Screen Australia Drama Report · 7 The Drama Report 2018/19 | Screen Australia PRODUCTION TRENDS Notes: 1. Australian includes both domestic and Official Co-production titles 2. Foreign

The Drama Report 2018/19 | Screen Australia

Screen Australia Drama Report Production of feature films, TV and online drama in Australia in 2018/19

2

© Screen Australia 2019 ISBN: 978-1-920998-33-2

The text in this report is released subject to a Creative Commons BY licence (Licence). This means, in summary, that you may reproduce, transmit and distribute the text, provided that you do not do so for commercial purposes, and provided that you attribute the text as extracted from Screen Australia’s Drama Report 2018/19. You must not alter, transform or build upon the text in this report. Your rights under the Licence are in addition to any fair dealing rights which you have under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cwlth). For further terms of the Licence, please see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

Screen Australia is grateful to all those who contributed data to the compilation of this report. The data provided has been drawn from a number of sources. While Screen Australia has undertaken all reasonable measures to ensure its accuracy, we cannot accept responsibility for inaccuracies and omissions.Cover: Total Control

Babyteeth

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Contents

ABOUT THE REPORT 3

Key terms 4

OVERVIEW 5

ALL DRAMA PRODUCTION 6

AUSTRALIAN FEATURE SLATE 8

Feature budget ranges 8

Sources of finance for Australian features 9

AUSTRALIAN TV DRAMA SLATE 12

AUSTRALIAN CHILDREN’S TV DRAMA SLATE 16

AUSTRALIAN ONLINE DRAMA PROGRAMS 18

SOURCES OF FINANCE FOR AUSTRALIAN TV AND ONLINE DRAMA 19

TV/ONLINE DRAMA FINANCE BY FIRST RELEASE PLATFORM 22

FOREIGN PRODUCTION 23

DRAMA PRODUCTION BY LOCATION 24

PDV SERVICES – FEATURES, TV DRAMA AND ONLINE PRODUCTION 26

All PDV 27

PDV expenditure by state 27

Focus on foreign PDV-only expenditure 28

Showcases 30

TITLES IN THE 18/19 SLATE 34

METHODOLOGY 42

ABOUT THE REPORTThe Drama Report covers the production of feature films, TV drama (mini-series, telemovies and series/serials) and online programs by financial year.

The report incorporates data gathered through surveys and publicly available sources to give a comprehensive view of drama production activity in Australia. Data is presented for the past five years, 2014/15 to 2018/19. Foreign titles are included if they are shot (or substantially shot) in Australia, or have post, digital or visual effects (PDV) work carried out in Australia without shooting here.

See page 4 for definitions of ‘Australian’, ‘domestic’, ‘Co-production’ and ‘foreign’.

Feature films and TV dramas represent about 30 per cent of all audiovisual production in Australia (excluding online productions).1 Other areas of activity include documentaries, web-series, light entertainment, commercials, music videos, corporate videos and TV productions such as sport, news and current affairs. See the statistics section of the Screen Australia website for details, www.screenaustralia.gov.au/fact-finders/production-trends, and the relevant archives for pre-2013/14 data.

1Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Film, Television and Digital Games, 2015/16, (cat. no. 8679.0).

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KEY TERMS

Drama includes: Features: a film made for cinema which is 60 minutes or longer TV drama: a ‘drama’ program according to the Australian Content Standard guidelines (see ACMA website). Includes series/serials, mini-series and telemovies. See page 13 for definitions. Online drama: encompasses single-episode or series programs with total durations of 30 minutes or more that have their first Australian release online.

Total budgets: reports on how much it actually costs to make projects. It is reported for all projects that started shooting during the financial year, with the full budget allocated to the date principal photography started; budgets are not apportioned across the duration of the project.

Total spend/expenditure: reports on how much of the total budgets were spent in Australia. This measure is particularly relevant for Co-productions and foreign productions. Again, all expenditure is allocated to the date principal photography or PDV work in Australia began rather than to the actual date of spending. Note: this is not the same as ‘qualifying Australian production expenditure’ (QAPE) for the purpose of the Producer Offset. Some expenditure in Australia is not QAPE, and QAPE can include some expenditure on Australian elements outside of Australia. QAPE is not reported here.

Australian productions include: ‘Domestic productions’: Projects other than Co-productions under Australian creative control (ie where the key elements are predominantly Australian and the project was originated and developed by Australians). This includes projects under Australian creative control that are 100 per cent foreign-financed. ‘Co-productions’ are Official Co-productions (ie projects made pursuant to an agreement between the Australian Government and the government of another country). As Official Co-productions don’t have to pass the ‘significant Australian content’ test for eligibility for the Producer Offset, and may be classified as ‘Australian’ for the purposes of Australian content regulations applying to broadcasters, the report mainly focusses on domestic and Co-production projects as a combined ‘Australian’ slate.

‘Foreign productions’ are defined as those under foreign creative control, originated and developed by non-Australians. This includes foreign projects with an Australian production company operating in a service capacity.

‘In-house productions’ are projects by Australian TV networks, where no independent production company is credited as producer or co-producer.

‘PDV’ (post, digital and visual effects) refers to those activities that create audio and visual elements for film or TV drama other than by principal photography, pick ups or physical elements such as sets and props, and includes animation. It also refers to the manipulation of those elements and includes sound and visual editing, digital effects, creation of computer-generated images (CGI), film laboratory work and duplication services. As such, it includes a variety of activities that not only take place after the shoot but also during the earlier stages of a project’s overall production.

The following abbreviations are used throughout the report: Subscription video-on-demand (SVOD), Broadcaster video-on-demand (BVOD), Advertising or Ad-based video-on-demand (AVOD) and Transactional video-on-demand (TVOD).

See also Methodology on pages 42-43.

Beached Aziversary

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Overview

DRAMA EXPENDITURE IN AUSTRALIA y $1,179 million total Australian expenditure - 53% up on last year’s spend, due to a new record spend by Australian titles, and increased foreign production spend.

y Record expenditure by Australian titles - $768 million 65% of total expenditure was triggered by Australian titles that started principal photography during 2018/19.

y 33 Australian features - $299 million 15% increase on last year and 28% above the five-year average.

y 37 Australian TV drama titles- $334 million record expenditure, up 13% on last year, and 12% above the five-year average. Hours also increased to just above the five year average.

The annual slate of feature films, TV and online drama productions consists of Australian titles (including Official Co-productions) and foreign titles that start production or post, digital and visual effects (PDV) during a given financial year.

y 15 Australian children’s TV drama titles - $95 million 95% increase on last year, and a 10-year record spend.

y 28 Australian online drama titles - $40 million significant increase in number of titles, but expenditure down 25% on last year.

y 37 foreign projects $410 million

y Spend of $297 million on seven features and four TV dramas that commenced shooting in Australia, a significant year-on-year increase and above the five year average

y PDV-only spend totalled $113 million from 26 titles, up 16% on 2017/18.

Total Australian expenditure

EXPENDITURE BY STATE y New South Wales at 31% accounted for the greatest share of total expenditure, with Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway a significant contributor.

y Victoria 30%, spend increased to an all-time high of $350 million.

y Queensland 24%, spend increased by $165 million, with 74% of expenditure coming from foreign productions.

y South Australia reported another record-breaking year with $110 million in expenditure, derived primarily from PDV-only titles as well as foreign feature work and Australian TV drama.

y Both Tasmania and the Northern Territory reported strong results, supported by Australian online drama and domestic feature work.

Note on 2017/18 data: each year, Screen Australia revises data for previous years in accordance with changes made by productions. Revisions to 2017/18 data include (but are not limited to) the reclassification of one official co-production feature to a foreign feature, and a significant reduction in Australian spend by that title. Please note that data for 2017/18 Australian and foreign features, as well as total spend figures, have been adjusted accordingly throughout this report.

$872m

21

426

64

237

125

$865m

31

262

66

310

196

$1,303m

47

581

1548

290

$768m

4107

54

260

321

49

295

$1,179m

115

40

95

299

334

296

6

All drama production

Australian1 Foreign2 Total

No. titles Spend $m No. titles Spend $m No. titles Spend $m

Features

2014/15 41 125 14 426 55 551

2015/16 38 196 22 262 60 458

2016/17 52 290 26 581 78 871

2017/18 40 260 31 107 71 367

2018/19 33 299 28 296 61 595

5-yr av 41 234 24 334 65 568

TV drama

2014/15 35 237 2 21 37 257

2015/16 44 310 8 31 52 341

2016/17 45 321 8 47 53 369

2017/18 36 295 2 4 38 299

2018/19 37 334 9 115 46 449

5-yr av 39 299 6 44 45 343

Children’s TV drama

2014/15 13 64 0 0 13 64

2015/16 14 66 0 0 14 66

2016/17 13 48 0 0 13 48

2017/18 10 49 0 0 10 49

2018/19 15 95 0 0 15 95

5-yr av 13 64 0 0 13 64

Online drama

2016/17 28 15 0 0 28 15

2017/18 21 54 0 0 21 54

2018/19 28 40 0 0 28 40

Total annual drama slate3

2014/15 89 425 16 447 105 872

2015/16 96 572 30 292 126 865

2016/17 138 674 34 629 172 1,303

2017/18 107 657 33 111 140 768

2018/19 113 768 37 410 150 1,179

5-yr av 109 619 30 378 139 997

Total drama expenditure in Australia in 2018/19 was $1,179 million. Expenditure triggered by Australian titles was at an all-time high of $768 million. With the return of large-budget US titles, foreign expenditure exceeded the five-year average.

Notes: Figures may not total exactly due to rounding.n.p. Not for publication due to confidentiality reasons.1. See page 4 for definitions. 2. Includes both productions that started principal photography during the year and foreign productions undertaking only PDV work in Australia.3. The annual slate is defined as productions that started principal photography during the year.

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PRODUCTION TRENDS

Notes: 1. Australian includes both domestic and Official Co-production titles2. Foreign productions include both productions that started principal photography during the year and productions undertaking only PDV work in Australia.

