Screenrights is now offering a new disbursement service for the Australian production industry.
This new service has been established to fill the important role previously offered by Screen Australia and the South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC), who had been providing this service, but are no longer taking on new titles and, in the case of the SAFC, will no longer be active in this area.
Screenrights Chief Executive Simon Lake said: “We have more than 25 years experience distributing royalties to rightsholders in film, and providing this service is a perfect fit for our organisation. It will ease the administrative burden on production companies, letting filmmakers get on with making content for audiences. As a trusted independent organisation with extensive industry knowledge, we are well-positioned to undertake this important role.”
Screen Australia spokesperson Bernadette Rheinberger said: “We are pleased Screenrights is taking on this important function. It is reassuring that the industry will continue to have access to an Australian disbursement service. Screenrights is ideally placed to fill that role given its relationships in the industry over many years and the similarities between its current function and this new business.”
SAFC CEO Richard Harris said: “The SAFC is proud of the contribution its Disbursements Service has provided to the industry since it commenced in 1997. With the handover to Screenrights of those titles managed by the SAFC, we are confident the producers will be in good hands. I take the opportunity to publicly thank long serving SAFC staff member Kevin Hatswell for his unwavering commitment to the SAFC Disbursements Service for which he has won many friends and supporters.
How does the service work?
Producers who sign the Screenrights’ Disbursement Administration Services Agreement (DASA) appoint Screenrights to collect and disburse revenues from the exploitation of marketing rights. Income is paid into an agreed bank account and disbursed in accordance with the schedule of disbursements in the initial production investment agreement (“PIA”). All parties are notified of income received, expenses claimed and disbursements made.
Provision has also been made for transferring titles that have recently been placed with the SAFC or Screen Australia disbursement services.
The service will soon be linked into Screenrights state of the art web portal, MyScreenrights, giving a complete picture of revenue returns.
It will provide:
? A local, responsive service
? Timely and accurate processing of disbursements
? Clear, transparent financial reporting
? 24/7 access to our state of the art web portal to manage revenue
More information can be found at www.screenrights.org/content-owners/disbursement-services or join the Business Class session run by Screen Producers Australia on 24 and 25 September. screenproducersaustralia.org.au/events/