by FilmInk Staff
Queensland’s screen sector is bracing for a rockier road ahead after the state government confirmed a reduction in funding for Screen Queensland, the government-owned agency that underpins the state’s booming film and television industry.
Arts Minister John-Paul Langbroek last week unveiled a $50 million funding package for Screen Queensland’s incentives program, to be spread over the next two years — plus a further $9.9 million to help run Screen Queensland Studios Brisbane. On paper, it sounds like new money, but industry figures have been quick to point out that it actually represents a cut. The previous year’s budget alone delivered $42 million in incentives funding, and the two years before that saw $38 million annually. Spread across two years, the new $50 million commitment works out to roughly $10-13 million less per year than the agency has been used to. (ABC News)
That gap between the headline framing and the underlying numbers did not escape scrutiny. In its 7 September episode, ABC’s Media Watch devoted a segment to how parts of the media covered the announcement, examining how outlets ended up reporting a real-terms funding cut as though it were a boost for the sector. (ABC Media Watch, “Smoke and mirrors”)
Screen Producers Australia (SPA) chief executive Matthew Deaner has been the most vocal critic, telling the ABC that the state was “significantly reducing the incentives that support the attraction of screen production, business and economic activity in the state.” (ABC News) Deaner warned that producers had built their businesses in Queensland on the back of consistent state investment, and that members were now weighing up other states — and international hubs — as alternatives. He argued that the saving might look modest on the state’s books but could cost Queensland far more in lost economic activity than it saves. (IF Magazine)
The numbers at stake are significant: government figures show Screen Queensland-backed productions generated more than $541 million in direct production expenditure in Queensland last financial year, supporting more than 6,600 jobs. Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate, whose city has hosted major productions including Elvis, Aquaman and Thor: Ragnarok, has written to Langbroek seeking clarity on what the cut means for future funding. (ABC News)
Screen Queensland CEO Jacqui Feeney has sought to reassure the industry, framing the change as a recalibration rather than a retreat. In a statement, Feeney said that the agency was finalising adjustments to its incentive rates to “balance momentum with sustainability” after a period of rapid growth and record demand for funding. (ScreenHub) She stressed that the revised incentives would still stack with the federal government’s 30 per cent offsets and rebates, and that Screen Queensland remained focused on backing local talent and stories while staying responsive to a changing operating environment. (IF Magazine)
For his part, Langbroek has defended the government’s approach as offering “multi-year funding certainty” that Labor’s shorter funding cycles failed to provide, framing it as a foundation for long-term industry planning rather than a cut. (ABC News)
The funding reduction lands on top of what has already been a difficult 12 months for the agency’s creative output. In June, Screen Queensland confirmed that the Brisbane International Film Festival would not run in 2026 — the first year since BIFF’s 1992 debut that neither it nor a successor event has lit up Brisbane’s screens. Screen Queensland described the move as a “pause” to redesign BIFF’s operating model, with a relaunch promised for 2027, but the decision reopened old wounds for a festival that has now been cancelled or overhauled three times in twelve years. (ScreenHub)
That backdrop adds weight to the question of what comes next for Julie Eckersley, who joined Screen Queensland as Executive Director, Screen Content in October 2025 — stepping into the senior creative leadership role previously held by Dr Belinda Burns. (IF Magazine) Before joining the agency, Eckersley, formerly SBS’s head of scripted, was an outspoken advocate for reforming how Australian screen agencies approach development. In a widely shared 2024 piece for IF Magazine, she floated 79 ideas for lifting the standard of local storytelling — among them, building more flexibility and contingency into development budgets, creating dedicated “advanced development” tiers at screen agencies, and giving writers’ rooms and edits more time and space to reach a higher standard of craft. (IF Magazine)
Many of those ideas depend on agencies like Screen Queensland having room to move within their funding envelopes — flexible development budgets, tiered support and longer development runways all cost money. With BIFF already in limbo and the agency’s incentives funding now under pressure, it remains to be seen how much scope Eckersley will have to put her development philosophy into practice, or whether tighter budgets and an already-stretched creative program will constrain the kind of investment in craft and process she has long championed.
Between the BIFF hiatus, the funding squeeze, the media scrutiny, and now a live question over how far its creative leadership can stretch a tighter budget, Feeney’s Screen Queensland faces a delicate balancing act in the months ahead.