TV Drama (excluding children’s) spend ($m)

Features spend ($m)

PRODUCTION TRENDS: TV DRAMA (EXCLUDING CHILDREN'S) - SPEND ($m)

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19

222241

276264

305291

237

310321

295

334

1 1

54

821

121

3147

4

115

Aust

ralia

n ex

pend

iture

($m

illio

n)

Australian Foreign

PRODUCTION TRENDS: FEATURES - SPEND ($m)

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19

Aust

ralia

n ex

pend

iture

($m

illio

n)

Australian Foreign

2076

180

273

368 364

325313

426

581

262

196

290260

299

296

10712593 90

110

203

Foreign

Foreign

8

Australian feature slate

In 2018/19, total expenditure on Australian features reached a five-year high of $299 million – up 15% on last year and 28% above the five-year average. Domestic expenditure hit a five-year high of $271m. Three co-productions started principal photography in 18/19 – Dirt Music, Escape from Pretoria and Buckley’s Chance.

Domestic features1 Co-production features1 Total

No.

titlesSpend

$mNo.

titlesSpend

$mNo.

titlesSpend

$m

2014/15 39 124 2 1 41 125

2015/16 37 177 1 19 38 196

2016/17 49 266 3 24 52 290

2017/18 36 179 4 80 40 260

2018/19 30 271 3 28 33 299

5-yr av 38 203 3 31 41 234

All Australian features

All Australian features (domestic and co-production) by budget ranges

Domestic features1 Co-production features1 Total

14/15 15/16 16/17 17/18 18/19 14/15 15/16 16/17 17/182 18/19 14/15 15/16 16/17 17/182 18/19

<$1m 9 11 19 8 2 0 n.p 0 0 0 9 11 19 8 2

$1-5m 24 16 21 15 14 2 n.p 0 2 0 26 16 21 17 14

$5-10m 2 7 3 5 9 0 n.p 0 0 1 2 7 3 5 10

$10m+ 4 3 6 8 5 0 n.p 3 2 2 4 4 9 10 7

Total 39 37 49 36 30 2 1 3 4 3 41 38 52 40 33

% <$1m 23% 30% 39% 22% 7% 0% n.p 0 0% 0% 22% 29% 37% 20% 6%

% $<5m 85% 73% 82% 64% 53% 100% n.p 0 50% 0% 85% 71% 77% 63% 48%

% $<10m 90% 92% 88% 78% 83% 100% n.p 0 50% 33% 90% 89% 83% 75% 79%

% $10m+ 10% 8% 12% 22% 17% 0% n.p 100% 50% 67% 10% 11% 17% 25% 21%

Notes: 1. Features with budgets of less than $500,000 are included in the report only if they have had a cinema release or major festival screening. Figures may therefore be revised upwards

in future if releases are achieved for additional low-budget films that went into production in 2018/19. See page 42-43, Methodology. 2. Screen Australia routinely revises data for previous years. Please note that 2017/18 data for Co-production feature and Total figures have been revised to account for the

reclassification of one Co-production to a foreign feature.

The 33 features that started production in 2018/19 had total budgets of $316 million, with the largest proportion (79%) being made for under $10 million. This year’s slate saw fewer titles in both the upper and lower budget ranges – 6% for under $1 million and 21% for over $10 million. Twice the number of titles were made in the $5-10 million range.

Five-year high Australian feature spend driven by domestic features.

I Am Woman

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Contributions to the annual Australian feature slate (domestic and Co-production)

No. of titles

Amount $m

% of total finance

Australian direct government sources(does not include the Producer Offset)1

2014/15 27 26 19%

2015/16 22 32 15%

2016/17 28 29 8%

2017/18 31 44 16%

2018/19 26 46 15%

5-yr av 27 35 13%

Australian Producer Offset2

2014/15 n.p. 41 30%

2015/16 n.p. 66 31%

2016/17 n.p. 102 29%

2017/18 n.p. 92 33%

2018/19 n.p. 104 33%

5-yr av 34 81 30%

Australian private investors

2014/15 29 17 12%

2015/16 26 12 6%

2016/17 34 25 7%

2017/18 23 20 7%

2018/19 20 12 4%

5-yr av 26 17 6%

Australian screen industry3

2014/15 36 26 19%

2015/16 31 31 15%

2016/17 36 32 9%

2017/18 37 38 14%

2018/19 30 40 13%

5-yr av 34 33 12%

Foreign investors

2014/15 13 25 19%

2015/16 17 69 33%

2016/17 25 163 47%

2017/18 24 83 30%

2018/19 17 115 36%

5-yr av 19 91 34%

SOURCES OF FINANCE FOR AUSTRALIAN FEATURESThe sources of finance for Australian features can vary significantly from one year to the next. High-budget, principally foreign-financed titles cause large fluctuations. With the exception of Australian private investors, all contributions were above the five-year averages.

Foreign investors provided the majority of finance: $115 million to 17 titles (36% of total finance).

The Producer Offset as a distinct source of Australian government funding, contributed $104 million to projects, accounting for 33% of total finance.

Funding from Australian direct government sources rose to $46 million (15% of total finance) for 26 titles, the highest amount since 2009/10. Screen Australia accounted for the greatest contribution from a single agency – investing $24 million in 20 features that commenced principal photography in 2018/19. Together the state agencies contributed $22 million to 25 features. The Melbourne International Film Festival and the Adelaide Film Festival each financed one title. One local council provided funding for a feature film shooting in its community.

The Australian screen industry (mainly distribution and production companies) contributed $40 million to 30 features (13% of total finance). This represented funding above the five year average, to a lower number of titles, resulting in higher funding per title.

Australian private investment was $12 million (4% of total finance). Investment in three titles accounted for around 38% of total private investment.

Notes: Figures may not total exactly due to rounding. Please note that finance sources reflect data available at the time of production and may change as titles near completion.n.p. Not for publication due to confidentiality reasons.1. Includes direct funding from Australian state and federal agencies and funding bodies for titles that commenced

principal photography during a given financial year (see page 20). Equity investments and grants only – distribution guarantees, loans and underwriting are not included. Does not include the Producer Offset.

2. The Producer Offset amount is taken from the finance plan of each title. For Screen Australia funded projects – the agency only requires 90% of the anticipated Offset to be included in the finance plan for drama features and television projects. A producer is entitled to retain the difference for their own purposes, but many producers still include it in the finance plan. For this reason, the Producer Offset amounts listed above may be lower than what is eventually received from the Australian Taxation Office for each project.

3. Finance provided by Australian-based producers and production companies, distribution companies, free-to-air broad-casters (commercial and public) and subscription TV channels. The Producer Offset, cashflowed in various ways, is listed separately.

True History of the Kelly Gang

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Financial contributions from government agencies fluctuate year-to-year in line with the production schedules of each film as well as budget allocations of each agency.

Finance from producers and productions companies has remained static for the last four years.

The presence or absence of foreign studio-backed domestic films as well as Co-production titles causes year-to-year fluctuations in foreign finance of Australian features. US studios have backed a number of recent domestic features over the years including Gods of Egypt (2013/14), Hacksaw Ridge (2015/16) and Peter Rabbit (2016/17) and Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway (2018/19).

The graphs below represent contributions from various sources for films starting principal photography in each financial year.

Direct Government funding (does not inc. ProducerOset) $m

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

2017/18

2018/19

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

18 6

18 11 4

13 15

23 19 2

24 22

Screen Australia State Agencies Other

Australian screen industry ($m)

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

2017/18

2018/19

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

11 15

6 25

8 24

12 26

11 30

Broadcasters and distributors

Producers, and production and post-production companies

Foreign nance ($m)

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

2017/18

2018/19

0 50 100 150 200 250

21

54 15

158

72

109 6

Distributors, broadcasters, producers and production companies

Private, government and other


2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

2017/18

2018/19

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

18 6

18 11 4

13 15

23 19 2

24 22



2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

2017/18

2018/19

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

11 15

6 25

8 24

12 26

11 30



Foreign nance ($m)

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

2017/18

2018/19

0 50 100 150 200 250

21

54 15

158

72

109 6




2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

2017/18

2018/19

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

18 6

18 11 4

13 15

23 19 2

24 22



2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

2017/18

2018/19

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

11 15

6 25

8 24

12 26

11 30



Foreign nance ($m)

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

2017/18

2018/19

0 50 100 150 200 250

21

54 15

158

72

109 6



Direct government funding (does not inc. Producer Offset) $m


Foreign finance ($m)

5

3

11

1

1

<1

11


Seachange

12

AUSTRALIAN TV DRAMA: HOURS PRODUCED

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

2017/18

2018/19

0 100 200 300 400 500 600

284 109

274 162

295 157

296 122

296 144

Series/serials Mini-series Telemovies

Australian TV drama slate

TV drama is drama made for family or adult audiences. It does not include Children’s drama, which is reported separately below.

Record expenditure on Australian TV drama was recorded in 2018/19, with $334 million spent on 37 TV drama titles that commenced production and generated 441 hours of content. These titles had total budgets of $335 million. Hours were up on last year largely due to the production of longer-running mini-series.

Domestic1 Co-production1 Total Australian1

No. titles Hours2 Spend $m3 No. titles Hours2 Spend $m3 No. titles Hours2 Spend $m3

2014/15 34 396 227 1 6 10 35 402 237

2015/16 44 446 310 0 0 0 44 446 310

2016/17 44 450 311 1 6 10 45 456 321

2017/18 36 423 295 0 0 0 36 423 295

2018/19 37 441 334 0 0 0 37 441 334

5-yr av 39 431 295 <1 2 4 39 434 299

Notes: Figures may not total exactly due to rounding.Since 2016/17, titles produced for subscription video-on-demand and broadcaster-affiliated services have been classified as online drama. In previous years, these were captured as TV drama. Time-series analysis should be done with caution, and account for online drama production data, which is detailed later in this report. 1. See page 4 for definitions2. Commercial broadcast hours rather than actual running time. Individual program duration has been rounded to 15, 30 or 60 minutes as appropriate (including commercial breaks)3. Amount of total budgets spent in Australia4. The annual slate is defined as productions starting principal photography during the year.

