Screen Australia said the amount spent on scripted content in Australia fell by nearly 30 per cent year-on-year over the last financial year due to a decline in big-budget international TV and Australian theatrical productions.
The agency released its 2023/24 Drama Report this morning, documenting the production status of domestic and international feature films, TV/VOD, children’s drama titles, and PDV activities over the past fiscal year.
According to the data, $1.697 billion was spent on 169 titles in 2023/24, of which $929 million was spent on Australian titles, accounting for 55% of the total. The remaining $768 million came from 70 international productions.
This is a notable decrease from last year, when $2.34 billion was spent on 213 titles. Australian projects accounted for $1.13 billion, with $1.22 billion spent on 96 international titles. The year before saw a record $2.43 billion in spending, led by blockbusters such as George Miller’s Furiosa and Michael Gracey’s Better Man. .
While the previous two reporting periods were defined by production booms driven primarily by overseas spending, 2023/24 will see changes in distribution platforms, business models, audiences, and US actors and writers strikes. Due to such turmoil, it was predicted that the world market would shrink. their price.
(Source: Screen Australia)
Screen Australia chief executive Deirdre Brennan said the 2023/24 numbers were driven by “Australia’s status as a COVID-safe filming destination, the growth of streaming and a number of big-budget theatrical productions. “This is still a strong result following a three-year peak,” he said.
“This year’s results confirm key trends in domestic activity, the reduction of free-to-air commercial TV drama and the increasing role of SVOD commissioning,” she said.
“We are working to expand opportunities for the development of children’s IP in Australia, as children’s content continues to be under significant pressure and remains reliant on government support.
“We will also look at the needs of feature filmmakers making films with budgets in the $1 million to $5 million range, which is the majority in this year’s data.”
According to the report, 36 Australian theatrical productions have started production, an increase of two from the previous year, but total spending was $214 million, down 42% from the previous year. With no Australian big-budget titles being produced, funding accessible through Australian Producer Offsets has decreased from $124 million in 2022/23 to $75 million in 2023/24.
Shahana Goswami and Akshay Ajit Singh in ‘4 Years Later’.
The lack of big-budget titles also affected international investment in both Australian and international productions, with spending down 68% year-on-year to $59 million. The majority of theatrical productions (44%) were produced with budgets ranging from $1 million to $5 million.
Spending on first-release Australian subscription TV and SVOD content increased by 17% to $467 million, with the number of titles increasing by 29% to 27 titles. Stan was once again the biggest contributor with 12 titles, followed by Netflix and Binge with four titles each, Paramount+ and Amazon Prime with two titles each, and Acorn and Adult Swim with one each. The move comes amid questions over the federal government’s streaming regulations, which are set to introduce content quotas for streaming services operating in Australia, which were originally set for July 1 but have been postponed. .
Screen Producers Australia CEO Matthew Diener said the data provided concrete evidence of the need for Australian Government action across a range of areas.
“First and foremost, there is an urgent need for the government to represent Australians against powerful global interests and introduce fair and reasonable local content rules for streaming services,” he said. .
“Other priority areas include the need for increased funding for the ABC and SBS to build a strong cultural foundation for drama, children’s and documentary programming, and increased funding for Screen Australia. No government can look at these numbers and conclude that all is well for the Australian film industry. Australian audiences deserve to see and hear their stories on every platform. ”
A total of $188 million was spent on 15 Australian general FTA TV and BVOD titles, down 32% year-on-year, and $3 million was spent on 13 AVOD, TVOD and other titles compared to last year. This is down 49% from its all-time high.
Although public broadcasters invested less in drama titles this year, they still comfortably led the FTA/subscription broadcasters, with ABC contributing 13 titles and SBS and NITV winning four titles each. Among other platforms, Network 10 contributed three titles, while Seven Network and Foxtel each contributed one title.
The ABC also continues to push forward with commissioning children’s content, which continues to decline following the removal of minimum requirements for free-to-air TV in 2020. In 2023/24, $58 million was spent on children’s TV/VOD titles – 29 This year the number of titles decreased from 12 to 8, and production time decreased by 42 per cent to 35 hours . Of the eight titles, five were commissioned by the ABC, one by Ten, one by Stan and one by Facebook/YouTube.
(Source: Screen Australia)
The Australian film industry overtook foreign investment as the leading source of funding for TV and VOD content in 2023/24, contributing $252 million, representing 34% of total funding.
As part of its Drama Report, Screen Australia examines Australian spending on PDV services for domestic and overseas shoots, as well as overseas PDV-only feature films and TV/VOD titles.
This year’s total of $589 million is made up of $325 million for 104 international PDV-only titles, $233 million for Australian production PDV, and $31 million for international shoot title PDV. , down 17% compared to last year, but still at 15%. That’s 1 cent more than the five-year average.
Growth areas detailed in the report include production spending in Western Australia, which more than tripled to $77 million, as well as spending in the Northern Territory, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory totaling $100 million. It includes record spending of $5 million. Production activities in the Northern Territory and Tasmania. Both hosted Netflix productions.
Looking ahead, Mr Brennan said Screen Australia would “continue to work with industry to identify growth opportunities and ensure the success of Australian Screen Stories”.
“We need to come together as an industry to ensure its sustainability in an environment where international funding is also becoming increasingly difficult,” she said.
“Despite these challenges, we are optimistic about the future and are confident that production will increase next year.”
Read the full report here.
