Almost 10 months into one of the biggest jobs in Australia’s audiovisual industry, chief executive Deirdre Brennan says leading into more international collaborations is a priority for Screen Australia. It is said that it is.
“Last year (financial year 23/24), only six co-production certificates were ultimately awarded,” Mr Brennan said. “Australia has a very strong reputation for being highly creative and collaborative. We must focus on co-creation. There are many opportunities for creative and cultural exchange and partnership around the world. there is.”
Australia and India recently signed formal co-production agreements, and Mr Brennan said there was growing interest from prolific co-production markets such as Ireland, Canada and France, which already have agreements with Australia. Ta.
Brennan replaces Graham Mason on a five-year contract. She joins the company after four years at WildBrain in Canada.
She prioritized making the agency “future-focused” and immediately launched a quiet review of its operations and a research project to better understand Australian audiences. She describes the latter as “the missing piece.”
“You can’t plan without understanding the population you’re serving,” she says.
Screen Australia spent around A$85 million of its annual budget of A$100 million in 2023/24 on support industries such as content development and production across 57 different programs and initiatives. Brennan thinks this is too much.
“It’s important to stop and ask, ‘What do we need?’ Where can we make the biggest impact? What role do we play?” she says. “Purpose is a big focus and we’re bringing a lot more analytics into what we’re doing.”
Mr Brennan revealed approximately A$17 million was invested in the production of 19 narrative/scripted features in 2023/24 (with an individual film cap of A$2 million). The figure is similar for high-end TV drama, at A$19 million. Appeared in 18 dramas. A further A$4.8 million was spent on 24 feature-length documentaries.
Screen Australia has seen a significant return on its investment in projects, particularly Talk to Me, a low-budget horror film directed by Danny and Michael Philippow that grossed US$93 million worldwide. As a result, we were able to spend more than we expected last year.
Mr Brennan believes that capability is undervalued in the Australian industry.
“[Capability]is probably one of the greatest strengths of our creative industries, but we don’t realize it,” she suggests. “Features are a huge opportunity even for people who aren’t going to be commissioned for an eight-part series. They are our playground for developing talent. Talent is intellectual property in features. On my first visit to Cannes (May 2024), the respect and interest in Australian talent has been remarkable.”
Mr Brennan wants Screen Australia to have close relationships and good communication with the industry. “It is understood that we can only support 30% of the applications received (2,311) (696 of 23/34) and 40% of the total application value (A$210 million). “I don’t know if they are,” she points out.
Screen Australia invests in approximately 41% of applications it receives for feature production and 36% of development applications, including Indigenous and documentary projects.
“There’s been a lot of attention[from industry]to direct funding to Screen Australia,” she says. “Sometimes we forget what a great foundation we have to build. Producer offsets (POs) have a very important role to play and we need to better understand how they are formed. The same goes for collaborative production.”
The PO is a non-discretionary tax refund and is set at 40% of eligible expenditures for films with regional distribution agreements and 30% for television. Producers need final certification to make claims.
According to Screen Australia, 205 projects with a total budget of A$1.4 billion were certified in 2023/24. The chargeable amount was A$413 million. Around a third (67) were full-length, with a billable value of A$187.25 million.
Screen Australia’s contribution and PO cannot exceed 65% of the individual film budget. Together, these contributed 36% of Slate’s costs in FY22/23.
Several producers have used the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to formally challenge the agency’s PO management, which grants certificates, but Brennan would not comment on the lawsuit.
“However, since 2017, 99.7% of provisional certificates have become final certificates, giving us peace of mind that the process is working.”