423

441

456

446

4029

10

5

5

AUSTRALIAN TV DRAMA: SPEND ($m)

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

2017/18

2018/19

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

85 136 16

78 220

105 209

98 186

122 211

Series/serials Mini-series Telemovies

$295m

$334m

$321m

$310m

$237m

11

8

11

11

The Hunting

Australian TV drama slate

Hours produced Spend ($m)

13


BY FORMATFormat definitions according to this report:

• Series/serials - unlimited number of episodes (more than 13 in total) as well as multi-part programs with episode durations less than one commercial broadcast hour.

• Mini-series - a limited series of drama normally 13 hours or less in length and each episode is usually a commercial hour in duration.

• Telemovies – single-episode drama made for television that is a commercial hour or more in length. Series of, or related telemovies are counted as individual titles, as set out in a broadcaster’s licence agreement.

Series/serials production recovered in 2018/19, to achieve an eight-year high level of expenditure, up by 25% on last year. The number of titles was slightly above the 5-year average, and increased spending was driven by a number of titles with higher budgets, resulting in a record cost per hour.

Across the total TV drama slate, hours, budgets, spend and average cost per hour increased year-on-year. Average cost per hour, for all titles combined, increased significantly to $760,000 per hour.

Longer-running titles included Home and Away (Seven) and Neighbours (10). The majority of series produced were half-hour comedies, most with total durations below six hours. Titles included returning seasons of Mr Inbetween for FX Network, and Black Comedy, Get Krack!n and The Letdown for the ABC. New series in production included Diary of an Uber Driver (ABC), Fam Time (Seven), How to Stay Married (Ten) and Upright (Foxtel). See page 36 for full list.

Mini-series production peaked in 2015/16 and, after a two year decline, showed signs of recovery in 2018/19, with hours, total budgets and expenditure increasing on last year’s slate. Average cost per hour decreased year-on-year, but remained above the five year average. While the number of titles made remained static, total durations increased – more than a third of the slate in production had total durations of 10 hours. Series returns included Glitch and Harrow (ABC), Doctor Doctor and Seachange (Nine)

and Playing for Keeps (10). New mini-series titles included Les Norton (ABC) (10 hours), Hungry Ghosts (SBS) (4 hours), Ms Fisher’s MODern Murder Mysteries (Seven) (8 hours), Bad Mothers (Nine) and Five Bedrooms (10) (both 8 hours). See page 37 for full list.

One telemovie entered production in 2018/19, the ABC anthology, Dark Place.

Five Bedrooms

14

No. Hours1 Budgets

($m)2 Spend ($m)3 Avg. cost/hr $m4

Series/serials (in-house productions in brackets)

2014/15 14 (2) 284 85 85 0.299

2015/16 15 (1) 274 78 78 0.286

2016/17 21 (1) 295 105 105 0.355

2017/18 14 (1) 296 98 98 0.333

2018/19 17 (1) 296 123 122 0.414

5-yr av 16 (2) 289 98 98 0.338

Mini-series (in-house productions in brackets)

2014/15 15 (2) 109 138 136 1.268

2015/16 23 162 222 220 1.368

2016/17 21 157 212 209 1.352

2017/18 19 122 191 186 1.567

2018/19 19 (2) 144 211 211 1.468

5-yr av 19 (1) 139 195 192 1.404

Telemovies (in-house productions in brackets)

2014/15 6 9 16 16 1.876

2015/16 6 10 15 11 1.534

2016/17 3 5 8 8 1.738

2017/18 3 5 11 11 2.212

2018/19 1 1 1 1 1.011

5-yr av 4 6 10 9 1.762

Total (in-house productions in brackets)

2014/15 35 (4) 402 239 237 0.595

2015/16 44 (1) 446 315 310 0.706

2016/17 45 (1) 456 324 321 0.711

2017/18 36 (1) 423 301 295 0.711

2018/19 37 (3) 441 335 334 0.760

5-yr av 39 (1) 434 303 299 0.698

Notes: Figures may not total exactly due to rounding.1. Commercial broadcast hours rather than actual running time. Individual program duration has been rounded to 15,

30 or 60 minutes as appropriate (including commercial breaks) 2. Total cost of productions3. Amount of total budgets spent in Australia4. Total budgets divided by total hours

Average cost per hour for all titles increased 7%.

Australian TV drama

Ms Fisher’s MODern Murder Mysteries

15


Bluey

16

15 children’s dramas entered production in 2018/19, generating a five-year high of 132 hours of content, at a total cost of $105 million. The Australian spend of $95 million was the highest since 2008/09. Number of titles, hours, budgets and spend for the total slate were all above five year averages, and live action production significantly increased to 61 hours, the highest level since 2012/13.

Two Official Co-production titles entered production, in line with the five-year average.

Australian children’s TV drama slate

No. Hours1 Budgets ($m)2 Spend ($m)3 Avg. cost/hr

$m4

Domestic

2014/15 10 80 65 54 0.809

2015/16 13 102 n.p. n.p. n.p.

2016/17* 9 74 62 34 0.838

2017/18 9 65 n.p. n.p. n.p.

2018/19 13 110 81 74 0.734

5-yr av 11 86 65 52 0.755

Co-production

2014/15 3 36 30 10 0.827

2015/16 1 13 n.p. n.p. n.p.

2016/17* 4 38 38 13 1.025

2017/18 1 7 n.p. n.p. n.p.

2018/19 2 22 24 21 1.092

5-yr av 2 23 26 12 1.300

Total Australian

2014/15 13 116 95 64 0.815

2015/16 14 115 101 66 0.879

2016/17* 13 111 100 48 0.901

2017/18 10 71 54 49 0.755

2018/19 15 132 105 95 0.794

5-yr av 13 109 91 64 0.829

*Excludes two children’s TV drama titles that were released online before TV broadcast – Trip for Biscuits (3 hours) had its premiere on ABC iview in March 2017 before airing on ABC Me. Drop Dead Weird series 1 (10 hours) premiered on Kidson7 YouTube in October 2017 before being released on 7TWO in November 2017.

Notes: Figures may not total exactly due to rounding. n.p. Not for publication due to confidentiality reasons.1. Commercial broadcast hours rather than actual running time. Individual program duration has been rounded to

15, 30 or 60 minutes as appropriate (including commercial breaks) 2. Total cost of productions3. Amount of total budgets spent in Australia4. Total budgets divided by total hours

Australian Children’s TV dramaAs part of broader obligations, the Australian Content Standard obliges commercial free-to-air broadcasters to broadcast at least 25 hours of first-release Australian children’s drama each year, and 96 hours over a three year period (currently the 2018-2020 calendar years).

As a first release broadcaster, the ABC financed seven of the 15 titles in production, including animations 100% Wolf and Bluey series 2, and live action titles Hardball, The Inbestigators, Itch, Mustangs FC series 2 and The Unlisted.

NITV was the first release broadcaster for the second series of Little J & Big Cuz. The series was also financed by the ABC.

In 2018/19, six titles entered production that were financed by the commercial broadcasters: Alice Miranda Friends Forever, Alien TV and Dumbotz (Nine), Drop Dead Weird series 2 and Kitty is Not a Cat series 2 (Seven) and Random & Whacky series 2 (10).

One title, Monster Beach, was financed by Foxtel.

17


No. Hours1 Budgets ($m)2 Spend ($m)3 Avg. cost/hr

$m4

Live action

2014/15 4 28 27 27 0.965

2015/16 4 20 20 20 0.983

2016/17* 5 26 24 16 0.946

2017/18 4 24 23 23 0.974

2018/19 7 61 46 43 0.754

5-yr av 5 32 28 26 0.885

Animation

2014/15 9 88 68 37 0.767

2015/16 10 95 81 47 0.856

2016/175* 8 86 76 32 0.887

2017/185 6 48 31 26 0.647

2018/19 8 72 59 52 0.828

5-yr av 8 78 63 39 0.812

Total children’s

2014/15 13 116 95 64 0.815

2015/16 14 115 101 66 0.879

2016/17* 13 111 100 48 0.901

2017/18 10 71 54 49 0.755

2018/19 15 132 105 95 0.794

5-yr av 13 109 91 64 0.833

As can be seen in the table below, animated titles have made up the bulk of production slates over the last 5 years. In 2018/19, live action hours, budgets and spend significantly increased. The relatively low 2018/19 average cost per hour for live action children’s drama was influenced by the presence of one lower-budget title in the live action slate.

*Excludes two children’s TV drama titles that were released online before TV broadcast – Trip for Biscuits (3 hours) had its premiere on ABC iview in March 2017 before airing on ABC Me. Drop Dead Weird series 1 (10 hours) premiered on Kidson7 YouTube in October 2017 before being released on 7TWO in November 2017.

Notes: Figures may not total exactly due to rounding. n.p. Not for publication due to confidentiality reasons.1. Commercial broadcast hours rather than actual running time. Individual program duration has been rounded to

15, 30 or 60 minutes as appropriate (including commercial breaks) 2. Total cost of productions3. Amount of total budgets spent in Australia4. Total budgets divided by total hours5. Includes one hybrid animation/live action title

Australian Children’s TV drama

Alice Miranda Friends Forever

2018/19 marked the highest children’s TV drama spend since 08/09

18

Australian online drama programs

Notes: Figures may not total exactly due to rounding. n.p. Not for publication due to confidentiality reasons.1. Actual running time 2. Total cost of productions3. Amount of total budgets spent in Australia4. Total budgets divided by total hours

Please note that titles that have simultaneous TV broadcast and online releases have been classified as ‘TV drama’.

In 2018/19, 28 titles were made for first release online – two single-episode and 26 series titles with total budgets of $53 million and Australian spend of $40 million. There were significantly more online drama titles made this year compared to 2017/18. Overall, budgets remained steady, but expenditure was 25% down on 2017/18 due to some titles spending a significant amount overseas.

Titles in production included ABC iview’s Content, Halal Girls and Sarah’s Channel (all series), Robbie Hood for SBS on Demand, Stan’s Bloom, The Gloaming and The Other Guy series 2, and Australian Netflix original – The New Legends of Monkey series 2. Titles made for release on YouTube included Australia’s Best Street Racer, Beached Aziversary, Glennridge Secondary College, KGB and Over and Out, while Mining Boom premiered on Facebook. See page 39 for full list.

