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The end... but the story continues

Despite the doom merchants, the apparently ailing Australian film industry has cause for optimism, writes Garry Maddox.

FOR all its creativity and red carpet glamour, film is a notoriously fickle business. Some years, the Australian industry is flying high after producing a Muriel's Wedding, Shine, Lantana or Moulin Rouge. Other years, a string of creative and commercial disappointments such as Thunderstruck and Under the Radar lead to handwringing and anxious calls for change.

The past fortnight seems to have delivered nothing but bad news for the film industry. And there are even questions about whether the word "industry" is appropriate any more.

First, a production survey revealed a severe slump - down from an average of 28 films being made a year to just 15. Then came news that almost two-thirds of the Australian releases in the past five years have taken less than a feeble $1 million at the box office.

Capping it off, the president of the Screen Producers Association, Stephen Smith, declared the industry was "stuffed".

Smith said the problem was the structure of financing rather than the filmmakers' skills or the stories they chose. He described a damaging cycle, based around producers working for a fee rather than any profits from their films. To get that fee, they rushed projects into production before scripts were ready or the right actors or directors were available. When these rushed films failed at the box office, the producers needed a fee again so they rushed another film into production.

Smith argued for more financial support for producers, describing them - rather than directors or screenwriters - as the driving force behind every film. He floated a model to attract private investment for producers developing a slate of projects.

Not everyone agrees the patient's condition is so disastrous. Longtime distributor Alan Finney rejected the diagnosis. "Yes, there has been a disappointing period for two years. In 1967-68, when we were all trying to get an Australian film industry established, I would have celebrated the fact that we've had probably eight failures. You mean we've managed to make eight films? Yes!"

Finney believes expectations for success are too high and audiences are being discouraged by the doom-and-gloom debate. "Over the last couple of years, eight out of 10 films from Hollywood haven't worked. There are [many] who would argue that true British films haven't worked for a number of years [as opposed to Hollywood-backed ones]. It's a tough business."

One of the country's leading film bureaucrats, Brian Rosen, also rejected the diagnosis. But he cautioned that "business" was the wrong term for film even in Hollywood. It was all about "crazy ideas" and the creative and driven people behind them.

"It's backing people that have a dream and have a vision and you believe have the capability to bring that to the screen," he says.

As head of the Film Finance Corporation, the Federal Government agency which invests in production, Rosen has been trying to revitalise the industry by having films assessed on their creative merits as well as their financing. This landmark change to the deal-driven system operating since the scaling back of tax concessions in the late 1980s has backed two films so far: Lantana director Ray Lawrence's Jindabyne and Head On director Ana Kokkinos's The Book of Revelation.

"It's about trying to get Australian films that have a potential to reach an audience," Rosen says. He believes that failure of imagination is also a problem, declaring at the Sydney Film Festival that audiences did not want "a continuing procession of cliched, outdated and stereotypical characters that are somehow seen as quintessentially Australian".

At the Screen Producers Association's annual conference on the Gold Coast this week, Rosen said the country needed more distinctive films that were counter-programming to Hollywood rather than trying to copy or compete.

Another leading bureaucrat, Kim Dalton, holds that the industry is going through a cyclical downturn. "Some good films came out last year," says the chief executive of the Australian Film Commission, the federal agency that supports development, film culture and policy.

"Some very good films are coming out this year. Look at a film like Somersault. I think it will do well at the box office."

While the downturn in film and television drama production was cause for serious concern, Dalton said there was still plenty of talent around. To do better, the industry needed more finance from both the government and private sector.

Getting either will be a challenge. Arguing for more government funding at a time of consistent creative disappointment is an unenviable task. And, as one conference speaker said, the private sector thinks of film as a four-letter word.

In the three financial years, private investment in films has fallen from $28.9 million to $10.1 million. This decline followed the demise of the Film Licensed Investment Company scheme that had only limited success backing projects.

Dalton believes the only way to attract more private investment is through more attractive tax incentives. His agency counterpart, Rosen, said the Federal Government should be approached after the election to get behind funding for a $500 million industry comprising film, television drama and documentary production.

Last financial year, film and TV drama production was worth $588 million only by including $249 million worth of employment-creating American movies, including the next Star Wars instalment and the upcoming Stealth.

Dalton sees value in extra funding for the sort of "low-budget, high-risk' films his agency used to back, including Romper Stomper and Proof. Other measures to recognise the industry's problems had already been introduced, including extra funds for producers to develop projects.

"We've reduced the number of scripts we're funding and we've increased the amount we're spending per project that is developed," he said.

Around the two industry events on the Gold Coast this week - the producers conference and the Australian International Movie Convention - other suggestions were floated to improve the patient's condition.

More focus on driven filmmakers rather than people wanting a glamorous career; more intensive script workshops; more diverse subjects; bigger budgets; more recognition that "mavericks" often produce our best films; more films looking towards international audiences; fewer rushed international co-productions.

Some pointed to undeniable successes, such as the Oscar recognition for the short filmmakers Steve Pasvolsky and Adam Elliot, the quality of training at film schools and the continued inspiration from leading directors such as Peter Weir with Master and Commander and George Miller, who is making the animated film Happy Feet in Sydney.

But even the enthusiasts were downbeat about many of the films reaching cinemas, especially the comedies that have attracted so much critical damnation and so few ticket buyers. Talks kept returning to the difficulty of producing hits now that the industry is making only about 15 mostly low- and medium-budget films a year.

One of the most imaginative ideas for improving things came from Alan Finney: the country's distributors could offer free advice on marketing plans and creative concepts for every new Australian release.

"I'd love to do it," he says. "Even if it's being distributed by a competitor, we all care about what happens with Aussie films."

[original article]

Posted by thinkum at August 14, 2004 11:55 AM