Screen Producers Australia (SPA) today welcomed news that the Location Incentive has created value and employment opportunities for Australians, and noted that even greater economic and cultural upside is there for the taking from investment in local stories, local businesses and local creatives.
“International production certainly has had a ‘moment’ here in Australia over the last 18 months, with significant Government investment and a temporary period in which Australia was one of the safest production locations in a world hit hard by the pandemic,”
– said SPA CEO Matt Deaner.
“There are obvious economic and employment benefits for thousands of Australians when this work decides to make Australia it’s temporary home. However, what’s missing from this picture is the investment made by our nation through other complimentary financial support and that invested over many years through education and funding institutions and businesses to create a work force and infrastructure capable of providing a home for these productions. This then is but one part of the ecosystem in which the longer term business, economic, employment, creative and cultural upsides are exclusively drawn from investment in truly Australian stories – as opposed to an international production, which is usually a Hollywood production, steered from overseas and transplanted into Australia with our locations standing in for other countries,”
– said Deaner.
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“The production of local stories, by local businesses, starring and driven by local talent, creates significant gains in employment and creative output, and importantly, creates a long-tail of value when local production businesses can retain and monetise the IP in the stories they create. This long-tail is not available from inbound productions, where most economic value is taken offshore.”
“Investment in local stories also creates a lasting cultural legacy on top of the economic benefits, that leaves us and future generations with connection to our national identity, shared history and common future, that is unique to and reason for local screen production underpinning our industry,”
– said Deaner.
“This underlines the importance of getting the settings right for optimising truly local content. Significant further cultural and economic value would be unlocked through a 20% local content safeguard on large, popular streaming services.”
A requirement that streaming platforms spend 20% of their local revenue on Australian content is estimated to deliver 10,000 additional jobs, over $360 million a year in investment, resulting in over 300 hours of content.
This must be bolstered by protections for vulnerable content, such as children’s content, and a set of safeguards to protect local SMEs when they negotiate deals with large, often global, streaming platforms.
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