Screen Australia will shortly begin a recruitment process for a new CEO, after Graeme Mason announced to staff today he will leave the agency in November at the end of his second term.
When he departs, Mason will have led Screen Australia for 10 years, steering it through a period of significant sector change, including the introduction of free-to-air multichannels, video-on-demand and the launch of international of streaming services in Australia, as well as the impacts of COVID-19 and changes to the Producer Offset legislation.
He has also had to contend with significant cuts to the agency’s funding. In 2014 and 2015, the Abbott and Turnbull governments cut funding three times in 18 months – $37.6 million at the 2014-15 budget, $3.6 million in the 2015-16 budget, and $10.3 million in the 2015-16 MYEFO. At the 2020-21 budget, the former Morrison government gave Screen Australia an additional $30 million over two years.
Along with intense change, Mason’s tenure has also coincided with a period of intense growth for the sector, with Screen Australia’s recent Drama Report showing a record $2.29 billion was spent on scripted in Australia in 2021-22, including a record $1.5 million on local production.
Mason arrived at Screen Australia in 2013 from the New Zealand Film Commission, where he had also been CEO. He was picked from more than 250 candidates because of his international experience, and a background that covered production, distribution, sales and acquisitions for US studios and in the UK. His previous roles include senior vice president at Polygram Filmed Entertainment, president of worldwide acquisitions at Universal Studios, and head of media projects and later, managing director of rights at Channel 4.
While at the agency, Mason has been a vocal advocate for creatives to be adaptable, and to think globally and about pathways to audience. On the latter, a frequent refrain has been that smaller, independent films have become more difficult to finance and distribute theatrically, not just in Australia but worldwide. While he has repeatedly insisted the agency remains committed to film – and his tenure has coincided with the two highest grossing years for local film at the box office, 2015 and 2021 – he has often posed a variant on the following: “Is it really for cinemas? Just because you want it to be isn’t enough.”
He has also strongly championed online content creators and the potential audience reach afforded by new platforms, seeing Screen Australia launch initiatives with YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram. Further, while Screen Australia had to cease its games funding in 2014 after budget cuts, it last year restored it via Games: Expansion Pack, aimed at supporting local independent game studios increase the quality of their digital games and help them transition into businesses of scale.
Mason has also been outspoken on many occasions about bad dealmaking. Most recently, he told the Screen Forever conference in 2022 he was terrified of the deals some producers were being strong-armed into taking; ones that only two years ago the agency would have “laughed out of the room”, and five years ago he would have thought existed only in “fantasy land”.
Under Mason’s leadership, Screen Australia launched the landmark Gender Matters program in 2015, aimed at redressing marked gender inequity in key creative roles. Today, more than half the producers, writers and directors Screen Australia funds are women.
The executive’s tenure also included the launch of milestone study Seeing Ourselves in 2016, which provided baseline data on diversity on screen in Australian television. There will be a follow up report released later this year. He has also supported the First Nations department through some of its biggest years, including the local and international success of the Mystery Road franchise and Warwick Thornton’s Sweet Country.
Mason also led the commissioning and launch of the Screen Currency report in 2016, which examined the cultural and economic value of Australia’s screen industry.
“It has been a great privilege to have been in this role providing support, encouragement and assistance to so many amazing Australian content creators,” Mason said.
“The screen sector is one of Australia’s best success stories. It is unparalleled in its cultural influence here and reflecting Australia globally. It is a phenomenal business and economic driver, and it is fuelled by an extraordinarily large group of dedicated hard working talented people.
“I am delighted that I got to come home to Australia to take on this role. I look forward to the year ahead celebrating the wealth of local screen content and assisting Screen Australia and the screen sector going forward.”