Going Off! Part 2 (Video): Exploring The Australian Film Industry
Welcome to the second episode of Going Off! An Exploration into the current state of Australian Film Industry. Going Off! is a three part series which examines the three major factors of the Australian Film Industry’s main difficulties: Content, Finances and Distribution. With the first part looking at the types of films that are being made, this time I analyse how Australian films are being funded and why.
The intention of this web-series is to highlight the problems that I have personally perceived in the industry, through my own experiences, critical analysis and a ton of research. This is not a damnation on the industry as a whole and it is not intended to be a series of hyperbolic rants saying that stupid statements like “the industry is dead” or that it’s on the brink of failure. It’s not at all. Much like the problems Hollywood is experiencing, the Australian Film Industry is in a weird transitional period, with streaming platforms taking away from the dominance of the silver screen.
In this second part, ‘Prestige & Profits’, I detail how the primary funding models of major Australian titles are quite different to that of international productions, and how the main source of government Financing dictates the types of movies that are being made. Later on, I break down the understated reasons behind what is chosen to get funded, and what role these prestige titles play in the inception and continued perception of the modern Australian cultural image.
It’s been a while since I published the first part of this series, but between attending Melbourne International Film Festival, Adelaide Film Festival and Cinefest Western Australia, the production of the video has been delayed frequently, an extended absence that I’ll make sure doesn’t happen to the third part of this series. In between the months after the first film, we haven’t seen much improvement in things, outside of the international success of the genre film Hounds of Love. Hopefully its success prompts production companies to invest in more genre work, but let’s see the rest of the year play out before we make any broad summaries.
I would love to hear people’s general thoughts on the state of the Australian Film Industry and what they think of the current crop of Australian films that have been released within the past year. Feedback on this first episode was really great, so I’d love your thoughts on this new episode.
Thank you, and I hope you enjoy it!
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