To summarize: Director Glendyn Ivin believes streaming services need to invest more in training and development if they are to benefit from the quotas imposed on them. One researcher believes a 20 per cent quota could trigger a further surge in Australian productions. What’s next? The federal government is expected to announce changes to the National Cultural Policy in the coming months.
When award-winning film director Glendyn Ivin was given the green light to make streaming TV series Alice Hart’s Lost Flower in May 2021, she hired local Australian filmmakers to help with the production. It was difficult to find film staff.
It was a fascinating project, starring big-name actors like Sigourney Weaver and Asher Keddie, and fully financed by the streaming service Amazon Prime.
However, with many other productions taking place in Australia at the same time, Ivin had to bring in an international film crew from New Zealand to fill the skills gap.
He questions how Australia’s film production industry will be able to respond to changes to the federal government’s National Cultural Policy, which will impose quotas on major streaming platforms to invest their profits into producing local content from mid-2024. .
A New Zealand film crew was brought in to help make Alice Hart’s Lost Flower. (Provided by Amazon Prime)
Mr Ivin said Australia did not currently have enough film staff to fully benefit from the 20 per cent quota being pushed by the film industry, although details were still being finalized.
“When you’re on a show and you have to get a crew together, it’s like The Hunger Games,” he said.
“You’re fighting to find your crew.”
Mr Ivin said he would like to see more funding put into training and development, as many film students do not know of viable roles in the industry other than director or producer.
“If I had gone into the film industry and not really wanted to be a director, I would have been a sound guy or a lighting guy or a hair and makeup guy or any of those hundreds of other jobs,” he says. I did.
“I’d like to see more apprenticeships like in the architecture industry and more studios built.”
Regulations cause tension
Some streaming services are limiting the amount of Australian productions they commission until quotas are known.
Streaming quotas may not immediately impact services that have already invested in Australia. (Included)
Ivin believes many services are nervous about being regulated for what they already do.
“I think what the government is trying to do is regulate so that five or 10 years from now this (investment in Australian content) is still going to happen,” he said.
“There are no guarantees at this time.”
Mr Ivin supports quotas but wants streaming services to be able to play to the strengths of Australia’s film industry without being regulated.
“We know that if you make a good show in Australia, that show will travel all over the world and be second to none.”
The next boom after “Sugar Hit”
University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Media Arts & Production Program lecturer Matthew Dubner said the Morrison government’s pandemic-related stimulus had caused a “sugar hit” of content in the Australian film industry.
Matthew Dubner said the introduction of quotas could cause a boom in Australia’s film industry. (Courtesy of University of Technology Sydney)
Australian Bureau of Statistics research shows industry investment reached $4.6 billion in the 2021/22 financial year, more than double the amount five years ago.
“There was a period in 2021-22 where producers couldn’t find enough workers to do our jobs,” Dubner said.
“That’s cleared up now. Anecdotally, I’ve heard things have diminished significantly.”
Dubner said streaming quotas could renew confidence in the local industry and spark another surge in production.
He said the number of film students at UTS has been steadily increasing and he believes the school is almost at the point where it can bring in new professionals at a moment’s notice if needed.
“The industry is very sensitive to stimulus, so if a situation like a quota arises, it will be able to react quickly,” Dubner said.
“It just takes a little bit of improvement in terms of training and skills.”
Forgotten formats need support
The provisions of the National Cultural Policy determine what types of program formats will contribute to the quota.
Dubner said stations under the policy would be required to divide their time between scripted dramas, documentaries and children’s programming.
Previous National Cultural Policy changes resulted in less children’s programming being produced in Australia. (ABC)
“Some of these rules have been relaxed during the pandemic (with respect to free TV), especially for children’s programming,” he said.
“So the amount of children’s programming that we were producing has plummeted.”
The policy change is aimed at forcing streaming services to take a percentage of the revenue they earn here from productions about Australia, not just Australia.
Dubner said he did not want streaming companies to use the quota to produce programming based on formats originating in other countries, such as reality shows.
“We certainly need to support the kinds of formats that require extra support across the goal line,” he said.
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