The next instalment in Marvel's 'Thor' franchise, 'Thor: Love and Thunder', helmed by Taika Waititi and set to star Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman, will be filmed at Fox Studios in Sydney.
Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts Paul Fletcher has doubled down on criticism of the ABC for its response to potential local content obligations, but has sympathised with other industry views on the green paper – namely the call for streaming platforms to spend 20 per cent of their local revenue on Australian content.
After several years of screen industry inquiries which went nowhere, the options paper being prepared by Screen Australia and ACMA should set out clear parameters for a regulatory model that safeguards Australian content.
The government's review of local content quotas should result in a funding and regulatory framework that protects Australian stories, voices and jobs, according to Fremantle CEO Chris Oliver-Taylor.
The options paper being drafted by Screen Australia and the Australian Communications and Media Authority should set out funding mechanisms to support film and TV content, particularly for the most vulnerable sector, children's programming, while extending the kids quota to public broadcasters.
The ABC is worried that the government's classification review could result in a new nationwide system that impinges on its independence and would encompass content screened on ABC iview.
The ABC will cut the commissioning of independent production by about $5 million a year from July and rebrand the ABC Comedy channel to encompass genres such as arts, science, education and religion.
The ABC is being pressured by the Federal Government to ask staff to forgo for six months a 2 per cent pay rise which was due to come into effect in October.