Government extends screen production assistance, confirms Producer Offset lift

The federal government will extend two measures that support the production of local screen content and has confirmed a Producer Offset increase for TV as the sector recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The $50 million Temporary Interruption Fund (TIF) will be extended for a further six months, to provide coverage for productions that commence principal photography prior to 31 December 2021.

The government will also retain at 40% the Producer Offset rate for feature films with a theatrical release. In addition, as announced last year, the government will raise the Producer Offset rate from 20 to 30% for other eligible formats such as drama and documentary content for television and streaming platforms.

The announcement follows Australian actors including Simon Baker, Bryan Brown, Marta Dusseldorp and Justine Clarke visiting Canberra to convince Parliament for continued production support and to ask for the introduce local content requirements for digital viewing platforms including Netflix, Stan and Disney+.

The visit was part of the Make It Australian campaign backed by MEAA, the Australian Directors’ Guild, Australian Writers’ Guild, and Screen Producers Australia.

There has been no move by the government yet on content requirements for streaming services.

The Minister for Communications Paul Fletcher (below) said the support measures would enable the local screen industry to continue to create quality Australian productions and keep thousands of jobs and businesses in the local production sector.

“Despite our successes in managing Covid-19 in Australia, the continuing severity of the pandemic internationally is a problem for screen production, with insurers still not providing coverage for Covid-19 related events,” Fletcher said.

“TIF has been vital in providing the certainty that productions need to secure financing, and it will have assisted with more than 12,000 production roles and 5,000 business contracts in its first year of operation.”

The 40% Producer Offset supports around 50 Australian feature films per year with total average rebates of around $124 million. The government reports this injects over $300 million per year into the Australian economy, and underpins the success Australian feature films have had at the box office in recent times.

Fletcher added: “Australian feature films play an important role in our cultural identity and resonate strongly with audiences at home and abroad. After consulting with Australian feature film producers and considering the feature film environment abroad, we have determined that retaining the offset at 40% is appropriate to ensure the ongoing vitality of the sector.”

TIF and the Producer Offset are administered by Screen Australia.

See also: Screen industry turns up the heat for content quotas for streaming services