Handbook of State Aid for Film pp 227-249 | Cite as
Film Funding in Australia: Recent History and Empirical Analysis
Abstract
This chapter details and analyses public film funding in Australia. It begins with a detailed historic overview of funding arrangements and the eventual role of public money in this industry. Particular attention is given to the tax incentives offered under the 10BA scheme (where tax deductions as large as 150% were offered, alongside a 50% haven on royalties), the ‘two-door approach’ funding provisions under the Film Finance Corporation (FFC) , and the more recent ‘Producer Offset’ scheme operated under Screen Australia . The second primary contribution of this chapter is an empirical investigation building on the analysis of McKenzie and Walls (Journal of Cultural Economics, 37(2), 247–269). A ‘hedonic box office revenue model’ is developed assessing the impact of FFC and Screen Australia funding on the box office revenue performance of Australian films in Australian cinemas over the years 1997–2015.
Keywords
Film funding Australian Film Commission (AFC) Film FinanceCorporation (FFC) Screen Australia Section 10BA Producer Offset Hedonic demand modelReferences
- Australian Film Commission. (1986). Film assistance: Future options—A discussion paper by the Australian Film Commission. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar
- Australian Film Commission. (1988, July). Australian film data, selected film, video and television statistics from the Australian Film Database. Sydney.Google Scholar
- Australian Film Commission. (2006). Submission to the department of communications, information technology and the arts, review of Australian government film funding support. Sydney. http://arts.gov.au/sites/default/files/pdfs/70-australian-film-commission.pdf
- Australian Film Commission. Annual reports 1974/75 to 2007/08. Sydney.Google Scholar
- Film Finance Corporation. (2006). Submission to the department of communications, information technology and the arts, review of Australian government film funding support. Sydney. http://arts.gov.au/sites/default/files/pdfs/41-film-finance-corporation.pdf
- Film Finance Corporation. Annual reports 1995/96 to 2007/08.Google Scholar
- Australia. Parliament. Senate. Select Committee on the Encouragement of Australian Productions for Television. & Vincent, Victor Seddon. (1963), Report from the select committee on the encouragement of Australian productions for television. Published for the Govt. of the Commonwealth of Australia by A. J. Arthur Canberra.Google Scholar
- Bertrand, I. (1989). Cinema in Australia: A documentary history. Sydney: University Press.Google Scholar
- Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy. (2012, March). Convergence review: Final report. Canberra: Government of Australia. http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/1339_convergence.pdf
- Dermody, S., & Jacka, E. (1987). The screening of Australia: Anatomy of a film industry. Sydney: Currency Press.Google Scholar
- Dermody, S., & Jacka, E. (1988). The imaginary industry: Australian film in the late 80’s. Sydney: Australian Film Television Radio School.Google Scholar
- Formica, S. (2012). Peter Weir: A creative journey from Australia to Hollywood. Bristol: Intellect.Google Scholar
- Frater, P. (2015, December 16). Screen Australia budget cut as gov’t confirms $34 Million for ‘Alien’,’Thor’. Variety. http://news.yahoo.com/screen-australia-budget-cut-gov-t-confirms-34-061908771.html
- French, L., & Poole, M. (2011). Passionate amateurs: The experimental film and television fund and modernist film practice in Australia. Studies in Australian Cinema, 5(2), 171–184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Gaunson, S. (2012). Australian (inter)national cinema: The royal Commission on the moving picture industry in Australia, 1926–1928, Australasian Films Ltd. and the American monopoly. Studies in Australasian Cinema, 6(3), 290–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Gonski, D. (1997). Review of Commonwealth assistance to the film industry.Google Scholar
- Karlovksy, B. (2015). Federal government cut screen Australia funding a further $10.3 million. IF Magazine. http://if.com.au/2015/12/15/article/Federal-Government-cuts-Screen-Australia-funding-a-further-10-3-million/HCQRARWUAO.html
- Maddox, G. (1996). A history of the Australian Film Finance Corporation. Media International Australia, 80, 75–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- McKenzie, J. (2012). The economics of movies: A literature survey. Journal of Economic Surveys, 26(1), 42–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- McKenzie, J., & Walls, W. D. (2013). Australian films at the Australian box office: Performance, distribution and subsidies. Journal of Cultural Economics, 37(2), 247–269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Molloy, S., & Burgan, B. (1993). The economics and film and television in Australia. Sydney: Australian Film Commission.Google Scholar
- Pike, A., & Cooper, R. (1998). Australian film 1900–1977: A guide to feature film production. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
- Rossiter, C. (2013). Two doors: Comparing the performance of expert systems used in the greenlighting of Australian motion pictures, unpublished manuscript.Google Scholar
- Screen Australia. Archive: Production incentives, levels of financing of 10BA projects and effects on government revenue, 1980/81–2006/07. http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/research/statistics/archtax10bastats.aspx
- Screen Australia. Annual Reports 2008/09 to 2014/15.Google Scholar
- Screen Australia. (2010, July). Submission to government review of the Australian independent film and television production industry. Sydney. https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/getmedia/d87154c0-bd1b-47b4-8785-57d011523b1f/2010Review_full_Final.pdf
- Screen Australia. (2014). Taking stock. https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/about_us/Corporate-TakingStock-CEO.aspx
- Screen Australia. (2015a). Archive, production incentives: 10BA, number of projects and estimated total value of production budgets raised through 10BA, according to type of project, 1980/81–2006/07. http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/research/statistics/archtax10batype.aspx#Rat92982
- Screen Australia. (2015b). Audio visual markets, cinema, share of the Australian box office for Australian feature films, 1977−2014. https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/research/statistics/cinemaboxofficeshare.aspx
- Screen Australia. (2015c). Audio-visual markets, cinema, number of Australian and overseas films released in Australian cinemas, 1984–2014. https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/research/statistics/cinemascreeningsxcountry.aspx
- Screen Australia. (2015d). Production industry, drama, Number of feature films produced, total production budgets and spend (current dollars*) in Australia, 1990/91–2013/14. https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/research/statistics/dramafeaturesactivitysummary.aspx
- Screen Australia. (2015e). Co-Production, statistics. http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/coproductions/statistics_home.aspx
- Screen Australia. (2015f). Production industry: Drama, 2015. https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/research/statistics/drama.aspx
- Screen Australia. (2015g). Production industry, drama: Features, sources of finance. http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/research/statistics/dramafeaturesfinance.aspx
- Screen Producers Association of Australia. (2010). Submission to government review of the Australian independent film and television production industry. Google Scholar
- Shirley, G., & Adams, B. (1983). Australian cinema: The first eighty years. Sydney: Angus & Robertson Publishers/Currency Press.Google Scholar
- Tarrif Board. (1973). Tariff board report motion picture films and television programs. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.Google Scholar
- Tulloch, J. (1982). Australian cinema: Industry, narrative and meaning. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar