Exporting the arts

“Audience thresholds are becoming more unpredictable, but the edgier work will always likely need subsidy of some sort whether it’s government or private,” says Sandra Bender, director of market development at the Australia Council for the Arts. “Some companies are not looking for a profit return, they’re looking at a community engagement. Sometimes there’s commercial outcomes, sometimes there’s not.”

Exporting and the Australian Film Industry
The Australian film industry is an old hand at the export game. Production businesses access international markets via pre-sales because broadcast licence fees in Australia don’t cover the full cost of production—long-running soapie Neighbours is an example of that—but there’s still more the sector could do to work around increased competition and tighter budgets.

Collaboration has been a strong earner, especially in the children’s television market and in animation, says Bethwyn Serow, policy manager at the Screen Producers Association of Australia (SPAA). “Most markets have government subsidies and most countries have concepts of local programming; if you get a co-production treaty classified as local content in both markets you can get a better price for your product, but you have to go through all the hurdles.”

Offshore production, where other countries come here to film or conduct post-production work, is also a fairly strong earner especially as some state governments offer incentives. However, the rising Australian dollar means more competition from countries like South Africa.

Serow believes we’re not capitalising enough on selling formats. “Thank God You’re Here is a format. We haven’t been strong at selling our formats overseas because you need to get them on air here and the free-to-air broadcasters have been buying proven formats from overseas,” she says.

Another trend is the worldwide budget pinch, which is actually an opportunity for Australian exporters to step in. “Once upon a time European producers didn’t need us because they could get 100 percent funding in their domestic market. Now they can’t, so in some ways they’re opening up a lot more for business.”

Then there’s the emerging Asian market with its increasing demand for content. Serow says we need to learn to leave the comfort zone of countries that have production models similar to ours—such as the UK, Canada and France—to foster ties with growing markets like India, Singapore and China, despite the perceived risk. “If we really want to grow our markets we have to understand that there’s risk and how to mitigate that risk.”