Monday 8 October 2018 – Ausfilm welcomed the announcement earlier today by the Prime Minister the Hon. Scott Morrison MP and the Minister for Communications & the Arts, Senator the Hon. Mitch Fifield that the Government has provided financial support under its Location Incentive to secure Legendary Entertainment’s feature film Godzilla vs Kong and Reef Break, a 13 episode series by Disney ABC International Television.
Critical to attracting these two major productions was the Government’s new AUD$140million Location Incentive, a merit assessed grant, delivered over four years from 2019 – 20, which complements the Government’s 16.5 per cent Location Offset and effectively provides up to a 30 per cent tax incentive on eligible productions.
Debra Richards, CEO of Ausfilm, said “Ausfilm celebrates the Government’s decision today, this will be a tremendous boost to the Australian businesses in the industry and helps to secure jobs for Australia’s crews, technicians, cast, studios, VFX and post-production facilities and all the businesses that benefit from large-scale international productions like these. Without the Government’s competitive incentives these productions would have gone elsewhere.”
Debra Richards says the announcement is timely, as Ausfilm, the peak national member organisation representing Australian film and television services’ companies, prepares for its 10th annual Ausfilm Week in Los Angeles. This year Ausfilm celebrates its 20th year and will lead its biggest delegation of over 40 representatives from 28 of Australia’s leading film and television businesses and federal and state government screen agencies to Los Angeles from 21 to 26 October.
Ausfilm Week features a schedule of events and business engagement programs and seminars promoting Australia’s federal and state screen incentives; visual effects and post-production networking; and business introductions between the Australian and US film and TV industries to continue to strengthen international partnerships; with the intent to secure physical production and post and visual effects work to Australia.
“Ausfilm and its membership see first-hand through regular enquiries from the US and other territories including China, that the new Location Incentive demonstrates to the global screen market that the Australian Government has created a positive policy change that says ‘Australia is open for business’. This new incentive helps Australia to attract more foreign productions Down Under. This means Australia can compete globally with territories like Atlanta in the US, Canada, the UK and New Zealand, which have attracted large-scale productions with competitive incentives, that deliver significant direct foreign investment, employ thousands of screen production personnel, grow their domestic screen industry and provide investment into technology and infrastructure.”
Debra Richards says that not only does international production provide jobs for facilities and crews but it also “provides work not just in our screen sector but also across a wide range of other businesses in Australia. It will deliver new sources of revenue and innovation. It also contributes to developing skills and training opportunities of Australia’s crews and technicians in businesses like sound, music and post-production or visual effects. It is a major development opportunity for creative Australian screen talent and will ensure our film and television industry grows in size and expertise like Canada and the UK.”
Read the Government’s Press Release here.
MEDIA ENQUIRIES
Rachelle Gibson
Director of Marketing & Industry Partnerships, Ausfilm
T: + 61 2 9383 4124 E: [email protected]
ADDITIONAL RESEARCH
Ausfilm’s recent research, in partnership with PriceWaterhouseCoopers, on The Value of Global Footloose Production* documents the trends and policy measures that shows Australia is not alone, footloose production has delivered positive economic growth in every jurisdiction studied.
* To download Ausfilm’s Report on The Value of Global Footloose Production click here.