Australian drama expenditure sees 25% increase on last year
Australian drama expenditure has increased by 25 per cent on the last financial year, with a total spend recorded at $623m. The number comes from Screen Australia’s annual Drama Report. Within this year were two big budget productions, I Frankenstein and The Great Gatsby, major contributors to the $296m in feature production. Foreign activity was down from $86m last year to $49m this year.
The announcement:
Screen Australia released its annual Drama Report today, revealing a 25 per cent increase in total drama production expenditure for 2011/12 with a total recorded spend of $623 million. Feature production was particularly strong, significantly up on last year and the five-year average, accounting for 47 per cent of expenditure at $296 million.
“It’s been a strong year for feature production, with a bigger slate overall, boosted by high-budget Australian titles The Great Gatsby and I, Frankenstein,” said Screen Australia’s Chief Executive Ruth Harley.Baz Luhrmann, director of The Great Gatsby, and producer of the film along with his wife Catherine Martin and others, highlighted the importance of the Producer Offset in bringing large-budget feature projects to Australia. He said: “CM and I give much thought to how valuable our longstanding and deep creative relationships in Australia are, from photography, acting, visual effects, production design and in every other aspect of the filmmaking process. Possibly the greatest filmmaking asset Australia has is our crews and creative collaborators. This is a hidden and somewhat invisible asset, and one that could not have contributed to the creation of The Great Gatsby without the support of the Producer Offset.
“To work with Australia’s skilled film technicians and facilities, and to bring large scale projects like The Great Gatsby to Australia, we can’t have our head in the sand about the fact that the country is a long way away. Without the Producer Offset, there is simply no way that we could have picked up on and continued the creative relationships that have evolved with us in Australia, and that have so enriched our creative process.”
The five-year average for combined Australian television and feature drama expenditure was up 49 per cent on the previous five-year average, before the introduction of the Producer Offset in 2007/08.
Australian television drama production accounted for $279 million, or 45 per cent of expenditure. Programs for adults remained strong and above the five-year average, with an increase in budgets and number of titles. Children’s television drama has contracted in recent years, following earlier high levels, partly due to a gradual decrease in the number of co-productions. Production dropped further this year, with domestic production down as well.
“The adult television drama slate has seen solid growth in the value of total budgets, which have now reached a five-year high,” said Dr Harley. “We’re seeing a shift away from long-form series to high-quality mini-series and telemovies, such as Network Nine’s Howzat! Kerry Packer’s War and Beaconsfield and the ABC’s Redfern Now. Telemovie production is the highest it’s been in 12 years.
“Although children’s drama was below average, with some of the programs made in previous years still going to air, 2012/13 looks set to show higher levels. A number of programs have been earmarked for production from the commercial free-to-air networks and the ABC,” Dr Harley said.
Foreign activity accounted for expenditure in Australia of $49 million in 2011/12, down from $86 million last year when one high-budget US TV drama, Terra Nova, boosted the results. With no high-budget US titles this year, location production was down, but foreign PDV activity was the highest in five years, with films such as Ted, The Hunger Games and The Avengers coming to Australian companies for PDV work. Last year’s increase of the PDV Offset from 16.5 per cent to 30 per cent has helped to attract this work.
In 2011/12 all of the Australian feature slate and 84 per cent of the TV drama slate were Offset projects (ie they had accessed, or will access, the Producer Offset on completion). 93 per cent of total spend for Australian features over the past five years was from Offset features, while Offset TV dramas accounted for 75 per cent of Australian TV drama spend and 47 per cent of hours.
The Drama Report 2011/12 documents the contribution of the Producer Offset to the annual slate of Australian features and TV drama, both domestic productions and official co-productions. Data is presented for the past five years, 2007/08 to 2011/12, the period since the introduction of the Offset. Foreign titles are also analysed if they have been shot (or substantially shot) in Australia, or carried out post, digital or visual effects (PDV) work in Australia without shooting here.
Source: Screen Australia press release
