“I agree about not rushing into production until your script is pitch perfect but the agencies must recognise that unless you have Enterprise support (I never have), there is almost no support for producers to do this,” Maslin tells IF.
Screen Australia CEO Graeme Mason says it is incumbent to consider how the Producer Offset can be further evolved.
Foxtel has proposed stripping away Screen Australia’s funding for drama and documentary and using the money to cover the costs of raising the Location and TV Producer Offsets.
The Department of Communications and the Arts, Screen Australia and the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) have launched a consultation paper inviting industry input towards the Australian and Children’s Screen Content Review.
To be specifically reviewed are the mechanisms that support Australian drama, documentary and children’s content, and the Australian Screen Production Incentive.
PwC report finds more than $103 million in economic activity would be created if the tax offset for Australian television production was equalised with the film industry offset.
Screen Producers Australia is calling on government, opposition and the minor parties to develop a holistic arts and communications screen policy ahead of the next election.
The decision by a number of recent productions to appoint foreign cinematographers has caused a wave of consternation across the local industry.