No. Hours1 Budgets ($m)2 Spend ($m)3 Avg. cost/hr $m4

Single-episode

2016/17 6 5 2 2 0.501

2017/18 1 2 n.p. n.p. n.p.

2018/19 2 2 1 1 0.801

Series

2016/17 22 40 15 13 0.374

2017/18 20 41 n.p. n.p. n.p.

2018/19 26 40 52 39 1.286

Total

2016/17 28 45 17 15 0.387

2017/18 21 43 54 54 1.260

2018/19 28 42 53 40 1.266

This report classifies ‘online drama’ as single episode or series titles with total durations of 30 minutes or more that have premiered in Australia online. Broadly speaking, online titles are titles released via:

SVOD (e.g. Stan), BVOD (e.g. ABC iview), AVOD (e.g. YouTube), TVOD (e.g. iTunes).

Australian online drama

Bloom

19


The Australian screen industry provided 44% of the finance to this year’s Australian TV and online drama titles - $219 million to 73 titles. 44% is the lowest proportion of total finance since 2000/01, while also being the second highest year in terms of titles produced (73). The increase in titles is largely driven by the inclusion, since 2016/17, of online drama. The largest proportion of finance (and the largest from any sector) came from the commercial free-to-air networks. The largest contribution from a single broadcaster came from the ABC, which, as a first release broadcaster provided finance to 28 titles, including seven ABC iview originals. Subscription television financed three titles for first release broadcast. SBS/NITV financed four titles – one for SBS on Demand. Stan financed four titles. Distributors and production companies provided the rest of the industry finance.

The Producer Offset, as a distinct source of Government funding, provided $65 million and again made up 13% of total finance.

The PDV Offset was accessed by eight titles and contributed $8 million in finance.

Funding support from Australian direct government sources increased 35% to $64 million for 72 titles, and accounted for 13% of total finance. Screen Australia was the major source of government funds and provided $37 million to 53 TV and online drama titles that commenced principal photography during the year. 66% of the total Australian TV and online drama slate received Screen Australia funding.

Collectively, funding from the state agencies was very strong - $25 million for 57 titles. A higher than average number of titles received larger amounts of funding in order to undertake production in a particular state. Contributions from Film Victoria, Create NSW and Screen Tasmania were notably higher than any other year. Create NSW, Film Victoria and Screen Queensland provided the majority of the funds (77%).

Foreign investment in Australian TV and online drama increased to $138 million (28% of total finance) the highest since 2000/01. Distributors accounted for more than 60% of foreign finance.

Private investment was below $1 million - the lowest contributor to overall finance.

No. of titles

Amount $m

% of total finance

Australian direct Government sources(does not include the Producer Offset)1

2014/15 33 33 10%

2015/16 47 44 11%

2016/17 63 39 9%

2017/18 60 47 12%

2018/19 72 64 13%

5-yr av 55 45 11%

Australian Producer Offset2

2014/15 n.p. 38 11%

2015/16 n.p. 46 11%

2016/17 n.p. 53 12%

2017/18 n.p. 54 13%

2018/19 n.p. 65 13%

5-yr av 42 51 13%

PDV Offset

2014/15 7 7 2%

2015/16 12 11 3%

2016/17 5 4 1%

2017/18 4 5 1%

2018/19 8 8 2%

5-yr av 7 7 2%

Australian private investors

2014/15 2 <1 <1%

2015/16 5 2 <1%

2016/17 7 6 <1%

2017/18 10 1 <1%

2018/19 5 <1 <1%

5-yr av 6 2 1%

Australian screen industry 3

2014/15 48 202 60%

2015/16 57 219 53%

2016/17 81 253 57%

2017/18 62 208 51%

2018/19 73 219 44%

5-yr av 64 220 55%

Foreign Investors

2014/15 21 54 16%

2015/16 34 92 22%

2016/17 39 87 20%

2017/18 37 93 23%

2018/19 38 138 28%

5-yr av 34 93 23%

Notes: Please note that finance sources reflect data available at the time of production and may change as titles near completion.1. Includes direct funding from Australian state

and federal agencies and funding bodies for titles that commenced principal photography during a given financial year (see page 20). Equity investments and grants only – distribution guarantees, loans and underwriting are not included. Does not include the Producer Offset.

2. The Producer Offset amount is taken from the finance plan of each title. For Screen Australia funded projects – the agency only requires 90% of the anticipated Offset to be included in the finance plan for features and television projects. A producer is entitled to retain the difference for their own purposes, but many producers still include it in the finance plan. For this reason, the Producer Offset amounts listed above may be lower than what is eventually received from the Australian Taxation Office for each project.

3. Finance provided by Australian-based producers and production companies, distribution companies, free-to-air broadcasters (commercial and public), subscription TV channels and VOD services. The Producer Offset, cashflowed in various ways, is listed separately.

Contributions to the annual Australian TV/online slate (domestic and co-production)

Upright

Sources of finance for Australian TV and online drama

20

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

2017/18

2018/19

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240

187 15

204 15

223 30

188 20

196 23



2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

2017/18

2018/19

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130

41 13

81 12

71 16

87 6

129 8



2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

2017/18

2018/19

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

21 10 2

27 12 4

24 14

25 22

37 25 2


Both Screen Australia and state and territory agency funding allocated to titles commencing shoot in 2018/19 were above the five-year averages. Funding from the state and territory agencies was stronger again this year, as they looked to attract titles to undertake production in their locations. Other government funding included finance from the Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF).

The graphs below represent contributions from various sources for TV and online drama titles starting principal photography in each financial year.

2016/17 marked a record year for TV drama production and Australian screen industry finance. In 2018/19, broadcaster finance increased year-on-year, but was below the five year average. The increased finance that came from producers and production companies in 2016/17 was due to a small number of titles.

Australian drama has attracted increased foreign finance over the last three years. 2018/19 marked a significant increase in foreign finance, including contributions from a diversity of foreign distributors, broadcasters and production companies.

Direct government funding (does not inc. Producer Offset) $m


Foreign finance ($m)

<1

<1

21


Bad Mothers

22

TV/online drama finance by first release platform

No. of titlesInvestment

$m*Hours Budgets $m

ABC (includes iview)

2014/15 20 52 109 115

2015/16 21 53 100 106

2016/17 34 55 120 130

2017/18 23 53 112 144

2018/19 28 52 128 157

5-yr av 25 53 114 130

SBS/NITV (includes SBS On Demand)

2014/15 3 4 8 7

2015/16 3 3 9 9

2016/17 3 6 11 14

2017/18 6 8 20 21

2018/19 4 5 12 16

5-yr av 4 5 12 13

Public broadcasters (ABC + SBS/NITV)

2014/15 23 56 117 122

2015/16 24 56 109 115

2016/17 37 62 131 143

2017/18 29 61 132 165

2018/19 32 58 140 173

5-yr av 29 59 126 144

Commercial free-to-air TV (includes on-demand platforms)

2014/15 20 93 358 166

2015/16 23 108 393 218

2016/17 23 107 400 211

2017/18 17 84 336 142

2018/19 23 114 401 206

5-yr av 21 101 377 189

Subscription television broadcasters

2014/15 3 33 38 44

2015/16 6 30 46 67

2016/17 7 50 58 75

2017/18 5 31 33 50

2018/19 3 12 22 33

5-yr av 5 31 39 54

Australian and foreign online streaming services**

2014/15 2 n.p. n.p. n.p.

2015/16 3 6 10 12

2016/17 8 3 9 5

2017/18 6 30 24 48

2018/19 8 19 23 47

5-yr av 5 12 14 23

This section of the report shows production activity by first release platform, i.e. first release broadcaster or online streaming service. Financial contributions provided for subsequent release rights are not accounted for here.

The commercial free-to-air networks provided the majority of finance to this year’s slate - $114 million for 23 titles, representing a 36% increase on last year’s investment. As with previous years, the commercial free-to-air networks also produced the lion’s share of total hours, thanks to long-running serials Home and Away (Seven) and Neighbours (10).

The public broadcasters were the second-largest financiers with a combined contribution of $58 million. The ABC provided the most finance of any single network and the budgets and hours of its first-release programs grew again. Production outputs, across all indicators, for SBS and NITV pulled back after 2017/18’s strong result.

Finance from subscription television broadcasters declined for the third year, dropping to a five year low.

Finance from Australian and foreign online streaming services decreased in 2018/19. A greater number of titles commenced production during the year, including four financed by Stan and one by Netflix, while three titles received finance from Google under the Skip Ahead program.

*investment includes licence fees, presales, equity investments etc. Financial contributions provided by a broadcaster or online streaming service for subsequent release rights are not accounted for here.

**combined due to confidentiality

Notes: Figures may not total exactly due to rounding.

23


Foreign production

Notes: Figures may not total exactly due to rounding. n.p. Not for publication due to confidentiality reasons.Expenditure has been attributed to the year in which principal photography commenced for Australian and foreign titles shot in Australia, but based on the year PDV work commenced for foreign PDV-only titles. 1. Amount of total budgets spent in Australia.2. Screen Australia routinely revises data for previous years. Please note that 2017/18 foreign shoot expenditure and

foreign shoot (feature) expenditure have increased to account for the reclassification of one feature and the addition of another.

Total spend on foreign shoot and PDV-only titles came to $410 million in 2018/19, more than three and a half times higher than in 2017/18 ($111 million), and well above the five-year average ($378 million). Driving the increase was expenditure of $297 million on 11 foreign titles shot in Australia, a significant increase from just $13 million in 2017/18. PDV-only expenditure totalled $113 million, up 16% on 2017/18.

Several factors contributed to the growth in foreign production. The Australian dollar continued to fall across the year to at or below $0.70, which helped attract foreign work. The upswing in foreign shoot expenditure was driven by the productions confirmed as recipients of the Federal Government’s $140 million Location Incentive, a top-up to the 16.5% Location Offset, worth $35 million per year over four years. In addition, PDV businesses in NSW and Queensland welcomed the introduction of 10% PDV rebates. Victoria and South Australia also offer incentives that complement the 30% Federal PDV Offset. Additionally, the Australian Government announced that television series and mini-series for online streaming platforms are now eligible for the Location and PDV Offsets.

