I believe you might encounter challenges with the alignment of newspaper groups and radio groups in certain regions, particularly with organizations like ACM. They would need to allocate their resources across three distinct newsrooms in specific areas, posing potential logistical and operational issues
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Producer Offset changes to support iconic Australian drama
The Albanese Labor Government is supporting more Australian stories on screen with changes to the Producer Offset announced today.
The change introduces an additional minimum expenditure threshold so that more Australian drama series can benefit from the scheme.
The Producer Offset gives a tax rebate to producers for expenditure on eligible Australian films, television and other projects. Currently, a drama series must spend at least $500,000 per hour in qualifying Australian production expenditure â that is, expenditure incurred for goods and services used or provided in Australia.
With the new threshold, drama series that spend at least $35 million per season in qualifying Australian production expenditure will be eligible for the offset.
This change will benefit any drama series that films significant numbers of hours over a season but does not meet the per hour threshold â meaning more drama productions will be able to access the Producer Offset.
This means shows like Channel Sevenâs Home and Away would be eligible, where they previously werenât.
The new per season threshold will apply to drama series that commence filming on or after 1 July 2024.
Minister for the Arts, Tony Burke, said the changes would help industry professionals secure ongoing work and promote telling uniquely Australian stories.
âWe want to see more Australian stories shown on screen. Backing in Australian drama is essential to that.
âThis change will help to support more iconic Australian stories being told and shared by the people who know them best.â
The Producer Offset is a refundable tax offset for producers of Australian feature films, television and other projects that contain significant Australian content.
It provides a 40 per cent rebate for feature film and a 30 per cent rebate for productions on other platforms, calculated as a percentage of a productionâs qualifying Australian production expenditure.
More information about the Producer Offset can be found here.
Also see statement from Seven:
Given that a season would need to be longer than 70 hours a year to be better off under this system, I canât see anything other than weekday soap operas benefiting from this. That said, it could help them.
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By the same token, there needs to be rules around when Australian content stops being Australian content.
Frankly shows like Jeopardy Australia (in its current guise) shouldnât count, given itâs produced overseas, hosted by non-Australian talent and its competitors are ex-pats.
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Absence of Streaming Regulation Causing Screen Sector Angst
Screen Producers Australia (SPA) welcomed the release of the Interim Report of the Senate Environment and Communications References Committee Inquiry into Australiaâs National Cultural Policy and the recommendation that the Australian Government prioritise the introduction of its legislative reforms for local content requirements for streaming services, to redress the power imbalance between global streaming companies and local screen producers and artists.
âAs we draw nearer to the publicly announced start date of 1 July 2024 for this long-awaited and critical regulation, the industry is becoming increasingly concerned that legislation has not yet been put forward,â said SPA CEO Matthew Deaner.
âAs SPA told the Senate Committee last month, while weâre waiting, conditions for Australian screen businesses and consequently their workforce are deteriorating due to a noticeable freezing in commissioning, which is creating a lot of anxiety and uncertainty. Thereâs a growing sense of crisis in the local industry without this reform being in place.
âWe are deeply concerned that US-based streaming businesses are exerting political pressure on the Australian government by weaponising the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement behind the scenes. The heavy involvement of DFAT (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) in this policy development, which was confirmed in the Senate hearing on 16 April 2024, and a media report in The Australian newspaper in February points to the AUSFTA as one of the likely causes of the delay.
Independent legal advice sought by SPA and provided to the Government has found no legal obstacle to regulation due to the AUSFTA, irrespective of the model adopted. In the same Senate hearing, the Office of the Arts confirmed that all the different models that have been put to the industry to date meet all the legal requirements of the AUSFTA.
âAustralians should be alarmed at claims that the Australia-US free trade agreement could now be being deployed to attempt to constrict the Australian Government from introducing laws to ensure audiences have access to Australian stories on powerful digital streaming platforms like Disney+, Netflix, and Prime Video as was promised in the National Cultural Policy Revive.
âThe Australian Government must continue to and always act in the best interests of Australian audiences and our industry and bring forward robust legislation as a matter of urgency,â said Deaner.
Curious why Netflix is happy to commit to over a billion $ worth of Korean language programming (population 50 million) but is fighting producing Australian content in English which would have even wider appeal globally than Korean
I donât know that anyone is clamouring for Australian content worldwide. Korean diaspora plus K-Pop type spinoffs on the other handâŚ
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Korean content is (has? was?) popular - Netflix reported in 2023 that more than half of their subscriber base had watched at least one Korean-made program in the prior year. Currently, South Korea doesnât enforce production quotas either (which is causing some angst inside SK for local broadcasters/streamers as Netflix is dominating local production)
That said, some of the content that has come out since hasnât been that great by all accounts.
Theyâre going to fight content production quotas because it means they have to invest regardless of whether it makes sense or not - if the quality of the Korean content turns, they simply withdraw the money and invest elsewhere; whereas with production quotas theyâll have to continue investing in quite possibly poor content (that may have limited reach) to continue to keep the lights on in that country.
Australian content can be hit-and-miss outside of Australia in terms of performance - it sells well but doesnât necessarily follow up with strong viewing.
No one is clamouring for it.
But 40% of Netflix viewing is non US content.
Itâs very easy to make Australian content travel now.
There has been big success with some a couple of American movies filmed/set in Australia recently, Anyone But You and Fall Guy and upcoming Furiosa. I was just thinking that Australia needs to capotalise in these and have more movies/series made here.
Yeah I suspect that avenue is more likely - movies or content set or made in Australia (with the facilities and any tax breaks etc). Than Australian content out and out.
Good facilities and strong subsidies are behind this along with a weak Australian dollar.
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Australian content is seen on overseas TV. For example, Bluey is so well known in the US that a late night TV show has make this parody.
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There are quite few success stories. Heartbreak High, Fisk, Boy Swallows Universe, Mako Mermaids (aka H20: Just Add Water), Dance Academy etc.
*Universe
Both around or over 10 years ago?
Some other recent examples: Deadloch & The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart were massive overseas for Prime, The Clearing was big for Disney, NCIS: Sydney was big too even going to broadcast in the US etc
Yes but still attracting big audiences on Netflix.