Web hosting Custom Email SiteBuilder

I thought I'd start with a quote from the Variety International Film Guide: "We live in fear of the Government forgeting there's a diffence between a film industry in Australia and an Australian film industry." - Robert Connoly, Producer. It's the still rapidly developing film distribution, media, film festivals, cable, network TV and video industries that's given Australians the possibilty to make their own movies. Major film studios are now operating in Australia and many major film and TV productions (read American) are taking place. But apart from a degree of employment increase amongst local technical workers and actors, ultimately this American influence is not good for the development of Australian films.

Sure, its an exciting development to have so many Hollywood films being made so close to us little Australians, but in reality is it any more than a location only, and does it bring Australians the opportunity to be part of the Hollywood hype? In my opinion, it makes it only harder for Australians to make their own films, not easier at all.

Australian cinema today is diverse, imaginative and multicultural. But all Australian films released in any given year are made for the cost of the light-sabre budget for the new Star Wars films. And most films aren't released anywhere but latte sipping festivals where they wear berets and talk about the "common man" and how their film glorifies him.

The Government has a crucial role in ensuring Australians continue to watch and make films. Almost all Australian films are funded at least in part by Government subsidies. Is it the small size of the film industry in Australia due to our small scale of population compared to America that holds us back?

Does everyone really go see the latest Hollywood blockbuster by choice, especially in non-capital cities? Would Australian's (and English and French,..etc) take to and prefer our own films if we only had a real opportunity to do so at a cinema level?

Too many of our films are small, personal and artistic and therefore non-profitable. How many of you have seen more than a handful of new Australian movies in the last year? All the festivals, training workshops and subsidies that exist in Australia don't matter if the film has no chance of being commercial as well.

And the majority of films made for festivals are badly made, indulgent and basically one trick ponies that give the production team a feeling of accomplishment and a credit card debt, and end up in someone's cupboard. There are breakthrough pieces of brilliance, but there is also heaps of shit, too. And we all know, the shit outweighs the brilliant by some considerable degree in movies.

On the topic of the state of film in Australia, film writer Michel Bodey writes in Cinema Papers, "ask the filmmakers about their reality. Glamour or struggle? Ask the Tropfest entrant who spends the next couple of years paying off their film. Ask the internationally known actor who told me he's down to his last $250. And ask producers who won't go near a director who hasn't gone to film school or shot commercially, Tropfest winner or not."

According to Alan Finney, General Manager of Buena Vista International (Australia), one of the worlds biggest film distribution companies, many Australian films are chosen by patriotism and good intentions, and blame market forces when they make $50 at the box office.

Films today are categorised as mainstream or art house or alerternative and films are released this way due to commercial concerns rather than the films own merits. It depends on what factors are involved:- what actors, producers, the size of the budget, if it's based on a book, what pre-sold rights have been sold - all factor into a film's distribution. For every domestic commercial success like Looking For Alibrandi and The Wog Boy there is 20 unsuccessful movies like Dags, Siam Sunset and Erskineville Kings.

Australian box office of all time (all figures in $A)
#2 Crocodile Dundee (1986) $47,700,000
#4 Babe (1995) $36,800,000
#15 Crocodile Dunee II (1988) $24,900,000
#21 Strictly Ballroom (1992) $21,800,000
#46 The Man From Snowy River (1982) $17,300,000
#55 Pricilla Queen Of The Desert (1994) $16,400,000
#58 The Dish (2000) $15,815,000
#59 Muriels Wedding (1994) $15,800,000
#83 Young Einstein (1988) $13,400,000
#97 Gallipoli (1981) $11,700,000
#106 The Wog Boy (2000) $11,205,000
#115 Mad Max II (1981) $10,800,000
#121 The Castle (1996) $10,189,000

Of the worldwide top 380 box office figures, #65 is Crocodile Dundee (1986) with $328,000,000. The only other Australian film is Crocodile Dundee 2 (1988) at #123 with $239,600,000 (all dates accurate at 5th December 2000; http://yeah.to/movies).

Its unfortunate that no other films have made it into this list and in the future Australian films need to be better marketed perhaps and promoted as they cannot succeed on their own merits.

There are dozens of films produced in Australia each year that may not ever be released and it is mainly because of distributors and the audiences view that these films are personal, made for cultural rather than commercial reasons. But given the opportunity many of these films would survive. The film with the largest advertising budget isn't necessarily the best.

Most films are funded though Government programs. The films have to be totally Australian produced and to have distribution setup based on a script only. This ensures that the film is an okay commercial prospect. If a film is made, little money goes to the people involved. It goes back into the fund to fund further features. And if the producers and cast further their career with a successful movie, overseas and private investments are their only options.

The commercial considerations perhaps cannot be changed although it's safe to say that more risks should be taken with Australian films by distributors.

There were 41 films produced in the year 97-98 with a total budget of $246 million. In 1998-9 There were 45 films shot at a cost of $291 million. (afc.gov.au)

These figures include foreign films shot in Australia. This brings up the question of that is there a difference between the film industry in Australia and the Australian film industry. American movies such as Matrix, Pitch Black, Star Wars Episode 2, Mission Impossible 2, Thin Red Line and Dark City are made in Australia and there should be a differentiation in such statistics, because American movies are generally made for $20-$80 million dollars compared to Aussie films which are made to $0.5m-$10m tops.

The total box office in 1999 was 704 m compared to 537m in 1996. Similarity there were 88m cinema admissions in 1999 compared to 73.9m in 1996. So why with a growing number of films being made in Australia with larger budgets, with more cinema admissions and more money being made than ever is Australian films take of the box office lower than ever? In 1996 it was 8% of the box office.

In 1997 it was 5% In 1998 it was 4% And in 1999 it was a pathetic 3% of the total box office takings.

If these trends continue Australian films will make 0% of the box office within a few years, and I cannot answer why this is or what can be done about it.

This article only talks of the Australian film industry. Looking over the rest of the world, the situation is often the same. I believe that the situation is only partly because of the stranglehold the US has on production and distribution of films. The other part is 'cos we just don't try hard enough, or try the right things. Maybe the satuation of entertainment from America just doesn't leave the rest of the world much room to see their own movies. Who, knows. But as viewers, we have to for the health of the movie medium we love so much, ensure that our local films don't always get tossed aside for Hollywood trash. Often is OK. But not always.