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South Australian Film-Makers' Perspectives on Policies

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South Australian Film-Makers' Perspectives on Policies SOUTH AUSTRALIAN FILM-MAKERS’ PERSPECTIVES ON POLICIES: STATE AND FEDERAL FILM POLICIES AND THE REPRESENTATION OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN AUSTRALIAN FILMS BY LINH CHUNG Thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Philosophy Faculty of Arts in the Discipline of Media The University of Adelaide July 2019 Contents ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ v DECLARATION .......................................................................................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................ vii ACRONYMS ............................................................................................................ viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION.............................................................................. 9 1.1 South Australian film industry and South Australian film-makers ................ 10 1.2 Budget cuts to the screen industry and arts industry ................................... 11 1.3 Defining cultural diversity in Australia .......................................................... 11 1.4 Aims and objectives .................................................................................... 17 1.5 Approach ..................................................................................................... 17 1.6 Significance ................................................................................................. 18 1.7 Thesis outline .............................................................................................. 19 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................. 22 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 22 2.2 The creative and cultural industries in Australia .......................................... 23 2.2.1 A national film industry in Australia ....................................................... 23 2.2.2 An evolving cultural remit ...................................................................... 26 2.2.3 Culture and the cultural and creative industries .................................... 27 2.2.4 Australian creative industries ................................................................ 30 2.2.5 South Australian creative industries ..................................................... 31 2.3 Diversity definitions re-examined and their significance .............................. 38 2.4 Representations of cultural diversity in Australian films .............................. 39 2.5 Digital tools, technology and film ................................................................. 40 2.5.1 Crowdfunding ....................................................................................... 40 Page i of 153 2.5.2 Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 .............................................................................. 44 2.5.3 Media convergence .............................................................................. 46 2.5.3 Diverse cultural representation in crowdfunded films ........................... 49 2.6 Conclusion .................................................................................................. 52 CHAPTER 3 METHODS ..................................................................................... 53 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 53 3.2 Data collection ............................................................................................. 54 3.2.1 Part 1: Document collection .................................................................. 54 3.2.2 Part 2: Interview data collection ............................................................ 57 3.3 Methodology for achieving the aims of the research: .................................. 58 3.3.1 Purposive sampling .............................................................................. 58 3.3.2 Interview questions ............................................................................... 59 3.4 Limitations of research method ................................................................... 61 3.4.1 Interview participants ............................................................................ 61 3.5 Conclusion .................................................................................................. 62 CHAPTER 4 DOCUMENT ANALYSIS ................................................................ 64 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 64 4.2 Public film funding in Australia .................................................................... 65 4.2.1 Enabling the arts ................................................................................... 65 4.2.2 History of cultural policy ........................................................................ 65 4.3 Federal, state and territory film funding bodies ........................................... 66 4.3.1 Federal film funding: Screen Australia .................................................. 66 4.3.2 State and territory film funding bodies .................................................. 70 4.3.3 Summary .............................................................................................. 74 4.4 Cultural policy .............................................................................................. 75 4.4.1 Background to Australia’s multicultural policies .................................... 75 4.4.2 Multicultural policy timeline ................................................................... 77 Page ii of 153 4.5 Film policy ................................................................................................... 79 4.5.1 Introduction ........................................................................................... 79 4.5.2 South Australian and federal film funding policies and practices .......... 79 4.5.3 Summary .............................................................................................. 82 4.6 Subsidies, funding and tax incentives ......................................................... 83 4.6.1 Historical background: 10B and 10BA schemes ................................... 83 4.6.2 Film funding policies and criteria: the 13BA test ................................... 84 4.6.3 Summary .............................................................................................. 86 4.7 Table of SAFC-supported films ................................................................... 86 CHAPTER 5 INTERVIEW ANALYSIS ................................................................... 101 5.1 Introduction ............................................................................................... 101 5.2 Cultural policy incentives for the film industry............................................ 101 5.2.1 10BA tax incentive .............................................................................. 101 5.2.2 Producer Offset .................................................................................. 104 5.3 Film funding............................................................................................... 107 5.3.1 Government funding ........................................................................... 107 5.3.2 Crowdfunding ..................................................................................... 110 5.4 Cultural diversity and Australianness ........................................................ 112 5.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................ 117 CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION ................................................................................. 119 6.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 119 6.2 Alternative film funding .............................................................................. 120 6.2.1 Case study 1: The Babadook ............................................................. 120 6.2.2 Case study 2: The Rover .................................................................... 122 6.3 Reflections ................................................................................................ 123 6.4 Findings and recommendations ................................................................ 124 6.5 Further research ........................................................................................ 125 Page iii of 153 REFERENCES ....................................................................................................... 126 Legislation ....................................................................................................... 139 APPENDIXES ........................................................................................................ 140 Appendix A. Tables ............................................................................................. 141 Page iv of 153 ABSTRACT This thesis examines the extent to which the federal and state government cultural and film funding policies have impacted on South Australian film-makers’ capacity to seek funds to produce films that depict cultural diversity. It considers how these policies influence the types of Australian films that received funding. The South Australian and federal government’s film policies have
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