Australian

Documentary Industry

Overview

Funding for documentary in Australia is largely subsidised by government and spread across state and national funding bodies, broadcasters and the government supported production house Film Australia. A few facts and figures help to put the documentary funding landscape in context. These figures are drawn from the published report titled ‘The Future of Documentaries in Australia: Coming, Ready or Not’ produced by Content Strategies Pty Ltd and commissioned by SADC (SPAA/ASDA Documentary Council) in 2005.

The Australian documentary sector turns over approximately $50 million per year and represents 3% of total Australian audio visual content production. This is low compared to other countries. By contrast the international market for documentary/ factual programming is approximately $5 billion per year and growing at around 5% per year, largely driven by the expansion of subscription television services across the globe and especially into new markets like India and China.

The Documentary production spend in Australia from all sources is less than A$3 per person, compared to A$9.22 per person in New Zealand and A$11.93 in Canada. The AFC’s 2005 Documentary Report reflects a 23% reduction in federal government funding in real terms over the past eight years.

Documentary budgets vary enormously from unfunded and self financed productions to big budget international co-productions and series that can cost over a million dollars. The Australian Film Commission researches and publishes data that illustrates the level of film and television production in Australia, detailing the proportional government spend on documentary, how it is defined and what percentage of the total expenditure it represents. See Get the Picture online at the website link below.

Ninety-three per cent of the single documentary titles made by production companies over the last ten years cost less than $500K with half costing under $200K.
For series, budgets vary with the number of hours produced, but on average 46 per cent of titles were made for less than $500,000, and 26 per cent for more than $1 million. Average cost per broadcast hour for series has ranged from a high of $282,000 in 1998/99 to a low of $110,000 in 1997/98. See www.afc.gov.au for facts and figures on documentary spending and production figures.

For information on employment data, production activity and fees see www.afc.gov.au

The National Film Funding agencies

The Film Finance Corporation Australia Limited (FFC)

The FFC is the principal funding government agency in Australia. It funds production of film and television. To visit the FFC website go to www.ffc.gov.au

The Australian Film Commission (AFC)
The AFC operates under the Commonwealth Film Program (Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts) to ensure the creation, availability and preservation of Australian screen content. The National Film and Sound Archive has been part of the AFC since 1 July 2003. The Archive is where many documentary filmmakers go to research for and access archival footage.
www.afc.gov.au

Refer to the AFC’s hyperlink below for other resources on documentary: www.afc.gov.au

Film Australia
Film Australia’s mission is to create an audio-visual record of Australian life, through the commissioning, distribution and management of documentaries that deal with matters of national interest or illustrate and interpret aspects of Australian life.
www.filmaust.gov.au

State Funding agencies

There are film and television offices in each state which play a pivotal role in developing production in each state.

New South Wales Film & Television Office (FTO).
The FTO plays a critical development role for the NSW film and TV industry and has a number of programs of assistance including project development, production investment, a young filmmakers fund, and support for industry & audience development. www.fto.nsw.gov.au

Film Victoria (Film VIC)
Film Victoria provides strategic leadership and assistance to the film, television and digital media sectors of Victoria. For more information see film.vic.gov.au

South Australia Film Corporation (SAFC)
The vision of the SAFC is to create a sophisticated, dynamic film and television industry and community that prospers in a rapidly changing world and which makes a significant contribution to South Australia’s cultural and economic well being. www.safilm.com.au

Screenwest (WA)
ScreenWest is Western Australia's film funding and development agency dedicated to the growth and promotion of film and television activity in this State. It aims to provide leadership, support and services to advance Western Australia as an internationally recognised centre for screen production. www.screenwest.com.au

Northern Territory Film Office (NTFO)
Based in Alice Springs the Northern Territory Film Office has been established to develop the NT film, television and new media industry. Its key role is to develop and support the local film industry, attract production to the Territory and celebrate an active screen culture. www.nt.gov.au

Pacific Film and Television Commission (PFTC)
The Queensland Government's Pacific Film and Television Commission facilitates and celebrates quality film and television production in Queensland.

Screen Tasmania
Screen Tasmania is the State Government agency responsible for supporting and developing the state’s film, television and multimedia industries by increasing the amount of independent screen production occurring in Tasmania.
www.screen.tas.gov.au

Each agency has its own set of guidelines and priorities for the documentary sector with relatively small annual budgets that are unable to meet the demands of a vibrant and inspired industry.

In almost every set of guidelines in order to gain production funding the filmmaker must have procured a television pre-sale. ABC and SBS, the public broadcasters, have a quota to fill in order to support local production. There are agreements in place between the broadcasters and funding agencies that enable financing to be spread across government agencies. Film Australia also has a significant development and production budget that extends to distribution and marketing. The commercial networks rarely pre-buy documentaries although there are particular documentary genres they are more prepared to finance such as series. There are very small amounts of finance possible from a couple of the pay television stations.

Although all the funding agencies agree in principle to the potential of financing documentaries that have not been successful in attracting a television pre-sale if they can prove an audience, the reality is that to justify government expenditure the television broadcast offers the largest audience. For this reason broadcast is privileged over other kinds of outreach.

Documentary Australia is encouraging government agencies to partner with private grantmakers in financing documentaries that can illustrate that there is a shared target audience and a plan for community and educational outreach in the absence of a television broadcast. Below are statements of endorsement from each funding agency.