Film Funding in Australia: Recent History and Empirical Analysis

Chapter
First Online:
Part of the Media Business and Innovation book series (MEDIA)

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 model 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access

References

  1. Australian Film Commission. (1986). Film assistance: Future options—A discussion paper by the Australian Film Commission. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar
  2. Australian Film Commission. (1988, July). Australian film data, selected film, video and television statistics from the Australian Film Database. Sydney.Google Scholar
  3. 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
  4. Australian Film Commission. Annual reports 1974/75 to 2007/08. Sydney.Google Scholar
  5. 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
  6. Film Finance Corporation. Annual reports 1995/96 to 2007/08.Google Scholar
  7. 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
  8. Bertrand, I. (1989). Cinema in Australia: A documentary history. Sydney: University Press.Google Scholar
  9. 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
  10. Dermody, S., & Jacka, E. (1987). The screening of Australia: Anatomy of a film industry. Sydney: Currency Press.Google Scholar
  11. Dermody, S., & Jacka, E. (1988). The imaginary industry: Australian film in the late 80’s. Sydney: Australian Film Television Radio School.Google Scholar
  12. Formica, S. (2012). Peter Weir: A creative journey from Australia to Hollywood. Bristol: Intellect.Google Scholar
  13. 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
  14. 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
  15. 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
  16. Gonski, D. (1997). Review of Commonwealth assistance to the film industry.Google Scholar
  17. 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
  18. Maddox, G. (1996). A history of the Australian Film Finance Corporation. Media International Australia, 80, 75–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. McKenzie, J. (2012). The economics of movies: A literature survey. Journal of Economic Surveys, 26(1), 42–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. 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
  21. Molloy, S., & Burgan, B. (1993). The economics and film and television in Australia. Sydney: Australian Film Commission.Google Scholar
  22. Pike, A., & Cooper, R. (1998). Australian film 1900–1977: A guide to feature film production. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
  23. Rossiter, C. (2013). Two doors: Comparing the performance of expert systems used in the greenlighting of Australian motion pictures, unpublished manuscript.Google Scholar
  24. 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
  25. Screen Australia. Annual Reports 2008/09 to 2014/15.Google Scholar
  26. 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
  28. 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
  29. 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
  30. 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
  31. 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
  32. Screen Australia. (2015e). Co-Production, statistics. http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/coproductions/statistics_home.aspx
  33. Screen Australia. (2015f). Production industry: Drama, 2015. https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/research/statistics/drama.aspx
  34. Screen Australia. (2015g). Production industry, drama: Features, sources of finance. http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/research/statistics/dramafeaturesfinance.aspx
  35. Screen Producers Association of Australia. (2010). Submission to government review of the Australian independent film and television production industry. Google Scholar
  36. Shirley, G., & Adams, B. (1983). Australian cinema: The first eighty years. Sydney: Angus & Robertson Publishers/Currency Press.Google Scholar
  37. Tarrif Board. (1973). Tariff board report motion picture films and television programs. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.Google Scholar
  38. Tulloch, J. (1982). Australian cinema: Industry, narrative and meaning. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Macquarie UniversitySydneyAustralia
  2. 2.Griffith UniversityNathanAustralia

Personalised recommendations