New South Wales Film and Television Office Annual Report 99/00 Mission
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NEW SOUTH WALES FILM AND TELEVISION OFFICE ANNUAL REPORT 99/00 MISSION TO FOSTER AND FACILITATE EXCELLENCE AND GROWTH IN THE FILM AND TELEVISION INDUSTRY IN NEW SOUTH WALES 1 99/00 ANNUAL REPORT THE GODDESS OF 1967 THE MONKEY’S MASK NEW SOUTH WALES FILM AND TELEVISION OFFICE LEVEL 7, 157 LIVERPOOL STREET SYDNEY NSW AUSTRALIA 2000 TELEPHONE 61 2 9264 6400 FACSIMILE 61 2 9264 4388 EMAIL fto@fto.nsw.gov.au WEBSITE www.fto.nsw.gov.au ISSN 1037-0366 NEW SOUTH WALES FILM AND TELEVISION OFFICE 01 The Hon RJ Carr Premier of New South Wales Minister for the Arts and Minister for Citizenship Parliament House Sydney NSW 2000 Dear Premier Pursuant to the provisions of Section 10 of the Annual Reports [Statutory Bodies] Act 1984, we have pleasure in submitting to you the Annual Report of the New South Wales Film and Television Office for the year ended 30 June 2000 for tabling in Parliament in accordance with the provisions of the Act. Yours sincerely Shane Simpson Jane Smith Chair Chief Executive 02 03 CONTENTS PART 01 NEW SOUTH WALES FILM AND TELEVISION OFFICE 04 LETTER FROM THE CHAIR AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE 06 MEMBERS OF THE BOARD 07 ORGANISATIONAL CHART [AS AT 30 JUNE 2000] 08 CHARTER 09 FINANCIAL OVERVIEW PART 02 11 DEVELOPMENT 12 YOUNG FILMMAKERS FUND 15 PROJECT DEVELOPMENT 17 CREATIVE INITIATIVES 19 INDUSTRY & AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT 20 REGIONAL CINEMA INITIATIVES 21 NEW MEDIA INITIATIVES PART 03 23 FINANCE PART 04 27 GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTARY DIVISION PART 05 29 PRODUCTION LIAISON PART 06 33 PROFILE PART 07 35 FTO AS AN ORGANISATION 37 DISTRIBUTION PART 08 38 PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS PART 09 41 FINANCIALS 42 AGENCY STATEMENT 43 AUDITOR GENERAL’S REPORT 44 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS PART 10 57 APPENDICES 75 INDEX 03 LETTER FROM THE CHAIR AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE Dear Premier 99/00 has been a year of considerable achievement for the FTO as we continue to foster talent and innovation to ensure a dynamic film and television industry in NSW. This year, the FTO has been proud to support a number of features that have achieved local and international acclaim. These include Better than Sex, selected as opening night film at the Sydney Film Festival and sold to several international territories at the recent Cannes International Film Festival and Looking for Alibrandi which has proven to be a great success at the Australian box office. The FTO also invested in all four features nominated for Best Picture at the 1999 AFI Awards (Praise, Siam Sunset, Soft Fruit, Two Hands) and the Best Picture nominations at the 2000 Film Critics Circle Awards (Feeling Sexy, Praise, Soft Fruit, Two Hands). A further four years funding for the highly successful Young Filmmakers Fund (YFF) was announced in July, and the fund continues to support an extraordinary selection of strong and dynamic projects. Since the fund’s inception there have been a total of 76 screenings of YFF projects at local festivals, 86 at international festivals and 34 have won awards. A notable success for 99/00 was the selection of YFF documentary Chrissy for the jury prize in the Teddy awards at the 50th Berlin Film Festival. The FTO has been focused on improving the local production environment. The Production Liaison Unit (PLU) has worked hard with filmmakers and government agencies to achieve significant progress in this area. In April the Local Government Amendment (Filming) Bill 2000 was passed in State Parliament. This legislation is the first of its kind in Australia and is designed to streamline the approval process for commercial filming projects on council controlled land. It is of critical importance to filmmakers because it provides a legal framework for applications and approvals specifically designed to accommodate the special needs of the film industry. At the core of the new approach is the ‘filming protocol’, a document which sets down the application and approval processes for filmmakers and councils to follow in striking agreements for location filming. The protocol was developed in partnership with local and state government and the film industry and achieves a balance of all interests. This new, standard and predictable approvals process, to be applied consistently across the State, provides a better environment for the further growth of the industry in NSW. Regional communities are increasingly recognising the benefits of film production to the local economy, and a number of FTO funded productions were filmed in regional NSW including Mullet (Illawarra region), The Goddess of 1967 (Lightning Ridge) and The Farm (Southern Highlands and Western Plains). To further encourage filmmakers to shoot films outside of the Sydney metropolitan region, we are delighted to report that the FTO will administer a Regional Filming Assistance Fund. The Fund will commence operation from January 2001 and will seek to defray transport and accommodation costs