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Producer Offset is better than New Zealand’s SPIF, according to Sinbad producer

Grant BradleyKiwi expat Grant Bradley, head of Limelight International, says it is easier to meet the Significant Australian Content test that it is to qualify for its NZ counterpart.

Bradley and his brother Dale are the minds behind Limelight International. They relocated from New Zealand in 2008, and opened a 1000sqm studio at Loganholme, Queensland.

The producer told Encore that Limelight has received a Producer Offset provisional certificate for all of its projects, with Beauty and the Beast about to apply for a final certificate. Although the tax incentive was not the main reason behind the Bradleys’ move to Australia, they think it is “a huge asset”.

“We certainly rely on it. We’re trying to work on the safe side and develop projects that will qualify easily.

“We looked at [New Zealand’s equivalent incentive] the Screen Production Incentive Fund, but the kind of projects we have been doing here have met the Significant Australian Content test criteria and they would not have passed the New Zealand test.”

According to Bradley, the SPIF system is clearer because it’s more “formulaic” and works as a points system, while the Producer Offset “has the potential to be frustrating” because there is “a lot of discretion allowed” in the decision process.

“But I prefer the PO because it provides flexibility. It allows the Offset team to look at the project as a whole and then make a decision. If you’ve got a provisional certificate and you stay within the parameters you presented, there should be no problem at the final stage,” he said.

Limelight is currently in production of Sinbad and the Minotaur, which will be shot at their studios and on location around the Gold Coast and Mount Tamborine areas in February and March. The Minotaur from the title will be a CGI creature developed by Cutting Edge, with whom Bradley says Limelight has a solid working relationship.

The film has been pre-sold to the Sci-Fi channel in the US, with more sales expected from their agent American World Pictures at Berlin and Cannes. Delivery of the film is planned for September 30.

“The Sci-Fi channel is an important relationship, but in the end it’s like any other buyer who tells you ‘I don’t know what I want but I’ll tell you when I see it’.

Limelight has since produced three features in Australia (Beauty and the Beast, Malibu Shark and Terror Peak), and worked on Doctor Who spinoff K-9. For an active production company, it certainly keeps a low profile in the Australian scene. Bradley believes it is because they make films primarily targeted at international audiences.

Sinbad has a reported budget of $12m, but according to Bradley, the average budget of their films is “significantly lower than $10m”.

“We’re very good at cutting the cost. We make films for the market that we see, assessing the revenue potential, and we make the film to fit that.

“No filmmaker ever set out to make a film that loses money, but it takes a little while to discover what really happens in the marketplace, what really makes money. There certainly isn’t a formula, but we have narrowed down the range for error,” he explained.

Limelight’s films are mostly privately funded, with budgets complemented by Screen Queensland. According to Bradley, they key to successful funding is developing a network of international relationships.

“We are at the international markets three or four times a year, building up a network of relationships around the world. You need overseas money and you’ll only get it if you’re developing those relationships. When people ask what I do, the easiest answer is that I’m a travelling salesman,” said Bradley.

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