It is a blow to the 2012 crop of Australian films that the Inside Film (IF) Awards have been put on ice for a year, given the media interest generated, but organisers say they are genuine in their aim of trying to rejuvenate the annual event.
A difficult economic climate, competition for sponsorship and lack of funding options in NSW were the principal official reasons given for the decision, but the move is not just about funding issues according to IF Group General Manager Mark Kuban.
“I think all media awards have to factor in changes in audience consumption if they are going to stay relevant,” he said. “The awards require a lot of effort, especially managing stakeholder expectations and return on investment, and not just in monetary terms. Holding off for a year will enable us to sit down and look at them strategically.”
The Intermedia Group, a medium-sized Sydney-based publisher that owns both the IF Awards and IF Magazine, is one of those stakeholders of an event that bills itself as the people’s choice awards.
“We're fortunate that we have access to a significant audience of 600,000 people through our other print and digital assets, including nearly 30 magazines, and we need to examine how we can engage with those people,” said Kuban. “We contacted them all about last year’s awards and have a lot of traction there.”
He is particularly pondering ways of leveraging off the 40,000 people who have registered on the IF Awards website, receive the IF Awards newsletter and attend films six to 13 times per year. “Avid filmgoers,” he calls them.
Changing the style of the broadcast event and/or broadcasting the awards online will be considered, as will different ways of seeking out voters. Perhaps it is no longer relevant, for example, to focus so much on festivals now that there are 180,000 people voting.
Growing voter numbers is directing the accolades to more mainstream films, perhaps necessitating the introduction of a category for specialist titles, and also raises questions around how to balance the needs of the viewing public with the needs of the industry.
“The format has hardly changed since the awards were established 13 years ago although since we acquired them in 2006 we have made them slicker and pushed the IF brand into middle Australia,” said Kuban.
“We get amazing coverage that we believe is worth $8-9 million dollars to the film industry. One of the biggest challenges is knowing that no one format is perfect.”
Intermedia also holds awards for the liquor industry, and for the hotel and accommodation sector.