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The Kennedy Miller Method: a Half-Century of Australian Screen Production

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The Kennedy Miller Method: a Half-Century of Australian Screen Production The Kennedy Miller Method: A Half-Century of Australian Screen Production A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy James Robert Douglas BA(Hon) – The University of Melbourne GradDip – The University of Melbourne School of Media and Communication College of Design and Social Context RMIT University October 2019 i Candidate Declaration I certify that except where due acknowledgement has been made, the work is that of the author alone; the work has not been submitted previously, in whole or in part, to qualify for any other academic award; the content of the thesis is the result of work which has been carried out since the official commencement date of the approved research program; any editorial work, paid or unpaid, carried out by a third party is acknowledged; and, ethics procedures and guidelines have been followed. I acknowledge the support I have received for my research through the provision of an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship. I also certify that elements of Chapter 2 have previously been published as: Douglas, James. “Leaving home: Kennedy Miller in Melbourne.” Senses of Cinema 85 (December 2017): 1-1, http://sensesofcinema.com/2017/screening- melbourne/kennedy-miller-in-melbourne/. James Douglas October 25, 2019 ii Acknowledgements I would like to express sincere gratitude to my supervisors Associate Professor Adrian Danks and Dr. Stephen Gaunson for their advice and support throughout my candidature, and to Dr. Ramon Lobato for helping to guide my project in its concluding stages. Thank you to Senior Curator Gayle Lake, Senior Collection Reference Officer Siobhan Dee, and Collection Reference Officer Sean Bridgeman at the National Film and Sound Archive for granting me access to invaluable archival materials. Thank you to Alex Gionfriddo, Olympia Barron, and Cathie Gilliam, librarians at the AFI Research Collection at RMIT, for helping me to access the essential resources held there. Thanks also to my proofreader and copyeditor Mel Campbell. And final thanks to my partner Ella Bendrups, for her patience and understanding. iii Abstract ...................................................................................................................... 6 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 7 Overview .............................................................................................................................. 7 Background to the Study ..................................................................................................... 8 Overview of Kennedy Miller ............................................................................................. 9 Locating Kennedy Miller in the Screen Production Landscape ..................................... 12 Understanding Historical Conditions for Production Firms in Australia ......................... 16 Key Arguments of the Thesis ............................................................................................ 21 Examining Conditions of Sustainability in Australian Production Firms ......................... 22 Understanding Corporate Authorship Over Screen Production ..................................... 28 Negotiating National Identity in the Categorisation of Australian Production Firms ...... 34 Design of the Study ........................................................................................................... 38 Production House Research in Media Industry Studies ................................................ 39 Research Methods ........................................................................................................ 45 Summary ........................................................................................................................... 52 Structure ............................................................................................................................ 52 Chapter 1: Literature Review .................................................................................. 55 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 55 Iconoclastic Reputation ..................................................................................................... 57 Accounts of Method of Production ..................................................................................... 61 Discourses of Authorship ................................................................................................... 67 House Style ....................................................................................................................... 71 Style and National Identity ................................................................................................. 76 Summary ........................................................................................................................... 81 Chapter 2: 1970s—Developing the Kennedy Miller Method ................................ 83 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 83 Miller and Kennedy Before Kennedy Miller—Dragsters and St Vincent’s Revue Film ...... 84 Emerging sensibility in Violence in the Cinema, Part 1, Frieze: An Underground Film, and The Devil in Evening Dress ............................................................................................... 95 Moving toward a method—Mad Max ............................................................................... 104 Development and Pre-Production ............................................................................... 104 Financing ..................................................................................................................... 107 Production ................................................................................................................... 111 “The kind of filmmakers we are”—Mad Max’s aftermath ................................................. 115 Chapter 3: 1980s—The Method Enters Maturity ................................................. 120 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 120 Conditions for Growth—Mad Max 2 and Twilight Zone: The Movie ................................ 121 New Procedures of Collaboration .................................................................................... 130 Innovation—The Dismissal .......................................................................................... 132 Repetition—Bodyline ................................................................................................... 137 Stability—The Cowra Breakout ................................................................................... 143 Closer Ties with Hollywood—Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, The Witches of Eastwick, and Dead Calm ................................................................................................................ 148 Continuous Production—Vietnam, The Festival of Australian Films, Sportz Crazy, The Dirtwater Dynasty, and Bangkok Hilton ........................................................................... 157 Chapter 4: 1990s—Redefining the Method ......................................................... 167 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 167 End of an Era—Flirting and Lorenzo’s Oil ....................................................................... 168 A New Direction—Babe ................................................................................................... 176 iv Developing National Responsibilities—Video Fool for Love and 40,000 Years of Dreaming ......................................................................................................................................... 185 Commitment to International and Offshore Production—Babe: Pig in the City ............... 191 Chapter 5: 2000s to 2010s—New Means, Old Methods ..................................... 202 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 202 The Studio Game—Happy Feet ...................................................................................... 203 “We have a talent drain”—Justice League Mortal ........................................................... 213 “The same game”—Dr. D Studios and Happy Feet Two ................................................. 219 Going Forward By Turning Back—Mad Max: Fury Road and after ................................. 226 Chapter 6: Analysing Kennedy Miller as a Success Case ................................. 235 Organisational Culture in Successful Production Firms .................................................. 237 Understanding How Organisational Culture Contributes to Success in Screen Production Firms ......................................................................................................... 237 Kennedy Miller’s Organisational Culture: Family Resemblances with Other Successful Firms ............................................................................................................................ 240 Internal Integration ..................................................................................................
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