The Location Incentive is already having an impact on the 2019/20 production slate, with another three foreign titles announced as shooting in Australia. Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Thor: Love and Thunder are headed for NSW, while the TV series Shantaram is expected to shoot in Victoria.

FEATURESSeven foreign features commenced shooting in Australia in 2018/19, bringing $185 million in expenditure. This result was up significantly on 2017/18 ($10 million), but still under the five-year-average ($229 million). The 2018/19 foreign feature shoot slate consisted of the US titles Dora and the Lost City of Gold, Monster Problems and Godzilla vs Kong, along with Chinatown Cannon 2 (China), Saba’s Wedding (Nepal) and Prem Bondhon and Apaharan – The Chase Begins (Bangladesh).

PDV-only feature expenditure totalled $111 million in 2018/19, up 13% on 2017/18 and the strongest result since 2014/15’s all-time high. 21 features contributed to the result including BIOS, Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), Cats, FengShen Trilogy, It: Chapter Two, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Jumanji: The Next Level, Jungle Cruise, Men in Black: International, Spider-Man: Far From Home and Terminator: Dark Fate.

Shoot PDV-only Total Foreign

No. titles Spend $m1 No. titles Spend $m1 No. titles Spend $m1

Features

2014/15 5 234 9 193 14 426

2015/16 7 195 15 67 22 262

2016/17 6 521 20 60 26 581

2017/18 52 102 26 98 312 1072

2018/19 7 185 21 111 28 296

5-yr av 6 229 18 106 24 334

TV drama

2014/15 1 n.p. 1 n.p. 2 21

2015/16 2 21 6 10 8 31

2016/17 3 36 5 12 8 47

2017/18 2 4 0 0 2 4

2018/19 4 112 5 3 9 115

5-yr av 2 38 3 5 6 44

Total

2014/15 6 n.p. 10 n.p. 16 447

2015/16 9 216 21 77 30 292

2016/17 9 557 25 72 34 629

2017/18 72 132 26 98 332 1112

2018/19 11 297 26 113 37 410

5-yr av 8 267 22 111 30 378

TV DRAMATotal foreign TV drama activity accounted for $115 million in Australian expenditure in 2018/19, up significantly on 2017/18 ($4 million) and the strongest result in more than a decade. Whilst nine titles contributed to this result, the increase was driven by the second-highest spend on record for the four foreign titles shot in Australia – Reef Break, Preacher series 4 (US), If Time Flows Back (China) and Nirasha (Sri Lanka). The five PDV-only titles included Watchmen, The Fix, Why Women Kill, Messiah and For China, From China.

Highest spend on foreign TV drama titles shot in Australia since 2007/08, and the second highest on record.

Foreign production – foreign shoot and PDV-only

24

NSW QLD VIC

Shoot PDV Total Shoot PDV Total Shoot PDV Total

$m

2014/15 145 207 352 232 6 238 185 51 235

2015/16 390 91 481 89 10 99 160 58 217

2016/17 328 142 470 416 13 429 239 84 323

2017/18 173 90 263 103 18 122 183 67 251

2018/19 227 142 369 259 28 287 231 119 350

%

2014/15 24% 77% 40% 38% 2% 27% 31% 19% 27%

2015/16 56% 52% 56% 13% 5% 11% 23% 33% 25%

2016/17 32% 53% 36% 40% 5% 33% 23% 31% 25%

2017/18 32% 40% 34% 19% 8% 16% 34% 30% 33%

2018/19 28% 40% 31% 32% 8% 24% 28% 33% 30%

SA WA Tas/NT/ACT

Shoot PDV Total Shoot PDV Total Shoot PDV Total

$m

2014/15 9 5 14 12 <1 13 20 <1 20

2015/16 14 14 28 26 2 28 12 1 12

2016/17 22 25 47 7 3 10 22 1 23

2017/18 41 44 85 33 4 37 11 <1 11

2018/19 44 66 110 33 3 35 26 1 28

%

2014/15 1% 2% 2% 2% <1% 1% 3% <1% 2%

2015/16 2% 8% 3% 4% 1% 3% 2% <1% 1%

2016/17 2% 9% 4% 1% 1% 1% 2% <1% 2%

2017/18 8% 20% 11% 6% 2% 5% 2% <1% 1%

2018/19 5% 18% 9% 4% 1% 3% 3% <1% 2%

Drama production by locationIn 2018/19, expenditure grew in almost every state and territory. Total spend in Western Australia was just below last year’s five-year high.

New South Wales $369m 31%: accounted for the largest share of total expenditure in Australia. Australian features Babyteeth, Buckley’s Chance, I Am Woman and Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway were shot in NSW. TV dramas included Alien TV, Frayed, Hardball, Les Norton, Reckoning, and returning series of Black Comedy, Doctor Doctor, and Home and Away. For China, From China was among the foreign titles that undertook PDV-only work in New South Wales.

Victoria $350m 30%: reached an all-time high for total spend. Foreign TV drama Preacher series 4 undertook production in the state, along with domestic features The Dry, Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears, Relic and True History of the Kelly Gang. TV dramas included new titles Bad Mothers, Between Two Worlds, Bloom, Five Bedrooms series 1, Hungry Ghosts, The Inbestigators and Ms Fisher’s MODern Murder Mysteries as well as returning seasons of Glitch and Neighbours. Foreign PDV-only titles included Men in Black: International and Jumanji: The Next Level, while foreign shoot title Godzilla vs Kong also had PDV work completed in Victoria.

Queensland $287m 24%: spend more than doubled, increasing by $165 million. Foreign productions included features Dora and the Lost City of Gold, Godzilla vs Kong and Monster Problems, and TV drama Reef Break. Local features included Black Water: Abyss, Combat Wombat, Loveland, Two Heads Creek and The Wishmas Tree. Children’s animated title Bluey series 2 undertook production activities in Queensland, along with TV dramas The End and Harrow series 2. Foreign PDV-only titles included Heavens: The Boy and His Robot.

South Australia $110m 9%: spend grew for the fourth consecutive year and reached a new record. Australian features 2067, Never Too Late and Official Co-production Escape from Pretoria were all shot in South Australia, along with TV dramas The Hunting, Stateless and Upright. A significant proportion of the state’s 2018/19 expenditure came from PDV work on titles such as foreign feature Cats.

Western Australia $35m 3%: just $2 million below last year’s record spend. Australian feature films Below, Dirt Music, H is for Happiness, I Met a Girl and RAMS all undertook production activities in the state, along with TV drama title Itch.

Tas/NT/ACT $28m 2%: set a new record for combined spend. Dumbotz, The Gloaming and Little J & Big Cuz series 2 undertook production in Tasmania. Feature film High Ground and online series Robbie Hood undertook production in the Northern Territory. Elements of Total Control were shot in the Australian Capital Territory.

Note: Expenditure has been attributed to the year in which principal photography commenced for Australian and foreign titles shot in Australia, but based on the year PDV work commenced for foreign PDV-only titles.

Drama production by location

25


Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears

Expenditure by State $m

500

450

400

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

NSW QLD VIC SA WA TAS/NT/ACT

Spen

d ($

m)

2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19

481470

369

263

352

238 235217

287

12299

429

323

251

350

110

85

4728

14 1328

10

37 35

20 12 23 1128

26

PDV services for features, TV drama and online production

This section looks at Australian expenditure from post, digital and visual effects (PDV) services for domestic, foreign shoot and foreign PDV-only feature film, TV drama and online titles.

To provide a sense of the ongoing business activity of PDV companies in a given financial year, a project’s total PDV spend has been spread across each year in which it occurred rather than attributing the whole amount to the year in which work commenced. The results for each year will therefore include expenditure from projects that began work in previous financial years, and only relevant spend for projects that continue work into future financial years. As a result, this data cannot be compared to data presented in other sections of the Drama Report.

PDV EXPENDITURE IN AUSTRALIA y $261 million in total PDV expenditure Down 8% on last year’s all-time high but 6% above the five-year average.

y $91 million in PDV expenditure on 41 foreign PDV-only projects Down 14% on 2017/18 and 11% below the five-year average.

y $3 million in PDV expenditure on six foreign PDV-only TV dramas On par with 2017/18, but 36% below the five-year average.

y $16 million in PDV expenditure on seven foreign shoot titles Up 152% on 2017/18 and 24% above the five-year average.

y $153 million in PDV expenditure on Australian productions Down 12% on 2017/18, but 18% above the five-year average.

Captain Marvel

27


TOTAL PDV EXPENDITUREPDV expenditure on Australian and foreign drama titles in 2018/19 totalled $261 million, down 8% on 2017/18, but 6% above the five-year average ($246 million). Expenditure on foreign titles undertaking PDV without shooting here totalled $91 million in 2018/19, down 14% on 2017/18 ($104 million) and 11% below the five year average ($102 million). Driving the result was PDV spend of $153 million on Australian titles, down 12% on 2017/18’s nine-year high, but 18% above the five-year average.

PDV expenditure on foreign shoot titles for 2018/19 totalled a very healthy $16 million, up 152% on 2017/18 and 24% above the five-year-average.

Services to Australian productions accounted for 53% of all PDV spend over the last 5 years. Australian titles generating PDV expenditure in 2018/19 include Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway, Dirt Music, I Am Woman, Judy and Punch, Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan and Ride Like a Girl.

PDV EXPENDITURE BY STATENSW accounted for the majority (53%) of PDV expenditure in the five years from 2014/15 to 2018/19, representing an average of $131 million annually. Across the five years, businesses in the state provided PDV services to local and international features such as Peter Rabbit, Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway, Captain Marvel, Judy and Punch, I Am Woman, Outlaw King, Skyscraper, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Deepwater Horizon, The LEGO® Movie 2: The Second Part, The LEGO® Batman Movie and The LEGO® Ninjago Movie.

