Budget cuts hit Screen NSW
The state budget cuts announced have taken its toll on the NSW screen industry.
The major blow comes in a decrease from $9.6m in production investment, which triggered $143m of spending across 48 productions in 2010-11, to $3.7m in 2011-12.
The reduction comes largely from cutting the Screen NSW Production Investment Fund, worth $5m which had been in the budget the last two financial years.
Within the budget is $400,000 set aside for regional film culture initiatives, $660,000 for ‘screen organisations and training partners to create professional development opportunities’ and $1.3m for in script development projects.
The cuts come less than a week after Screen NSW CEO Tania Chambers announced her resignation at the end of the year.
The cuts to Screen NSW are part of a budget that confirmed a deficit of $718 million in 2011-12 with a plan for $8 billion savings over the next four years and includes 5,000 job to go from the public sector.