By Travis Johnson
According to Screen Australia’s 27th annual Drama Report, Australia set a new record for spending on drama production this year, chalking up a whopping 1.3 billion dollars across 151 screen productions, up from $850 million across 120 productions in 15/16.
The overall figure comprises $610 million foreign project spend and $667 million on, Australian projects, driven by a massive jump in feature film funding: $567 million on foreign films and $284 million on local productions.
Graeme Mason, CEO of Screen Australia said, “Crossing the $1 billion expenditure threshold is an incredible milestone for the Australian screen industry and has not happened by accident. There is a whole ecosystem of support measures that keep our industry firing, including direct government funding, tax incentives and Australian content quotas.
“We know television is becoming more expensive to make, but the demand for that content both locally and abroad is clearly increasing when you have shows like Picnic at Hanging Rock securing US sales before production had even wrapped.
“It is great to see Australian film continuing to grow, and to have features like Sweet Country taking awards at Venice and Toronto speaks to the quality of production, not just volume.
“The financial dividend from foreign feature production is undeniable and is of particular benefit to our crews who have the opportunity to work on big budget projects.”
The Screen Australia website has the full breakdown.