Victorian businesses accounted for 30% of total PDV expenditure over the last five years, representing an average of $75 million annually. PDV projects undertaken in the state in the last five years include Men in Black: International, Spider-Man: Far From Home, It: Chapter Two, Ride Like a Girl, The True History of the Kelly Gang, Tomb Raider, Christopher Robin, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Mary Magdalene.

The remainder of PDV work over the period was spread across South Australia (11%; $26 million), Queensland (5%; $11 million) and the remaining states and territories (1 per cent; $3 million). Titles undertaking PDV in South Australia since 2014/15 include Captain Marvel, Cats, Ford v Ferrari, Storm Boy, Pine Gap, I Am Mother, Animal World, Tomb Raider, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, The Nightingale, Hotel Mumbai, Logan and X-Men: Apocalypse. Queensland projects include the Australian titles Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan, Harrow series 2, In Like Flynn, Bluey series 1, Winchester, the US features A-X-L and Underworld: Blood Wars, and US series Philip K Dick’s Electric Dreams, Powers series 2 and Underground series 2.

Australian Foreign

TotalDomestic

Co-

production

Total

Australian

Shot in

AustraliaPDV only

Features ($m)

2014/15 84 1 86 8 87 180

2015/16 58 2 61 1 94 156

2016/17 47 5 52 29 119 200

2017/18 106 7 113 6 101 221

2018/19 73 7 81 12 88 181

5-yr av 74 5 78 11 98 187

TV drama* ($m) *NB: online titles included from 2016/17

2014/15 28 3 32 1 1 33

2015/16 38 9 48 1 10 59

2016/17 44 2 46 3 7 56

2017/18 59 2 61 0 3 64

2018/19 71 2 73 4 3 80

5-yr av 48 4 52 2 5 58

Total ($m)

2014/15 113 5 117 9 87 213

2015/16 97 12 108 2 104 215

2016/17 91 7 98 32 125 256

2017/18 165 9 174 6 104 284

2018/19 144 9 153 16 91 261

5-yr av 122 8 130 13 102 246

% share 50% 3% 53% 5% 42% 100%

NSW VIC QLD SA WA, ACT, NT, TAS

Total

2014/15 120 68 5 20 1 213

2015/16 123 61 9 19 2 215

2016/17 149 77 9 16 3 256

2017/18 159 70 19 35 2 284

2018/19 104 96 15 40 6 261

5-yr av 131 75 11 26 3 246

% share 53% 30% 5% 11% 1% 100%

Notes: Figures may not total exactly due to rounding.

Australian PDV expenditure on features, TV drama and online ($m)

Expenditure from Australian PDV work on features, TV drama and online by state ($m)

28

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

130

140

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19

Spen

d ($

m)

No.

of t

itles

Spend ($m) No. of titles

91

125

104

FOCUS ON FOREIGN PDV-ONLY EXPENDITUREExpenditure on foreign titles undertaking PDV without shooting here totalled $91 million in 2018/19, down 14% on 2017/18 ($104 million) and 11% below the five year average. 41 titles contributed to this result, including six TV dramas with combined spend of $3 million.

Amongst the titles undertaking PDV-only work in 2018/19, Australian PDV companies contributed to BIOS, Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), Cats, FenShen Trilogy, It: Chapter Two, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Jumanji: The Next Level, Jungle Cruise, Men in Black: International, Spider-Man: Far From Home and Terminator: Dark Fate. Work also continued or was completed on projects commencing in previous years such as Captain Marvel and The LEGO® Movie 2: The Second Part.

87

Several factors contributed to PDV-only spend and PDV businesses remaining strong. The Australian dollar continued to fall across the year to at or below $0.70, which helped attract foreign work. In addition, PDV businesses in NSW and Queensland welcomed the introduction of 10% PDV rebates. Victoria and South Australia also offer incentives that complement the 30% Federal PDV Offset. Additionally, the Australian Government announced that television series and mini-series for online streaming platforms are now eligible for the PDV Offset.

Animal Logic continued to thrive with the launch of the Animal Logic Artist in Residence pilot initiative, in partnership with Create NSW, whilst Animal Logic Entertainment and Imagine Entertainment announced four original animated and live-action hybrid projects out of their recent joint venture. In addition, the achievements of Rising Sun Pictures were again recognised with Managing Director Tony Clark presented with the 2018 Pearcey National Entrepreneur Award at the ACS Digital Disruptors Awards.

Global confidence in Australia’s PDV sector was further reflected with the opening of French global entertainment company Technicolor’s Mill Film VFX Studio in Adelaide, along with the announcement that Disney-owned VFX giant Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) will open a studio in NSW, only the third studio it has opened outside of North America.

19

29

104

3941 41

It: Chaper Two

1 Expenditure has been apportioned across the year or years in which it was spent.

Apportioned expenditure on foreign PDV-only titles ($m)1

5-yr average ($)

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

130

140

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 201718 2018/19

Spen

d ($

m)

No.

of t

itles

Spend ($m) No. of titles

29


FOREIGN PDV-ONLY BY REGION, 2010/11 – 2018/19US productions represent the largest proportion of international PDV work undertaken by Australian businesses on feature film and TV drama projects, accounting for more than 78% of titles and 81% of expenditure since 2010/11. PDV services to Asian productions represent 11% of titles but only around 6% of total spend.

X-Men: Dark Phoenix

Spend by Region ($m) 2010/11 - 2018/19

100

80

60

40

20

0

% of titles by region % of expenditure by region

US US/Other Asia Other

78%81%

11%

6%

9%13%

2% <1%

No. of titles % of titles % of expenditure1

US 125 78% 81%

Asia 18 11% 6%

US/Other 14 9% 13%

Other 4 2% <1%

Total 161 100% 100%

1 A project’s total spend in Australia.

30

S H O W C A S E

Spider-Man: Far From Home (Rising Sun Pictures)Rising Sun Pictures delivered more than 100 visual effects shots for Columbia Pictures’ and Marvel Studios’ superhero epic Spider-Man: Far From Home.

PDV work included a holographic sequence where Quentin Beck tells Nick Fury and Spider-Man of the danger posed by the Elementals, four creatures from a parallel universe able to control the Earth’s elements. To illustrate the Elementals’ emergence from black holes, RSP artists balanced scientific theories with depictions of the phenomena in previous Marvel films, along with audience expectations. Similarly, images showing the Elementals’ link to Earth’s past were created using reference from ancient statues, totems, artefacts and deities. The sequence ends with Beck’s planet being consumed in fire.

The hologram is projected from a large table with Beck, Fury and Spider-Man standing alongside. In many shots, the actors can be seen behind and through the holographic display. For this, RSP used volumetric renders to make the imagery appear to hang in space. As the table was essentially a lightbox that lit the faces of the actors, RSP had to remove the light, dim or add layers so that it conformed to changes in the hologram. The hologram also had to align with holographic systems depicted in other Marvel films while adding something interesting and new.

RSP did extensive work on a scene set in front of a massive fireplace in an old building in Venice that involved split screens and clean-up. For a night-time scene with Peter Parker looking out at the city of Prague, the team created a CG character of Mysterio flying and added a digital urban landscape.

RSP also worked on a scene where Fury surprises Peter Parker while he is brushing his teeth. They integrated a tranquilizer dart that Fury uses to quiet Ned, as well as several holograms that Fury watches on a portable display.

31


S H O W C A S E

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (Method Studios)

Following a successful experience on John Wick Chapter 2 in 2016, a team of 70 artists at Melbourne’s Method Studios reunited with director Chad Stahelski on John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.

Led by VFX Supervisor Glenn Melenhorst, Method was responsible for enhancing several of the film’s epic fight sequences, and in total contributed around 400 VFX shots over six months. For the film’s impressive knife shop fight scene, Method modelled each item using reference photography and tracked and accounted for every knife, broken cabinet, shard of glass and digital reflection.

Another sequence sees John Wick fighting his enemies in a stable full of horses and concludes with him on horseback pursued down a city street by men on motorcycles. Method worked to remove real world elements such as safety rigging and

barricades and added elements such as CG cars. They also re-built the road as CG and re-created the scene in 3D to reflect back into the wet CG road.

Melenhorst’s team also helped to realise Columbia Pictures’ Men in Black: International, working on extra-terrestrial characters such as Pawny and feather-headed thug Luca, and the creation of Riza’s third arm. Building and animating Luca was a technical and artistic challenge, requiring the actor’s facial subtleties to be extracted and matched correctly on the alien’s CG face. In order to remap the actor’s clothing onto a larger body type, Method used a 2D projection approach, with occasional full CG replacement. The team was also responsible for the powerful black hole gun and the resulting Grand Canyon-esque crater that it leaves in the Sahara when fired.

Other Method projects include IT: Chapter 2 where the team led by VFX Supervisor Josh Simmonds helped create some of the film’s most twisted moments, including Stanley’s spider head, a vengeful Paul Bunyan statue come to life, the collapse of Pennywise’s underground sewer hideout and Neibolt house.

32

S H O W C A S E

Dora and the Lost City of Gold (Mill Film)Technicolor’s Mill Film, one of Australia’s newest VFX companies, is off to a great start, collaborating with Paramount Pictures, Paramount Players and Nickelodeon Movies on the first live action version of Dora and the Lost City of Gold, which recently filmed on the Gold Coast.

Mill Film helped bring to life many of the film’s most memorable scenes, from the opening homage to the Dora the Explorer series, to the epilogue’s montage of animation shots, with PDV work ranging from character and creature animation, to set extensions and jungle and water FX.

As a tribute to the original series, the first to feature an animated Latina character in a leading role, director James Bobin integrated classic 2D animation style into his real world version. The Mill Film animation team worked to balance both real world and animated character traits, giving characters like Boots and Swiper more squash-and-stretch capabilities, or enabling them to walk on two feet, 2D animation qualities which harken back to the original cartoon.

Dora’s best friend and confidant, Boots, looks like a real life monkey but required slightly more anthropomorphic mannerisms in order to retain the cheeky, childlike quality of the

original character. The three prongs of hair on the back of his head were often used to help showcase his mood – sagging a little when sad and springing upright when happy or attentive. Similarly, the film’s aesthetics needed to allow Dora to interact with the sneaky mask-wearing fox, Swiper, without ever having the audience miss a beat.

