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If there is any doubt, please refer to the published source. https://doi.org/10.5204/rep.eprints.136006 Gold Coast Independent Screen Production Mark David Ryan, Phoebe Macrossan, Stuart Cunningham and Marion McCutcheon A study commissioned by the Council of the City of Gold Coast June 2020 Authors Mark David Ryan, Phoebe Macrossan, Stuart Cunningham and Marion McCutcheon Published: 2020 Research Funding This research was funded by the Department of Economy, Planning and Environment, Council of the City of Gold Coast. Acknowledgments Jon Baxter, Co-founder, JÁEN Collective; Lynne Benzie, President of Village Roadshow Studios; Steven Caldwell, Managing Director, Caldwell Entertainment; Pam Collis, Producer, Silver Wings Films; Andrew Couzens, Queensland University of Technology; Deana Durisic, CEO, Apollo Films; Lucy Fisher, Festival Director/CEO, Gold Coast Film Festival; Darren Paul Fisher, Independent Screenwriter, Director, Producer, Senior Teaching Fellow, Bond University; Chris Fitchett, Creative Director, Pandala Productions, Senior Teaching Fellow, Bond University; Carly Imrie, Producer, Quirky Mama Productions and Sparke Films; Gareth Janes, Team Coordinator City Laws Approvals, City of Gold Coast; Gabrielle Jones, Council of the City of Gold Coast; Kris Maric, Producer, OZPIX Entertainment; Michelle Riedlinger, Project Researcher, Queensland University of Technology; Matt Schembri, Director, Haul Media; Dan Stevenson, Creative Director, Bordertown Films; Anna Waters-Massey, Actor and Producer of Stage Mums; Goran Zivanovic, Creative Director, Gothic Zen Studios. Contact Information Associate Professor Mark David Ryan e: [email protected] t: +617 3138 0158 w: https://research.qut.edu.au/dmrc Brisbane, Australia. Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Citation Suggested citation: Ryan, Mark David, Phoebe Macrossan, Stuart Cunningham and Marion McCutcheon. 2020. Gold Coast Independent Screen Production. Brisbane: QUT Digital Media Research Centre. doi:10.5204/rep.eprints.136006. Gold Coast Independent Screen Production Study ii Table of Contents Table of Contents .............................................................................................................. iii List of Figures ..................................................................................................................... v List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... vi List of Abbreviations ........................................................................................................ vii Executive Summary ........................................................................................................... 1 Key Findings ........................................................................................................................ 1 Barriers, Weaknesses and Recommendations ................................................................... 3 Key Recommendations ....................................................................................................... 4 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 5 2 Definitions ...................................................................................................................... 8 2.1 Screen Content ............................................................................................................. 8 2.2 Core Screen Content and Commercial Corporate Video Content ................................ 8 2.3 Independent Screen Production................................................................................... 9 2.4 Above-the-Line and Below-the-Line Crew Roles ........................................................ 10 2.5 Defining the Boundaries: The Gold Coast Local Government Area and Independent Screen Production ............................................................................................................ 11 3 Methodology ................................................................................................................ 14 3.1 Creative Industries Trident Analysis of Population-Level ABS Census Data by Creative Occupation and Statistical Analysis of ABR Data .............................................................. 14 3.2 Data Mining Screen Directories and Crew Roles ........................................................ 17 3.3 Online Search for Production Companies According to Production Activities .......... 18 3.4 IMDb.com Feature Film Mining .................................................................................. 19 3.5 Online Survey .............................................................................................................. 19 3.6 Interviews ................................................................................................................... 20 4 Top-Line Statistical Picture: Film and Television Workers’ Employment, Earnings and ABN Registration Statistics ............................................................................................ 21 4.1 Film and Television Employment by Place of Work, Gold Coast 2016 ....................... 21 4.2 Australian Business Register and Australian Business Number data ......................... 31 5 A Snapshot: Creative Workforce and Crew Roles ........................................................... 34 6 Production Companies and Production Activities .......................................................... 37 6.1 Gold Coast Production Companies Ecosystem ........................................................... 37 6.2 Independent Feature Film Production During the Last 10 Years ............................... 40 Gold Coast Independent Screen Production Study iii 7 Survey Findings ............................................................................................................. 44 7.1 Production Roles, Gender and Demographics ........................................................... 44 7.2 Production Formats and Interdependencies with the Studios .................................. 50 7.3 Screen Businesses and Employment .......................................................................... 55 7.4 Industry Outlook and Challenges ............................................................................... 64 7.5 Growth Areas for Gold Coast Independent Screen Production ................................. 68 8 Evaluating the Industry ................................................................................................. 70 8.1 Broad Characteristics of the Independent Screen Industry ....................................... 70 8.2 Industry Barriers, Policy and Funding ......................................................................... 82 8.3 Assessing the Gold Coast Independent Screen Production Industry’s Value Chain .. 91 9 Recommendations ........................................................................................................ 96 References ..................................................................................................................... 100 Appendix 1: Defining the Creative Economy................................................................... 105 Appendix 2: Feature Film List ......................................................................................... 111 Appendix 3: Crew Roles Mined in the Screen Queensland Crew Directory and Inside Film’s Production Book .................................................................................................. 118 Gold Coast Independent Screen Production Study iv List of Figures Figure 1: Overall growth in active ABNs in the City of Gold Coast .......................................... 31 Figure 2: Which of the following best describes your role as a screen content creator? ....... 45 Figure 3: Which of the following best describes your degree of experience as a screen content creator? ....................................................................................................................