Australian Centre for the Moving Image — 20142014Annual Report 2014/2015 20152015– 2014201420142014 –201520152015 Accountable Officer’s Declaration In accordance with the Financial Management Act 1994 I am pleased to present the Report of Operations for the Board of the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) for 2014-15. Katrina Sedgwick Director and Chief Executive Officer 30 June 2015 In accordance with the Victorian Government’s FRD30B Standard Requirements for the Design and Production of agency Annual Reports, this publication has been designed and produced to minimise environmental impacts. Art, Film, & Digital Culture 02 Introduction 05 Highlights 06 From the President and Director 08 Exhibitions & Collections 12 Film Programs 18 Public Programs 28 Digital programs 30 Education Programs 40 Audiences & Brand 42 Development and Partnerships 46 Diversity 48 Commercial and Operations 52 Performance Summary 54 Administrative Reporting Requirements 62 Disclosure Index Introduction In our homes, our workplaces, our ACMI celebrates the moving image in its schools, in our cinemas and in our myriad forms. We’re a major, publicly- pockets, in galleries, theatres and arenas, on large screens and small, the moving funded museum situated in the heart image is everywhere. Spanning popular culture from the everyday to the avant- of Melbourne in Federation Square, garde, the niche to the mainstream – through film & TV and the intimate hosting exhibition spaces, galleries, two portraits we create of ourselves, in games state of the art cinemas, access to our and galleries and every corner of the web, and increasingly across all the arts Collections and archive plus a shop and - screen culture is a fundamental part of our lives and is a dynamic driver of the cafe. Supported by funding through the creative industries locally – and globally. Victorian Government, we have in only a We celebrate, support and explore the past, present and future of the moving decade become the world’s most visited image through a vibrant calendar of paid and free exhibitions, screenings, moving image or film cultural centre. installations and commissions, festivals, workshops, and public & educational programs. 02 ACMI 2014-15 Our Vision Build Our Brand, Extend Our Reach Leverage our Assets To be recognised as the world’s leading - Articulate and strengthen the brand of - Value and engage with our staff museum of the moving image, delivering ACMI across our institution – they are our a bold and multifaceted year-round - Enrich and extend our conversation biggest asset program that is unique, ground breaking with our audience through ground- - Rationalise, preserve and leverage and unmissable. breaking digital strategies our collections delivering an energetic interface to our archive and creating Our Goals - Develop collaborations and partnerships in Australia and around links to the global network of moving Think Wholistically the globe that extend our resources, image collections - Value and leverage all parts of reach and reputation - Reimagine Screen Worlds and the organisation to deliver world- - Create highly visible projects prioritise our permanent galleries as a class programs, celebrating and singular destination interweaving multiple layers of which highlight our curatorial programming distinctiveness– both long-running - Build an ambitious strategy for and one-off audience growth and visibility of our - Build engagement, awareness and cinema programs loyalty to ACMI as an institution for - Be world leaders in moving image education the public, industry, stakeholders and Build Sustainability media - Strengthen our engagement with - Increase self-generated revenue Indigenous and multi-cultural artists - Animate and energise the whole of - Ensure strong environmental and audiences our building performance - Deepen our relationship with the - Adopt a rigorous collection Australian film, television and gaming development strategy for our industries, and be a driver for the Collection broader creative industries sector - Strengthen business systems and capital infrastructure planning and investment ACMI 2014-15 03 Our Values Respect - We respect diversity and difference. Collaboration - We are fair and trustworthy in all of - We work collegially with our our dealings. colleagues inside and outside the organisation with openess and - We are honest and clear with transparency. compassion and empathy. - We foster and value partnerships. Responsibility - We operate wholistically towards a - We take responsibility for problems shared vision for ACMI. and find solutions. - We are accountable for our actions. Innovation - We take creative risks, encourage - We ensure a safe workplace for our experimentation, support new voices staff, colleagues and visitors. and new ideas with energy and commitment. Invitation - We encourage and welcome visitors, artists, filmmakers and colleagues from all walks of life to visit and feel ownership of our Institution. 