While all the CG characters behave like animals, the team worked to ensure they also had individual personalities, attitudes and backstories, along with a point of view and level of awareness which would allow Mill Film to bring Dora’s real-world cartoons to life.

33


PDV SERVICES: ABOUT THE PDV DATACompanies identified by Screen Australia as providing PDV services to feature film and TV drama projects report income earned on individual projects to Screen Australia through an online survey, with data aggregated for publication.

Total PDV expenditure is determined by adding foreign PDV-only income to PDV expenditure for domestic and shoot titles. To allow for easier referencing in this report, income from PDV-only projects has been referred to as expenditure.

PDV is defined as a set of activities rather than a stage in the production process (see ‘Key terms’ on page 4).

To provide a sense of the ongoing business activity of PDV companies in a given financial year (rather than according to an annual slate of productions or titles), expenditure has been assigned to the year it was spent rather than allocated to the start of the shoot or PDV work in Australia. As a result, the figures in this section may include projects that commenced shooting or PDV work in previous financial years and cannot be compared with figures in previous sections of the report, which are based on principal photography or PDV start date.

PDV expenditure figures include predicted spend on titles still undertaking work and are therefore subject to revision in subsequent years as final figures are made available.

This data relates only to feature film, TV drama and online drama titles and therefore does not cover all PDV activity in Australia. The most recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicates that Australian companies received income of $428.4 million in 2015/16 from the provision of PDV services across all audiovisual production, with 58 per cent accounted for by feature films and TV drama. Other areas of PDV activity include commercials and other TV productions.

Spider-Man: Far From Home

34

Titles in the 18/19 slate

AUSTRALIAN FEATURES - DOMESTIC

Title Production CompanyPremiered as of Oct 2019?

SA Funded

2067 We Are Arcadia Pty Ltd, Kojo Pictures, Futurism Studios N Y

Babyteeth Whitefalk Films Pty Ltd N Y

Below Good Thing Productions Company Pty Ltd N Y

Bilched Bilched Productions Pty Ltd Y N

Black Water: Abyss BW2 Abyss Films Pty Ltd N N

Combat Wombat Like A Photon Creative Pty Ltd N Y

H is for Happiness Happiness Film Productions Pty Ltd N Y

Hearts and Bones Night Kitchen Productions Pty Ltd N Y

High Ground High Ground Pictures Pty Ltd N Y

I Am Woman Goalpost Pictures Australia Pty Ltd N Y

I Met a Girl Monsoon Pictures Australia Pty Ltd, I Met A Girl Production Pty Ltd N Y

June Again See Pictures Pty Limited, Ticket To Ride Pty Ltd N Y

Lone Wolf Lone Wolf Cohort Pty Ltd N Y

Loveland Bunya Productions Pty Ltd N N

Measure for Measure Toothless Pictures Pty Ltd, Roar Digital N Y

Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears

Every Cloud Productions Pty Ltd N Y

Never Too Late Chainbreakers Productions Pty Ltd N Y

Occupation: Rainfall Quirky Mama Productions Pty Ltd N N

Paper Champions Exile Entertainment Pty Ltd, Paperless Films N N

Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway Olive Bridge Entertainment, Animal Logic N N

RAMS WBG Pty Ltd N Y

Relic Carver Films Pty Ltd N Y

Smoke Between Trees Sensation Philosophy Films N N

The Blood of God Davo Hardy Productions N N

The Dry Made Up Stories Pty Ltd, The Dry Film Production Pty Ltd N Y

The Very Excellent Mr. Dundee

Clock Sounds Productions N N

The Wishmas Tree Like A Photon Creative Pty Ltd N Y

True History of the Kelly Gang Porchlight Films Pty Ltd N Y

Two Heads Creek Two Heads Creek Holdings Pty Ltd N N

Unsound Wise Goat Productions Pty Ltd N N

AUSTRALIAN FEATURES - OFFICIAL CO-PRODUCTIONS

Title Production CompanyPremiered as of Oct 2019?

SA Funded

Buckley's Chance (Australia/Canada) BC Film Productions Pty Ltd, Dingo Productions Inc N N

Dirt Music (Australia/UK) Pelgo (Dirt Music) Pty Limited, Wildgaze Films (Dirt Music) Limited N Y

Escape from Pretoria (Australia/UK) Arclight Films Pty Limited N N

35


FOREIGN FEATURES

Title Production Company

Apaharan - The Chase Begins UTC Australia

Chinatown Cannon 2 Chang Ying Entertainment Australia

Dora and the Lost City of Gold Paramount Pictures, Walden Media, Media Rights Capital, Nickelodeon Movies, Burr! Productions

Godzilla vs Kong Legendary Entertainment

Monster Problems Paramount Pictures, eOne, Paramount Players, 21 Laps Entertainment

Prem Bondhon Baz Productions

Saba's Wedding SGT Productions

FOREIGN FEATURES - PDV-ONLY


BIOS Amblin Entertainment, ImageMovers, Dutch Angle, Misher Film

Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)

DC Entertainment, LuckyChap Entertainment, Clubhouse Pictures, Kroll & Co Entertainment

Cats Amblin Entertainment, Working Title Films, Monumental Pictures, The Really Useful Group

Downhill Fox Searchlight, Likely Story, Filmhaus Films

FengShen Trilogy Beijing Culture

Ford v Ferrari Twentieth Century Fox, Chernin Entertainment

Godzilla: King of the Monsters Warner Bros, Legendary Entertainment, Toho Company, Wanda Qingdao Studios

Heavens: The Boy and His Robot Richmanclub Studios

It: Chapter Two New Line Cinema, Katzsmith Productions, Lin Pictures, Vertigo Entertainment, Rideback

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum Lionsgate, Summit Entertainment, Thunder Road Pictures, 87Eleven

Jojo Rabbit Fox Searchlight, Defender Films, Piki Films, Czech Anglo Productions

Jumanji: The Next Level Sony Pictures Entertainment, Seven Bucks Productions, Matt Tolmach Productions, Hartbeat Productions

Jungle Cruise Walt Disney Productions, Seven Bucks Productions, Flynn Picture Company, Davis Entertainment Company, Zaftig Films

Men in Black: International Sony Pictures Entertainment, Columbia Pictures, Amblin Entertainment, Tencent Pictures, Parkes+MacDonald Image Nation, The Hideaway Entertainment

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

Walt Disney Pictures, The Mark Gordon Company

Skyfire Meridian Entertainment, Base FX

Spider-Man: Far From Home Columbia Pictures, Marvel Studios, Pascal Pictures

Terminator: Dark Fate Paramount Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Skydance Media, Tencent Pictures, Lightstorm Entertainment

The King Porchlight Films, Plan B, Blue Tongue Films, Netflix, Pioneer Stilking Films

Turandot Dongyang Hua’er Film & TV Co.

What Men Want Paramount Players, BET Films, Will Packer Productions

36

AUSTRALIAN TV DRAMA - DOMESTIC - SERIES/SERIALS

Title Production CompanyFirst release broadcaster

Premiered as of Oct 2019?

SA Funded

Black Comedy series 4 Scarlett Pictures Pty Limited ABC N N

Diary of an Uber Driver Revlover Films Pty Ltd ABC Y N

Fam TimeSeven Studios Pty Limited, Fam Time Productions Pty Ltd

Seven N N

Get Krack!n series 2Katering Productions Pty Ltd, Guesswork Television Pty Ltd

ABC Y Y

Home and Away series 32 Seven Network Operations Limited Seven Y N

How To Stay Married series 1 Hell And High Waters Holdings Pty Ltd 10 Y Y

Kinne Tonight Big Yellow Taxi Productions Pty Ltd 10 Y N

Mr Inbetween series 2Blue Tongue Films, Jungle Entertainment Pty Ltd

FX Network Y N

Mr. Black Cordell Jigsaw Productions Pty Ltd 10 Y Y

Neighbours series 36 FremantleMedia Australia 10 Y N

Rostered On series 2Ruby Entertainment Pty. Ltd., Robot Army Productions Pty Ltd

Seven Y Y

Short Blacks Initiative 2018 Various ABC N Y

Squinters series 2Jungle Entertainment Pty Ltd, Squinters Season 2 Pty Ltd

ABC Y Y

The End The End Productions Pty Ltd Foxtel N N

The Letdown series 2 TLD2 Pty Ltd ABC Y Y

Upright Lingo Pictures Pty Ltd Foxtel N Y

Utopia series 4 Utopia TV Pty Ltd ABC Y N

The Letdown

37


AUSTRALIAN TV DRAMA – DOMESTIC – MINI-SERIES



SA Funded

Bad MothersJungle Entertainment Pty Ltd, Bad Mothers Pty Ltd, Bad Mothers Holdings Pty Ltd

Nine Y Y

Between Two WorldsBTW Productions Pty Ltd, Seven Network Operations Limited

Seven N N

Doctor Doctor series 4 Easy Tiger Productions Pty Ltd Nine N N

Five Bedrooms series 1 Hoodlum 10 Y Y

FrayedGuesswork Television Pty Ltd, Merman Television

ABC Y N

Glitch series 3 Matchbox Pictures Pty Ltd ABC Y N

Harrow series 2 Hoodlum ABC Y N

Hungry Ghosts Matchbox Productions Pty Ltd SBS N Y

Les Norton Roadshow Rough Diamond ABC Y Y

Ms Fisher's MODern Murder Mysteries Every Cloud Productions Pty Ltd Seven Y Y

My Life is Murder Cordell Jigsaw Zapruder 10 Y Y

Playing for Keeps series 2 Screentime Pty Ltd 10 Y N

Reckoning Playmaker Media Pty Ltd AXN N N

SeachangeEvery Cloud Productions Pty Ltd, ITV Studios Australia Pty Ltd, Seachange Reimagined Season 1 Pty Ltd

