Manufacturing expenditure on Australian scripted content material reached an all-time excessive of A$2.29BN ($1.47BN) within the 2021-2022 interval to June, in response to Display Australia’s annual drama report, with a file A$1.51BN ($977M) spent on Australian titles and A$777M ($503M) on international productions.
General, A$2.29BN ($1.47BN) was spent throughout 162 productions that began manufacturing or post-production in Australia in the course of the interval, in comparison with A$1.94BN ($1.25BN) spent throughout 163 productions in 2020/21.
The report stated the rise was pushed by a file spend on Australian theatrical options – A$786M ($508M) up from A$495M ($320M) final yr – in addition to a file spend on Australian subscription TV and SVOD titles, for which manufacturing quantity has tripled in comparison with the earlier yr.
Nevertheless, spend on international productions capturing in Australia dropped by 44% from its file excessive within the earlier yr to A$442M ($286M), though the report famous this determine was nonetheless 19% above the five-year common. Inbound productions in the course of the interval embrace Joe vs Carole, Nautilus and second seasons of La Brea and Younger Rock.
Spend on international Publish, Digital and Visible results work (PDV) hit a brand new file of A$335M ($217M), up 22% from the earlier yr, with titles together with Borderlands and Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile.
Australia’s Location Incentive grant program is scheduled to run till 2026/27, and supported six international dramas within the 2021/22 interval. Elevated PDV-only exercise was supported by the Australian authorities’s 30% PDV Offset.
Display Australia CEO Graeme Mason stated: “Hitting nicely over the $2BN mark is an unbelievable milestone for our sector, and it’s actually a bumper yr for Australian scripted content material – to have native productions make up 66% of this spend is extraordinary. Distinctly Australian tales proceed to captivate audiences right here and abroad, with Heartbreak Excessive reaching the highest 10 on worldwide Netflix charts, and reveals from Bluey to Bump taking the world by storm.”
Spend on Australian options reached a file A$786M ($508M) in the course of the interval, a rise of 59% on the earlier yr, although the general variety of productions declined, as funding was targeted on bigger-budget titles akin to George Miller’s Furiosa, Robbie Williams biopic Higher Man and Garth Davis sci-fi thriller Foe. Most tasks have been made for over A$5M ($3.2M), whereas the variety of titles made for underneath A$1m ($647,000) continued to say no.
“It’s no secret that the content material panorama throughout movie, tv and on-line has modified and viewing habits are regularly evolving,” stated Mason. “That is most evident within the discount in movies being produced for theatrical launch, the shift in drama spend from tv to on-line platforms, and the rising spend on premium drama.”
Spend on Australian drama produced for subscription TV and SVOD companies elevated to a file A$445M ($288M)throughout 29 titles, in comparison with A$119M ($77M) throughout simply 9 titles the earlier yr. Manufacturing elevated throughout most platforms, together with Stan, which had seven titles, together with Unhealthy Behaviour and Bump seasons 2 and three, whereas Netflix, Amazon Prime and Paramount+ every had 4 Australian titles enter manufacturing.
Spend throughout tv and streaming tasks as a complete additionally elevated – almost doubling to A$655M ($424M) throughout 62 tasks. However reflecting developments globally, spend on free-to-air and BVOD (broadcaster video on demand) has been in regular decline since 2000/01, when 715 hours of common drama was produced for free-to-air TV. This yr, simply 278 hours have been generated, though spend was up barely by 8% to A$208M ($135M) in comparison with the earlier yr.
