Antony I. Ginnane will stand down as Screen Producers Association of Australia president when his three-year stint ends this year.
It is understood that former Film Finance Corporation chief executive and current SPAA feature film councillor Brian Rosen is favourite to be elected to the position on September 22.
Ginnane said his decision to not seek re-election was prompted by the SPAA tradition that the president does not stand for more than three years, as well as to ensure that policy is continuously refreshed through new leadership.
"I have been a proud member of SPAA since 1978. It has been a strong and effective advocate of our industry during that time and I know it will continue to be so going forward," he said in a statement.
Ginnane took a market-driven approach during his SPAA leadership, encouraging filmmakers to create more popular films, with the aim of eventually doubling the Australian share of the box office to about 10 per cent.
He said he will continue to promote SPAA’s Producer Distributor Film Fund (PDFF) proposal, which aims to increase the number of films in the $7 – $30 million range and boost Australian audience numbers, as a non-exclusive executive consultant over the next 12 months.
The PDFF was a key initiative during Ginnane's tenure. Over the past three years SPAA also signed terms of trade with the ABC, the AWG, and has made progress on agreements with the AFFA, ATPA and ATRRA.
SPAA also successfully lobbied to halve the qualifying threshold on the Producer Offset for feature films to $500,000 and has worked with Ausfilm to enhance the Location and PDV Incentives.
SPAA executive director Geoff Brown said Ginnane has made an enormous contribution to SPAA over the past three years.
"His energy, intelligence and drive have helped mould the SPAA agenda and policy program," he said in a statement. "Tony is respected in Canberra for his effective advocacy of the PDFF and other SPAA causes. He is very passionate about the industry and is one of the few truly colourful characters left in Australian cinema. Tony is also a good friend of mine and he has been very supportive of all the SPAA staff. I wish him well and say thanks.”