Nine Y Y

Secret Bridesmaids' BusinessSeven Studios Pty Limited, SBB Productions Pty Ltd

Seven Y N

Stateless Matchbox Productions Pty Ltd ABC N Y

The Hunting Closer Productions Pty Ltd, CP The Hunt Pty Ltd SBS Y Y

The Secrets She Keeps Lingo Pictures Pty Ltd 10 N Y

Total Control Blackfella Films Pty Ltd ABC Y Y

AUSTRALIAN TV DRAMA – DOMESTIC – TELEMOVIES



SA Funded

Dark Place Noble Savage Pictures Pty Ltd ABC N Y

38

AUSTRALIAN TV DRAMA – DOMESTIC – CHILDREN’S



SA Funded

100% Wolf (working title) Flying Bark Productions ABC N Y

Alice Miranda Friends Forever SLR Productions Pty Ltd Nine N Y

Bluey series 2 Ludo Studio Pty Ltd ABC N Y

DumbotzBlue Rocket Productions Pty Ltd, Beyond Productions Pty Ltd

Nine Y N

Hardball Northern Pictures Pty Ltd ABC Y Y

Itch Komixx Entertainment Pty Ltd ABC N Y

Kitty Is Not a Cat series 2 Bogan Entertainment Solutions Pty Ltd Seven N N

Little J & Big Cuz series 2 Ned Lander Media Pty Limited NITV N Y

Monster Beach Bogan Entertainment Solutions Pty Ltd Foxtel N N

Mustangs FC series 2Matchbox Productions Pty Ltd, Mustangs Two Pty Ltd

ABC Y Y

Random & Whacky series 2 Ambience Entertainment Pty Limited 10 Y N

The Inbestigators Gristmill Pty Ltd ABC Y Y

The UnlistedThe Unlisted Holding Pty Limited, The Unlisted Production SPV Pty Limited

ABC Y Y

AUSTRALIAN TV DRAMA – CO-PRODUCTIONS – CHILDREN’S



SA Funded

Alien TV (Australia/Canada) Pop Family Entertainment Nine N N

Drop Dead Weird series 2 (Australia/Ireland) Ambience Entertainment Pty Limited Seven N N

The Inbestigators

39


AUSTRALIAN ONLINE DRAMA SERIES

Title Production companyOnline streaming service

Premiered as of Oct 2019

SA funded

Australia's Best Street Racer One Stone Pictures Pty Ltd YouTube Y Y

Beached Aziversary Robot Army Productions Pty Ltd YouTube Y Y

Bloom series 1 Playmaker Media Pty Ltd Stan Y Y

Bondi SlayerCobran Road Productions Pty Ltd, Toybox Films Pty Ltd

YouTube N Y

Carpark Clubbing Bistro Pty Ltd ABC iview N N

Cloudy River unko Pty Ltd TBD N Y

Content Ludo Studio Pty Ltd ABC iview Y Y

Glennridge Secondary CollegeAunty Donna Pty Ltd, Dirty Puppet, Haven’t You Done Well Productions Pty Ltd

YouTube Y Y

Halal Gurls In-Between Pictures Pty Ltd ABC iview N N

Internment Ruby Entertainment Pty Ltd YouTube Y Y

KGB Mad Kids Pty Ltd ABC iview Y Y

Lah Lah's Stripy Sock Club Lah-Lah Productions Pty Ltd ABC iview Y Y

Meta Runner Glitch Productions Pty Ltd YouTube Y Y

Mining Boom Thirsty Head Productions Pty LtdFacebook / YouTube

Y Y

Nightwalkers Fideo Films Pty Ltd ABC iview N N

Over and Out Midwinter Films Pty Ltd YouTube Y Y

Phi and Me Phi And Me TV Pty Ltd YouTube Y Y

Robbie HoodLudo Studio Pty Ltd, Since1788 Productions Pty Ltd

SBS on Demand

Y Y

Sarah's ChannelYellow Creative Management Pty Ltd, Sarah’s Channel Pty Ltd

ABC iview Y Y

The Drop Off series 2 Kiss & Go Productions Pty Ltd YouTube Y Y

The GloamingSweet Potato Films Pty Ltd, The Two Jons Pty Ltd

Stan N Y

The Listies Work for Peanuts Bob Pictures Pty Ltd YouTube N Y

The Nevernight Chronicles Ares Films Pty Ltd YouTube N Y

The Other Guy series 2 Aquarius Films Pty Ltd, Wooden Horse Pty Ltd Stan N Y

YouTube Famous Not So Famous Productions Pty Ltd YouTube N Y

40

AUSTRALIAN ONLINE SINGLE-EPISODE PROGRAMS

Title Production CompanyOnline streaming service


SA Funded

Lucy and DiC We Made A Thing StudiosFacebook / YouTube

Y Y

No Activity: The Night Before ChristmasJungle Entertainment Pty Ltd, No Activity Christmas Pty Ltd

Stan Y Y

AUSTRALIAN ONLINE DRAMA – CO-PRODUCTIONS

Title Production CompanyOnline streaming service


SA funded

The New Legends of Monkey series 2 Monkey 2 Productions Pty Ltd Netflix N N

FOREIGN TV DRAMA


If Time Flows Back 57 Films, Ciwen Media Co.

Nirasha Osmo Creations

Preacher series 4 Sony Pictures Television (US), Playmaker Media Pty Ltd

Reef Break ABC Studios International, Wild Poppy Entertainment

FOREIGN TV DRAMA: PDV ONLY


For China, From China The LEGO® Group

The Fix ABC Studios, Mandeville Films, Happier in Hollywood

Messiah Lightworks Media, Industry Entertainment

Watchmen DC Comics, HBO

Why Women Kill CBS Television, Imagine Entertainment

Note: TBD = To be determined Screen Australia funded titles – excludes titles that receive development funding only.

41


Sarah’s Channel

42

Changes Titles made prior to 2016/17 Titles made from 2016/17 onwards

Total duration required for inclusion in the Drama Report

60 minutes in total 30 minutes in total – to accommodate a growing number of short-form drama series, particularly comedy.

Online drama Titles made for either a subscription VOD platform or ABC iview were counted as TV drama.

Projects were excluded if they were

• exclusively released on dedicated websites

• exclusively released on online platforms such as YouTube or Vimeo

• only available via transactional services such as iTunes.

Online drama according to this report encompasses single-episode or series programs with total durations of 30 minutes or more that have premiered in Australia online. Broadly speaking they cover titles released via:

• SVOD (e.g. Stan)

• BVOD (e.g. ABC iview)

• AVOD (e.g. YouTube)

• TVOD (e.g. iTunes).

Titles that have a simultaneous TV broadcast and online release have been accounted for as TV drama.

Screen Australia acknowledges it is not possible to account for all titles made for and released online.

Methodology

Faster internet access, advanced screen options and international competition are changing audience behaviour and content production and distribution. In 2017, Screen Australia revised the methodology of the Drama Report to ensure it measured new forms of drama. The following methodology changes were made and it is advised that these be taken into consideration when undertaking any analysis of time-series data sets:

y Compiled by Screen Australia using data collected in the administration of the Producer Offset, and incorporating production data gathered by the Strategic Policy and Industry Insights Unit through contact with production companies and from publicly available sources. PDV data is gathered through surveying PDV companies.

y The following federal and state government funding agencies provided data on titles they have funded and, in the case of state agencies, titles shot and/or post-produced in their state: Screen Australia (including the former Film Finance Corporation Australia and the Australian Film Commission), Screen NSW, Film Victoria, South Australian Film Corporation, Screen Queensland, ScreenWest, Screen Tasmania, Screen ACT and Screen Territory.

y In some cases, estimates have been made where data was not available.

y Foreign projects are included in the report when a substantial amount is shot in Australia or when PDV work is undertaken in Australia. Foreign shoot figures exclude those titles that spend less than 10% of their total budgets in Australia.

y Features with budgets under $500,000 are only included if they have had a cinema release or screening at a major festival. These titles are often added to the relevant production year data within future Drama Reports.

y Spend in Australia may include some expenditure on foreign production elements – for example, fees for non-Australian actors or other individuals while working in Australia. Likewise, spend in a particular state may include fees for elements from outside the state such as foreign or interstate cast or crew.

y When analysing sources of finance, the ABC and SBS are categorised as screen industry, rather than as government sources. This reflects industry perception of the public broadcasters as part of the broadcast sector rather than government screen agencies. In addition to the federal, state and territory screen agencies, government sources may include direct finance from other government agencies and departments, including the Australian Children’s Television Foundation and the Adelaide and Melbourne Film Festival Funds.

y Funding figures from government agencies may not correlate with the figures in this report because this report includes projects according to the start date of principal photography rather than contract dates.

43


y Contributions to TV drama by broadcasters in this report do not correlate with expenditure reported by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) in the Program Expenditure Information (PEI) or Broadcasting Financial Results (BFR). This report analyses finance sources in place at the start of production while the PEI reports expenditure by the commercial free-to-air broadcasters on screened programs during the year, and includes amortisation costs for programs purchased in previous years and programs purchased after completion. For subscription television, ACMA reports annual expenditure by drama channels on ‘eligible Australian drama’, including licence fees, production expenses and limited pre-production costs. Expenditure on features may be apportioned across financial years. For both free-to-air and subscription television, the ACMA figures can include expenditure on New Zealand programs, following the ‘Australian content’ definition.

y Sketch comedy programs are included in line with ACMA’s definition of TV drama under the Australian Content Standard.

y In categorising titles as either mini-series or series, Screen Australia has followed the definitions set out in Division 10BA of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936.

y Series of, or related, telemovies are counted as individual titles, as set out in a broadcaster’s licence agreement.

y Data is updated on an ongoing basis, with the result that some discrepancies with previously published reports may appear. The discrepancies reflect new information or adjustments to methodology.

y Total budgets, amount spent in Australia and finance sources reflect data available at the time of production and may change as titles near completion.

y Figures may not total exactly due to rounding.

y Release strategies for titles reflect information available to Screen Australia at the time of publication.

y Screen Australia-funded designation reflects information as at October 2019.

Robbie Hood

44

Documents

Screen Australia Drama Report · 7 The Drama Report 2018/19 | Screen Australia PRODUCTION TRENDS Notes: 1. Australian includes both domestic and Official Co-production titles 2. Foreign