04 ACMI 2014-15 A year of achievements DreamWorks Animation: The Exhibition commenced its global tour in Singapore at the In another stellar year for ACMI, over 1.1 ArtScience Museum. Locally, with the support million people visited our museum in 2014-15, of Visions Australia, ACMI’s Shaun Tan’s The including 70,000 students and teachers. Lost Thing: From Book to Film began a 12 city With only a few months of our Melbourne tour through regional Australia, which included Winter Masterpieces (MWM) DreamWorks Redcliffe, Rockhampton and Bundaberg in Animation: The Exhibition running at the start Queensland. of the year (2 MWMs ran the previous year), this is an exceptional result and demonstrates Our programs for both industry and the that our core activity – our screenings, public continued to flourish, drawing workshops, talks and live events and our record participation (workshops up by permanent exhibition - is continuing to 130%, talks up by 110%) and in a rapidly build audiences for ACMI. evolving market place our cinema programs bucked the trend growing its audiences by The ACMI curated DreamWorks Animation: 10%. Our commitment to cultural diversity The Exhibition ran from April 10 – October continued also - screening more than 110 26 with total attendances of 220,000 foreign language films from 25 countries. visitors, of which 30% were from interstate or Complemented by our 16 film festival overseas. Yang Fudong: Filmscapes, along partners, ACMI continues to be the home of with our special China Up Close program of film in Melbourne. talks, screenings and workshops attracted new audiences including many members As audiences change their behaviours, of the Chinese community, both local and our social media strategies deepen with international. substantial growth across major platforms including our blog (150%), Twitter (39%), Excitingly across the year our permanent and Facebook (41%). Our wonderful work in exhibition, Screen Worlds: The Story of Film, exhibition, print and media graphics design Television and Digital Culture, continued was recognised through several national to drive our visitation – attracting a broad awards in 2014-15, including taking out the audience skewed towards 20 – 40 years most awards of any other organisation at the of age, including 26% interstate and 22% 2015 Australian Multimedia and Publications international visitors. Design Awards. We also spread our wings in 2014-15. Our Our commitment to reducing our newly established international touring environmental continues - in 2014-15 our program is the most successful in the country, emissions fell by close to 8% over the previous taking our two home grown Melbourne Winter year and our print collateral was reduced by Masterpieces exhibitions to the world. Game 38%. Masters: The Exhibition toured to the National Museum of Scotland and to Halmstaad in Sweden. ACMI 2014-15 05 Message from the Board President It is my pleasure on behalf of the Board Our achievements in 2014-15 have been to present to you the 2014-15 Annual accomplished in a continuing challenging Report. economic climate of contracting core It has been a transformational year funding, which sees our commitment in many respects for ACMI as the to diversifying revenue streams and organisation continues to build a maximising commercial revenue reputation at home and abroad as a opportunities remaining a key priority into leading contemporary cultural centre. the future. Through our programming, we are now Our successes would not have been reaching more people than ever before possible without the support of the both within our physical spaces, online, Victorian Government, through Creative and through outreach and touring. Victoria and the Victorian Major Events For the first time ever, we have had Company, and the many individual ACMI-curated exhibitions on tour around and organisational supporters whose Australia and internationally in the UK, generosity directly contributes to Sweden and Asia. In doing so, we became achievements. Melbourne’s first cultural institution to Finally, in December 2014, we farewelled tour locally-curated Melbourne Winter Tony Sweeney as Director & CEO after Masterpieces exhibitions on the world ten very successful years at the helm and stage, with both Game Masters and welcomed on board Katrina Sedgwick, DreamWorks Animation: The Exhibition to the role in February 2015. Her vision commencing international tours. for ACMI’s future and the dynamism and The impact of this significant expansion vigour with which she has engaged the