Television & Motion Picture

TELEVISION AND MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY

"75.9% of new program launches in Australia from Sept 2002 to April 2003 were foreign. 68.7% or airtime hours were foreign programs." ENCORE Oct 2003.

GLOBAL ACTION (AUSTRALIA) will closely monitor the progress of the FTA (Free Trade Agreement) between Australia and the USA and supports the SPAA (Screen Producers Association of Australia), the ASDA (Australian Screen Directors Association) and the AFC (Australian Film Commission) in their fight to preserve and if possible increase market share for home grown product.

GENERAL COMMENTS

GLOBAL ACTION (AUSTRALIA) believes that enormous commercial and cultural value can be realised from investment in and development of our film and television industry.

In the past, successive governments provided incentives to this dynamic industry and then at the critical moment withdrawn them again. The result has been confusion, instability and no small amount of frustration on the part of investors and the creative people who have careers in this potentially lucrative industry.

GLOBAL ACTION (AUSTRALIA) will not just talk about what it plans to do for the industry, we are passionate and we will do it.

        a. Revamp the entire selection and funding system for Australian films submitted to Government
             funding bodies to cut back wastage on art films and put that public money and effort into hard nosed
             commercial product aimed squarely at world wide markets. (This in no way means art will die.
             It simply means rubbish will not be produced and more people will be employed on serious works with merit
             over the long term)

        b. Removing the commercial film and television industry from the various Arts Ministries and placing it under
             federal and state trade manufacturing and business portfolios to give the industry more clout.
             (Art films and small non commercial training projects will remain under Arts Ministries, but with much
               reduced funding.)

b. Increase the funding to new commercial film and television projects to get viable projects into production
in the shortest possible time.

c. Close co-operation between the film and television industry and government instead of the present resource
wasting "them and us" attitude.

d. More hands on experience for film and television media students and less arty farty theory from people who
have never done it.

e. Clarification and expansion of the present 10ba taxation incentives for investors.

f. Consideration will be given to a form of tariff protection and other methods to protect and nurture worthwhile
Australian product.

g. Incentives to keep Australian talent working in Australia as much as possible while at the same time attracting
overseas capital and some talent.

NOTE# In exchange for additional funding the ABC, SBS and some Access Community Television Channels will act as a major post graduate links for students between formal university training and entry into the world of commercial television. The ABC will thus provide jobs, grooming and field experience to the production crews and talent of tomorrow.

The ABC and SBS will also be encouraged to on sell their copyright product to overseas markets and will retain income thus earned within their budgets for new productions.

NOTE# Global Action Australia is unimpressed with the results of the changeover to digital television. This change should have heralded a giant leap in quality new program content for viewers. Instead we've seen a mass of ancient repeats, bargain basement budget cooking shows and other money spinning, but otherwise brain dead rubbish. This was hardly the intent when these new licenses were offered.