Your Chance To Comment On The Future Of The Australian Screen Production Sector

The Tasmania screen industry has until Friday 11th March to submit comments to the Federal Government following today's release of its Review Of The Australian Independent Screen production Centre.

The full review paper can be found here and comments on the report should be emailed to the Minister for the Arts, The Hon Simon Crean MP.

Mr Crean said the review finds significant improvement in the Australian film and television industry and a major lift in Government investment.

The Review finds Government support has trebled from $136.7 million to $412.1 million in the three years since the introduction of the Australian Screen Production Incentive in 2007-08, compared to the previous three years.

The Review identifies several challenges and highlights there are opportunities to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the screen tax offsets in some areas.

“One of the major findings of the review is that Government investment in the local Australian film industry has increased three-fold in the past three years,” Mr Crean said.
“The boost in Government funding is a great achievement and contributing to the viability of the local film production industry.
“The Government has committed to working with the sector to respond to the Review. In particular I’m keen to hear more from the sector about its strategies for improving audience engagement and attracting additional private financing,” Mr Crean said.

Seventy eight submissions were made to the Review. The Office for the Arts, which conducted the Review, also held focus groups with 79 producers and service providers to supplement the information gathered through the submissions.
In the submissions, there was significant focus on the Australian Screen Production Incentive which delivers tax offsets. The Producer Offset provides a 40 per cent tax credit for a feature film with significant Australian content, while the Location Offset and the PDV Offset (post-production) provides a 15 per cent tax credit.

“Although it’s still early days, the increase in activity, particularly the production of Australian large budget films, such as Baz Luhrmann’s Australia and George Miller’s Happy Feet 2, and the box office performance of films such as Tomorrow, When the War Began shows the Government support for the sector is having a significant impact,” Mr Crean said.

“This initiative is encouraging domestic feature film production, with total film production expenditure in 2009-10 of $265 million representing an 88 per cent increase above the five year pre-Producer Offset average of $141 million. There has also been an increase in local box office share by Australian films.
“The Government acknowledges the impact of the exchange rate on the Location and PDV offsets of 15 per cent currently available to overseas productions,” Mr Crean said.

Australian Government investment in the sector is at an all time high, with the uncapped Producer Offset providing $267 million in taxation rebates from its inception to the end of 2010. An additional $67 million has been provided through the Location and Post, Digital and Visual Effects Offsets.

“The Review delivers on an important election commitment,” Mr Crean said.

Comments are invited until Friday 11 March 2011 and should be sent to artsfilminfo@environment.gov.au
The Review is available at www.arts.gov.au/film/film_industry_reviews