Australian producers are “at risk” of becoming “slaves” to international streamers, a top industry body has warned, as regulatory debate rages at home.
The Film Producers Association of Australia (SPA) made the comments today in a statement released to the National Cultural Policy Inquiry into the Government’s upcoming Revive plans. Streaming regulations have been a hot topic since long-term plans to revamp the country’s arts were first announced in January last year.
SPA, which represents most of Australia’s major producers, has been consistently vocal in its criticism of global streamers. The group is advocating for companies like Netflix and Prime Video to spend at least 20% of their local revenue on Australian content within three years.
The Australian government has promised to introduce streaming regulations on July 1, but has not yet tabled a motion in parliament and producers are unsure what the regulations would look like if they actually materialize. is at a loss.
The SPA identified four main concerns regarding national cultural policy, including streaming-related legislation. In addition to the 20% quota, there is a “strong definition” of what constitutes Australian content, and that Australian IP should be “secured” for Australians and “treated as a valuable national asset”. , calls for the indie sector to “maintain its independence”. character. “
“Private free-to-air broadcasters are allowed to largely abandon commissioning Australian drama and children’s programming, while subscription television commissions only the bare minimum under an antiquated 1990s system. We are currently facing a situation where global streamers are becoming the masters of Australia’s screen industry and our industry is in danger of becoming their slave. “There is,” SPA claimed. “For all of these reasons, our members face a very bleak future.”
The SPA said the streamers had “threatened” the Australian government to “shut up shop in Australia if regulated, with no regard for the viability of the local screen industry they exploit for their own profit.” ”
“It gives streamers the opportunity to give a small percentage of the revenue they earn from Australian subscribers back to Australian audiences and tell our country’s stories using the most powerful cultural medium we have – the screen. “It seems too far-fetched to ask us to ensure a sustainable Australian production industry. There are so many things I want to hear.”
The November consultation paper focused on creating one of two models: a revenue-based system that excludes sports spending, or an expenditure-based model that increases with subscriber numbers. . However, both exclude documentaries (one of the three genres prioritized in the National Cultural Policy), and SPA has since followed suit with Prime Video’s cricket series The Test and Hot Potato: It claimed that documentaries such as “The Wiggles Story” were disseminated by an unknown streamer with misleading information. Does not count as Australian content.
Definition of “Australian content”
SPA shows that ‘Australia-related’ or international spend (including foreign films and TV shows shot in Australia) by Australia’s five biggest SVOD players has increased by around 60% year-on-year, reaching an A. He pointed out the statistics in the report. In contrast, Australian spending on content fell from A$335.1 million to A$324.1 million, compared with $452.9 million in 2022-23.
That’s because “overseas streamers often confuse these two numbers, suggesting that spending on Australian stories and international stories shot in Australia are the same thing. ” he claimed.
The SPA comes as streamers campaign for a “relaxed” definition of “Australian content”, which would allow them to declare spending through multiple investment banks that ultimately does not benefit local producers. He said that. This was part of a deliberate play to “murky the waters between authentic Australian content and international content”.
The agency also pointed to the “weaponization” of the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement to “influence this streamer regulation”.
SPA claimed, through “informed analysis”, that around 70% of international streamers’ revenue from Australia translated directly into “incremental gross profit”.
We believe overseas streamers are already investing heavily in Australian content, with evidence of this in Netflix’s Heartbreak High reboot, Disney+’s drama The Clearing and Paramount+’s The Last.・King of the Cross”. We reached out to major international streamers for comment.
“Not much to ask”
SPA also argued that the 20% obligation was only an increase of A$17.1 million, given that current spending stands at A$324.1 million ($208.1 million). “We believe it is a reasonable request,” the statement added.
Australian content spend will decline in the 2023-24 financial period due to a slowdown in streamer commissioning caused by the US writers and actors strike, delays to location offset spend-based schemes and regulatory uncertainty. is expected to decrease.
SPA also flagged the Global Statement on Streaming Platform Regulation, which the SPA and 26 other organizations signed in January, calling for parity with powerful streaming services.
A joint statement by production organizations from Canada, Australia, Europe and Latin America calls for a number of guiding “principles”, the most important of which relate to independent intellectual property ownership. . The list also included calls for the government to address issues such as how local content is considered, the importance of local stories, financial arrangements, upskilling and approaches to market failures.
“Australia’s film industry is a robust, transparent industry that all Australians can trust and that demonstrates our ambition to move the industry forward, deliver on Revive’s promise to audiences and grow Australian film. , we are united in calling for a regulatory model that is free of corruption, as a future industry critical to our economy in a world hungry for screen content,” SPA said in today’s filing.
ABC anchors have called for protection for Australia’s independent production sector in a submission to the National Cultural Policy Inquiry.
Similar debates over streaming regulations are taking place in countries such as Canada and Ireland.
