Why content makers are leaving our shores
In a piece that first featured in Encore, Craig Anderson says there simply isn’t enough opportunity for content makers in Australia, especially for those making comedy.
Last year I had multiple meetings with production companies in Australia and discovered that apart from the odd commercial campaign, there’s no proliferation of paying platforms for comedy. From my own experience there’s iView, which will buy content once it’s already been made (though I live in hope that it will one day be granted the financial power to commission content). I’ve also had the odd informal commission from the SMH iPad consisting of two narrative series and a comical review show. But none of these endeavours were financially viable.
The commercial networks are scared to produce Australian comedy – for them it’s a huge risk, especially when they can buy US/UK content (with a proven track record) for around a tenth of the price. SBS and ABC have incredibly limited budgets, which means the few comedies they make have an unreasonable amount of pressure on them to find a large audience.
Which brings me to America. There’s obviously a much bigger market, 190 million people bigger, population wise. There are hundreds of cable channels, Netflix and primetime slots on major commercial networks purely dedicated to comedy. The major comedy websites also originate in America and their commercials use humour more frequently than in Australia. As a result, comedy development is stronger in America. Stand up and improv schools are huge in Chicago, New York and LA. Big-name celebrities, agents, producers and writers frequent these schools and clubs in search of new talent and everyone is hungry to find the next big thing.
But apart from its bigger market, the US does something Australia doesn’t do. They don’t have the tendency to cringe. Instead of sneering, cutting down and booing difference, America embraces and exploits it. This is really important for comedy. Australia celebrates hypermediocrity whereas America celebrates its extremes across the board, which means comedy can thrive. I don’t know if the attitude in Australia will ever change, but like many Aussies in this business, there’s simply more opportunity for me overseas.
Craig Anderson is a comedy writer, performer and content maker currently splitting his time between Sydney and Los Angeles.
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.
Disappointing but true.
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Is the world really that small still? Surely if you’re making comedy to be delivered online then your audience is the world and a few negative comments from Australia aren’t a big deal. Sounds like you are taking cues from people in the ‘industry’ and not fans of comedy.
You also have the ability to commission your own work. But it seems like you would prefer someone to pay you upfront and take all the financial risk for you to persue your creative endevours.
“America celebrates its extremes across the board” ??? I would say there are more examples against this statement than for. And if Australian’s are looking for extreme points of view in comedy they don’t go to the SMH iPad app.
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US is 290 million people larger… not 190 million.
(Sorry for being pedantic, but makes the scope of opportunity over there even more apparent.)
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The reason Australians “sneer , cut down and boo” is because we expect comedy to be funny – not a lot to ask.
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To be fair, I believe Craig’s most recent show, ‘A Gentleman’s Guide to Knife Fighting’ was decent and could have got a run on any network. I agree, we need to support these types of programs so they continue to get made, talent has the ability to develop locally and we get the quality Aussie comedy we all know we can produce.
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@Peter Rush, Craig has good form in comedy, and I respect his views. I orignially started in the media writing sketch comedy for Crackerjack Productions (Comedy Inc to be precise) and the one season I spent writing for them allowed me to discover the exact same situation. Fortunately I had a second career kicking on in digital marketing, so I made the switch to back office media roles and never looked back – but I would give my right testicle to be writing comedy still, especially now.
Good luck Craig, and don’t give up – the last thing you want to do is work in media, marketing or agency land full time!
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