for Australian films shooting in regional locations. NSW production levels reached their highest ever with a total of $325 million spent on feature and television drama production compared to $266 million in 98/99 and $289 million in 97/98. Of this, $178 million was from Australian productions, $59 million from co-productions and $88 million from foreign productions. The figures from 99/00 are estimates. Offshore production continues to provide an important contribution to the NSW economy, with big budget productions such as Mission Impossible II and the Star Wars prequels shooting in Fox Studios and other locations around the State. Mission Impossible II in particular has featured Sydney as an exciting, modern city and press articles have forecast that the film will generate an estimated $200 million worth of free publicity for NSW. Improving access to film activities in regional NSW is a key priority for the FTO and the office has been a lead agency in assisting regional communities to consider how they can reintroduce cinema into their towns. The 2nd Regional Cinema Conference, held in December 1999, was coordinated by the office and highlighted issues of concern for regional exhibitors including marketing and programming, access to distributors and working with regional cinema networks. A significant component of the conference program was the examination of distribution problems and the FTO has since been working to develop an effective strategy to resolve this difficult issue for regional operators. Negotiations have commenced with all major distributors to investigate the possibility of developing terms and conditions to address the specific requirements both of volunteer-run and independent cinemas. 04 CHRISSY BETTER THAN SEX ANGST THE FARM The FTO also assisted in organising a regional cinema conference in the north-west of the state at Nundle, south of Tamworth. Nundle runs a successful community cinema for a village of 300 people and this was explored at the conference as a potential model for other similar sized communities. We are delighted that eight communities in the surrounding region have decided to establish a cinema following the conference. A “Survivors Guide” is currently under production to assist people considering starting and operating a regional cinema, and we are pleased to announce the appointment of a Regional Cinema Officer, to commence early in the new financial year. The FTO’s industry and audience development program supports a diverse array of projects, organisations and events which are critical contributors to the healthy development of the industry and can have significant economic benefit as well. For example it has been estimated that Electrofringe, an electronic media festival held in Newcastle in October and supported by the FTO, generated some $320,000 income for the local economy. Digital visual effects are increasingly becoming an essential component of film and television production and this year Australia has achieved international recognition and acclaim for the ground breaking effects produced for the Academy award winning The Matrix. The FTO continues to seed the development of new talent in the digital arena through its innovative Digital Visual FX Traineeship Scheme. Eighteen trainees have so far been awarded placements, four are still completing their traineeships and ten have since been offered full-time employment. Government-sponsored programs produced through the FTO’s Government Documentary Division again won top international awards. This year GDD programs won two golds, five silver, and five certificates for creative excellence or merit in New York and Chicago. Locally a program on the Green and Golden Bellfrog was part of the Olympic Co-ordination Authority’s submission to the 2000 Banksia Awards. The OCA submission won both the 2000 Gold Banskia Award and the Flora and Fauna Award. This year has also seen the completion of most of the outstanding matters following the return of the Australian films from Pepper Distribution. Digital masters have been made of the titles and the settlement monies have now been disbursed to investors. Rights to market the films around the world have been licensed by sales agents who are active in those markets, while Australian and New Zealand rights are to be handled by local distributors who will exploit television, cable and home video sales. The year has not been without its challenges, and internal priorities for the organisation have been the continued improvement of the office’s information and administrative systems as well as the implementation of procedures to deal with Y2K, the introduction of GST, and the 2000 Olympics. The FTO would like to extend its thanks and congratulations to the outgoing Board Members for their valuable contribution throughout the year – to the previous Chair, Kerry Schott and also Jan Chapman and Rachel Perkins. The FTO welcomes the re-appointment of Laurie Pattton as Deputy Chair and the appointment of Glenys Rowe as a Board Member. And finally, the successes of the past year would not have been possible without the continued hard work and dedication of the staff of the FTO.