Press release from SPAA
The Screen Producers Association of Australia (SPAA) has announced that the Honourable Simon Crean, MP, Minister for the Arts and Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government will address delegates on the morning of Thursday, 15 November at 09:30am at Central Pier, Docklands in Melbourne.
Minister Crean has portfolio responsibility for Screen Australia, the National Film and Sound Archive, Australian Film, Television and Radio School, the Australian Children’s Television Foundation and Ausfilm. Minister Crean also has responsibility for the Australian Screen Production Incentive (Producer Offset, Location Offset and PDV Offset) introduced in 2007. The current arrangements for the Producer Offset see eligible Australian productions receive a 40% rebate for qualifying Australian production expenditure on feature films and 20% for television.
In April this year, the Convergence Review made a number of recommendations, including a 40% Producer Offset for high-end local television and a new interactive entertainment tax offset. SPAA together with the Australian screen industry is eagerly awaiting a Government response to the Convergence Review Recommendations as well as the release of the National Cultural Policy.
“SPAA is looking forward to welcoming Minister Crean to our conference this year. This is a critical time for our industry given the Government’s focus on two crucial policy initiatives – the National Cultural Policy and the response to the Convergence Review, both of which will have a major impact on the future of independent Australian content production,” said Geoff Brown, SPAA Executive Director.
A special presentation by Screen Australia’s CEO Ruth Harley will be made at the conference on Tuesday 13 November at 4.00pm, focussing on the impact the Producer Offset has had on the way production companies do business over the last five years.