Screen Producers Australia

The Producer Offset is a crucial incentive for the screen industry, enabling producers to be more entrepreneurial when financing content. Whilst it is a proven game changer, tweaks are required to keep it internationally competitive and to maximise opportunities for market-driven feature film and television production.

In our market, television content is the engine room of the production sector. An increase in the Producer Offset to 40 per cent would finance small screen content in a more commercially efficient way for many producers. This would drive productivity, with PwC modelling showing that there would be over $103 million generated in net economic activity.

Alongside television, there is a consistent output of critically acclaimed feature films that have launched countless careers. Domestically, it is increasingly difficult to place these films in cinemas. Greater theatrical flexibility via the Producer Offset would help these films reach a bigger audience and achieve better financial returns through targeted event-style release and online distribution.

The local screen production sector has recently ushered in a range of industrial reforms that offer unprecedented flexibility in the commercialisation screen content.  

To balance this, the introduction of an industry code of conduct would ensure that television broadcasters, theatrical distributors and cinema exhibitors don’t use their disproportionate level of market power, either intentionally or otherwise, to create an unfair marketplace in the acquisition of content.

Existing terms of trade with our national and state screen agencies, applying to the production sector, would be strengthened with a code of conduct. Together such terms will continue diversity on our screens and in our screen businesses, large and small, across the country.

Obligations have historically protected audience access to, and the production of, great Australian screen content. There are currently local content obligations on free-to-air and subscription television, but amid our expanding market they need to adapt to include online subscription services.

The intent of these obligations must not be taken for granted or be beholden to procedural red tape. There must be timely and transparent report requirements across all commercial and public content services. This will deliver more effective public policy benchmarking and corresponding adjustments for audiences as well as maintaining confidence among the small businesses that make up the independent production sector.

Millions of people each day watch Australian programming commissioned by our public broadcasters as well as content financed across free-to-air, subscription and over-the-top services with the support of our state and federal screen agencies. Along with content obligations on commercial services, the investments by these broadcasters and agencies ensure that local audiences have access to high quality local content. 

Despite this critical role, the ABC, SBS and Screen Australia have all had significant cuts to their allocations in recent years, around $300 million across the forward estimates. Whilst some of this is offset by operational efficiencies, it has also affected the amount available to fund content on screens. The cuts are not sustainable at current levels of production, therefore to maintain these levels there must be secure, sufficient and transparent funding.

There are many examples of Australian screen businesses built on trade and inward investment strategies, ranging from ownership structure and co-productions to sales of completed works and formats.

International engagement is a proven way to grow capacity and the sector will be able to achieve more meaningful growth if these strategies are harnessed in a more comprehensive way. This will be done by developing a national approach to trade activities, developing a unified brand and messaging, and by developing a more flexible industrial relations framework.