JULY 12

Ausfilm News

Bob McMullan, our Chairman elect takes up his appointment on 1 July 2012. Bob is based in London but will be attending the first 2012/13 Board meeting to be held Melbourne Friday 10/8. As part of this first visit Ausfilm will host member events in Sydney (Wednesday 8/8) and Melbourne (Thursday 9/8). Invitations will be sent closer to the date.

Ausfilm would also like to thank and acknolwedge Alaric McAusland  for his term as Chair of Ausfilm and for extending his term preceding the appointment of the Hon. Bob McMullan. Alaric’s contribution is greatly appreciated by all.

AUSFILM WEBSITE

Ausfilm has just launched a new look website!  The refreshed Ausfilm website is visually impactful drawing on both location images and production stills in order to give a sense of filming in Australia.

Please visit us at: www.ausfilm.com.au

MEAA Location Offset Campaign

The Alliance (MEAA) is campaigning for an increase to the Location Offset to 30 per cent to make Australia a more competitive screen production destination. 

In 2007 The Australian Government introduced the 15 per cent Location Offset (increased to 16.5% in 2011 - 2012 budget ) The Offset is a tax rebate for offshore production aimed to help increase levels of production, assist the development and sustainability of production companies and increase private investment levels in the industry.

Ausfilm Advocacy

Ausfilm has continued its advocacy activity for an increase to the Location Offset to 30%.

It is disappointing that there was no announcement in the 2012/13 budget but Ausfilm greatly appreciates the recognition by the Federal Government of the need to increase the offset with the one-off grant to The Wolverine, which acknowledges the fact that the current level of 16.5% is not working and that refundable tax offset of an extra 13/5% will attract major international production to Australia.

Ausfilm continues to make representations to Parliament of the need to increase the offset, particularly in light of the National Cultural Policy due to be announced later this year.

Ausfilm also acknowledges the support of MEAA on this issue.

Ausfilm International Missions / Events

Ausfilm was recently apart / hosted the following events:

• Australia China Film Industry Forum Beijing – April 2012

• Ausfilm Week London- May 2012

• LA Locations Expo- June 2012

Upcoming Events:

• Ausfilm Week LA - October 24th to October 31st 2012

Screen NSW Launches the Green Screen Resource

Screen NSW recently launched the Green Screen Resource to provide the industry with a comprehensive introduction to sustainability across all aspects of screen production.
The website resource provides environmentally friendly tips and suggestions to guide you from project development to launch; templates; and useful FAQs and links to help you with greening your practices.

Screen NSW would like to thank GreenShoot Pacific for providing the content and wireframe for the Green Screen website resource.

Screen NSW would also like to thank the National Green Screen Committee for their support and commitment to helping the Australian industry achieve more sustainable business practices.

Visit the Green Screen Resource here.

New leadership for film and screen institutions

Arts Minister Simon Crean has announced new key appointments to the boards of the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia and Screen Australia.

National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) board

• Ms Gabrielle Trainor had been appointed as the Chair
• The Hon Michael Lee has been appointed to the Board

Mr Crean thanked Mr Chris Puplick AM for his significant contribution as the first Chair of the NFSA and also thanked outgoing Board member Mr Andrew Pike OAM.

Screen Australia board

• Mr Richard Keddie
• Ms Claudia Karvan

Mr Crean also thanked outgoing Screen Australia board members Mr Robert Connolly and Mr Greg Smith for their contribution to supporting and promoting the development of an innovative and sustainable Australian screen production industry.

Screen Queensland CEO and Board

Queensland Arts Minister Ros Bates recently announced new appointments to the Board of Screen Queensland.

The new board will consist of the following members:

• Geoffrey Cooper (Chair)
• Michael Hawkins
• Jan Grew
• Professor Stuart Cunningham
• Peter Baston
• Kathy McDermott
• John Miller
• Des Power AM
• Kaye Martin

In addition, Brian Lowe has been named as new CEO of Screen Queensland. Mr Lowe has spent more than 30 years in the television, film and media industry in the UK and Australia

Coalition Government Announces Melbourne International Film Festival Funding Boost

Minister for Innovation, Services and Small Business Louise Asher today announced an additional $150,000 in funding for the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) to ensure its venues have up-to-date exhibition equipment for the 2012 festival.

MIFF is a landmark on Melbourne’s events calendar, attracting people to the city day and night, and adding to our reputation as Australia’s most vibrant cultural destination, Ms Asher said. As Australia’s oldest and largest film festival, MIFF is respected locally and globally for the quality and breadth of its programming.

With films now delivered in a variety of formats, the $150,000 funding boost will ensure MIFF has the programming flexibility to show films in different formats across different venues.

Ausfilm will also be taking part in MIFF through sponsorship of MIFF 37th South from August 2nd to 5th.

The Railway Man

The Railway Man on the Gold Coast and Ipswich on in June 2012. The epic true story of a war hero and the woman who matched his courage to reclaim the man she loved is based on Eric Lomax’s bestselling autobiography and has attracted an A-list cast, including Academy Award winners Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman.  The film is directed by Jonathan Teplitzky, who last worked in Queensland on Gettin’ Square, which received 14 AFI Nominations.

The Australia/UK co-production brings together Brisbane-based company Pictures in Paradise and Archer Street Films. The Queensland Government, through Screen Queensland, has been working with the producers on the project since Screen Queensland’s initial development investment in October 2009.

Screen Queensland has invested $700,000 in The Railway Man through its production program.

The Railway Man will be released in Australia through Transmission in 2013. The film is an Australia/UK co-production between Pictures in Paradise and Archer Street, backed by Screen Australia in association with Silver Reel, Screen Queensland, Creative Scotland, Screen NSW and Lionsgate UK. Lionsgate International is handling international sales on the film.

Rising Sun Pictures

Rising Sun Pictures recently celebrated its 17th birthday, having been founded in 1995 by Gail Fuller, Tony Clark and Wayne Lewis.

RSP has contributed visual effects shots a number of films released in 2012, including The Hunger Games, Red Tails, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island and most recently, 123 shots on Ridley Scott's Prometheus.

Currently Rising Sun is working on Alfonso Cuarón's sci-fi thriller Gravity and The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, a comedy starring Steve Carell and Jim Carrey.

More information at www.rsp.com.au

Adelaide Studios receives Dolby Premier Accreditation

South Australian Film Corporation has announced that Adelaide Studios received Dolby Premier Accreditation, making it one of only two studios in Australia with this prestigious certification.

Dolby Premier Accreditation is the gold standard for studios and a measure of technical excellence at every level of the Studio’s operation. Room acoustics, monitoring standards, equipment selection, installation standards, synchronization accuracy, mixing competence and technical experience are all measured and evaluated by a Dolby expert as part of the certification process.

For more information about Adelaide Studios’ Dolby Premier Studio click here

Congratulations to Iloura on the Success of TED!

Iloura recently worked on the box office hit TED.

On it's first weekend out TED made no.1 at the Australian box office. So far TED has taking in Au$23 million and rising!