing a Seafaring adventure dosen’t have a Brand. Gatsby and Romeo is a Brand. I hope Binky Bill is a big enough “Brand”.
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Not every film needs to be based on an existing well-known story.. sure it helps, but whether it’s a known story or not, the story needs to be good. Especially in Australia. we can’t afford big brands and big stars (to buy an audience like Hollywood often does) so we need to compete on story. We need to do it better. Need to keep the craft high and the costs low. Having said that, with the 20mill the govt will give Disney for 20,000 leagues, you could build a pretty good brand. With 20mill and a good script you could attach a star, further investment, and make a film better than 20,000 leagues. And make an Australian film so the profits stay at home and it earns export dollars, rather than a handful of temporary jobs.
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