Ausfilm, Australia’s film and TV industry services association, celebrates that Screen Australia’s Drama Report confirms Australia’s position as a world-class production destination with a record result for 2020-21.
The total volume of international film and television production in Australia increased by 114% to an all-time high of $1.04 billion in 2020/21. This unprecedented direct foreign investment (FDI) by international entertainment companies is driven by foreign location shooting in Australia and the undertaking of post-production and visual effects with Australian companies. Ausfilm says this impressive investment is a testament to the strength and reputation of Australia’s screen industry and a direct result of the Australian Government’s suite of tax offsets and grants under the Australian Screen Production Incentive program in particular the Location Offset, the Morrison Government’s top up to the Location Incentive grant program of AU$400 million following the pandemic in July 2020, and the Post, Digital & VFX Offset. These globally competitive incentives have allowed our world-class talent, locations and facilities to shine on the world stage.
Under the Location Incentive grant, productions must also secure state or territory government support through production incentives or grants and these are also vital in securing foreign productions to Australia; confirming a solid national screen production attraction commitment by both federal and state governments.
“This is a phenomenal result for Australia’s film and TV services’ businesses, cast and crew and proves the success of the Federal and State incentive programs. This investment illustrates that Australia continues to offer a highly skilled workforce and expert screen sector services and infrastructure. Whilst Australia had low rates of COVID-19 throughout the period and was considered a safe filming location, many of the studios behind these projects had been planning to film in Australia, with some projects confirmed for Australia, prior to the pandemic. Australia is now well placed to continue to build on this momentum to secure an ongoing and consistent pipeline of production which will support sector-wide growth.”
Kate Marks, Ausfilm CEO
“Screen Australia’s annual Drama Report identifies that three foreign feature films and seven foreign TV series and online drama projects commenced filming in Australia in 2020-21 generating foreign investment of AU$793 million in expenditure into the Australian economy. Compare this with AU$318 million on foreign location spend in Australia in the previous year. We can also see a year-on-year investment continuing from international companies into Australia’s Post, Digital and Visual Effects (PDV) industry which attracted a record AU$246 million on 53 PDV-only productions in 2020/21compared to AU$166 million in 19/20. This is highly technical and creative work completed by Australia’s leading PDV companies located across Queensland, NSW, Victoria, WA and South Australia. Whilst the majority of PDV work to date has been VFX packages, we anticipate more international post-production work coming to Australia in the coming year.”
“The global screen sector has been valued at US$177 billion in 2019* and has increased exponentially in recent years – driven by consumer demand for screen content worldwide and the proliferation of online streaming services. The increase to the Australian Government’s Location Incentive combined with the Location Offset and state and territory government support, enables Australia to maximise opportunities for industry expansion, all key drivers to support economic recovery,” said Marks.
Ausfilm says these productions are a critical part of the Australian screen ecosystem and it is Australia’s domestic screen industry of creatives, actors, crew and screen production businesses that benefit directly from this international investment which creates thousands of jobs and training opportunities, expansion of small businesses and the ability for these businesses to grow by innovating their technology and equipment. Indeed, over 2020 and 2021 there has been a marked increase in Australian creative involvement in these foreign productions filming in Australia.
International productions that commenced filming in Australia in 2020/21 include: Thor: Love & Thunder (Marvel Studios); Thirteen Lives (Imagine Entertainment/MGM), La Brea (NBCU); The Tourist (BBC One/Stan); Young Rock Season 1 (NBCU/Matchbox); Escape from Spiderhead (Netflix); Pieces of Her (Netflix); The Wilds Season 2 (Amazon Studios).
Some of the large-scale foreign productions that completed post, sound, music and visual effects work include: The Batman (Warner Bros.), The Boys Season 3 (Amazon Studios), Eternals (Marvel Studios) and Spiderman: No Way Home (Columbia Pictures/Marvel Studios). View the full list here.
The Screen Australia Drama Report was released by the Australian Government agency on 7th December 2021 and can be viewed here.
*Olsberg SPI Global Drama Report here.
BACKGROUND
The Location Offset and Location Incentive grant program is for location filming in Australia and the Post, Digital & VFX Offset is to attract work for Australian post-production, animation, and visual effects studios.
The Location Incentive grant was introduced in 2018 with a fund of AU$540 million with the sole intention of attracting a continuous pipeline of foreign location filming to Australia. To date, under the Location Incentive, the Morrison Government has distributed more than AU$256 million to attract 27 international productions to Australia. This has generated more than AU$1.98 billion in private investment and provided more than 17,400 employment opportunities for local cast and crew. The Incentive has also created work for over 16,000 businesses which have provided support to these international productions.
For a full list of foreign productions attracted to Australia under the Location Incentive program visit here.
MEDIA CONTACT
Rachelle Gibson
Director of Marketing & Industry Partnerships
[email protected]
M: +0402 046 895