Screen Australia has released figures demonstrating the dramatic fall in film investment in Australia during the last financial year.
Overall, drama production in Australia accounted for $495m, the figures showed. Local feature production accounted for 18% of that. This was a drop of 67% on last year to $88m. Foreign activity accounted for 17% or $85m of the $495m. It was a fall by 53% on last year, due to only two foreign films shooting in Australia last year; Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader and Don’t be Afraid of the Dark.
The TV drama sector was the only bright spot, with expenditure rising by $12%. The sector took $322m, or 65% of the $495m, according to Screen Australia’s The Drama Report.
NSW accounted for 41% of expenditure, Queensland for 28%, and Victoria for 25%.
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Screen Australia predicted that this financial year would be better saying: “Several high-budget films have since commenced, including Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby and Alex Proyas’ Paradise Lost, and the 2011/12 feature slate is already set to recover to the levels experienced in the last few years.”
It added: “Based on current information on upcoming feature film production, Screen Australia estimates at least $350 million in feature film production in 2011/12. This comprises around $100 million in expenditure by Screen Australia–financed features, with films such as Drift, Mental, The Sapphires and The Kath & Kim Filum already underway.”