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“With great power comes great responsibility.”
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A Message from the President
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Greetings ACS members and colleagues,
Applications for Accreditation have closed and we have had 24 applications. The judging panel has also been finalised and the judging process will commence via Silvertrak on October 3rd and the window for judging will remain open until October 12th. After that Ernie Clark ACS our Accreditation panel Chair will collate the scores and I will then advise the applicants accordingly. This, along with Awards judging can be an exhaustive process but rewarding in so many ways.
Branch Awards judging is nearly complete, and the overall standard has been outstanding. The new categories seem to have been met with positivity, but having said that I am certain that Warwick Field ACS and the Awards categories committee will review and could well make suggestions on how to improve our Awards judging and categories. Sincere thanks to Warwick for his tireless support and the way he managed the various panels given we were using Silvertrak across the board this year. Christian Christianson and the team at Silvertrak have been incredibly generous with time and facilities and I thank them on behalf of us all, as I do to The Post Lounge and Kurt Royan, Brock Smith, Tyson Yates and the the Post Lounge group who provided us with our Sponsor reel, Montage reel and animation components, all of which assist the Society to promote our brand, the brilliant work from our members and recognise our sponsors.
Organising is well under way for the various Awads presentations, again the majority online, but some Branches will be having a presentation for a limited number of attendees. The Branches will advise the way they intend to proceed shortly, so please if the opportunity arises and you can attend, enjoy!
Our Society cannot function without our fantastic Sponsors, and I want to thank all those Sponsors, past and present who have continued to support the ACS through some difficult times, the least not being Covid-19. This virus has impacted everything and everyone in it’s path and our Sponsors have also been affected. On behalf of us all thank you to all our Sponsors for their support and their collaborative spirit, and importantly I ask all our members to please support our sponsors as they have supported us.
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Until next time
Ron Johanson OAM ACS
National President
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Crew position enquiries open for Young Rock
Queensland has secured yet another major production, with the exciting news that Young Rock will film at Screen Queensland Studios, Brisbane.
From Nahnatchka Khan (Fresh Off the Boat) and Dwayne Johnson, NBC’s Young Rock is a comedy inspired by Johnson himself. The show will be produced by Universal Television, Seven Bucks Productions and Fierce Baby Productions.
CREW APPLICATIONS
All suitably qualified and available Queensland crew are invited to apply for crew positions.
For crew employment enquires, please contact the below email address, ensuring that you have attached your up-to-date CV. Please write the position you are applying for in the email subject line to ensure that your application can be sent to the right department.
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CineGear ON AIR Presents:
"Happy Halloween" from Dean Cundy |
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CineGear ON AIR is pleased to present a live Zoom discussion with the legendary Dean Cundey, ASC focusing on the art and craft behind some of his spookier cult classics from the Halloween films to The Thing, The Fog, Jurassic Park, and more audience favorites. Hosted by Director/Producer/Tech nerd, Jay Holben the two will discuss horror filmmaking as a collaborative art form including what propels a horror genre film into classic status. They will also delve into how the technology of the day affects the art. And the audience will find out what John Carpenter meant when he referred to Cundey’s work on Halloween as “Some of his best ever. The way he moved the camera was groundbreaking.”
The second half of the event will focus on audience questions with the incomparable Dean Cundey, ASC. |
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SF3, the SmartFone Flick Fest 2020 is less than 2 weeks away! This year you can watch the whole festival either in-cinema OR online. SF3 is screening 85 smartphone films from across the globe, including 7 feature films, in the online festival.
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Prices start at pay-what-you-can and SF3 Online runs from October 9-25th. For Sydneysiders a selection of films will also be screened in cinema at Event Cinemas, George St in the city on October 10, including SF3 Kids, SF3 ISO & Feature Film and the SF3 Gala Awards. Plus we have a panel discussion with our ambassadors & two masterclasses with Jason van Genderen and Phillip Noyce.
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Death in Ghana – Mark Milsome article by Lars Petersson
Mark Milsome was liked by all who knew him. He was a talented operator, a decent human being with a wicked sense of humour. He was the son of Doug Milsome ASC, BSC, the highly respected collaborator with Stanley Kubrick who had left his home in California some years ago to enjoy living near Mark and his family.
British camera operator, Mark Milsome was killed three years ago in Ghana when filming a stunt. No one should die as a result of filming a stunt for a motion picture or television production. It is that simple.
The BBC/ Drama Republic/Netflix Series “Black Earth Rising” included a night-time stunt, shot under established Health and Safety Regulations. If they had been adhered to when the stunt was performed and still resulted in death something would have been seriously amiss with the regulations. Film workers are hoping that the West London Coroner will recommend additional safety guidelines to prevent future deaths on stunts wherever they are performed.
The British Society of Cinematographers invited former Imago President and BSC Vice-President, Nigel Walters BSC to attend a preliminary inquest earlier this year. Imago interviewed him recently to learn of his observations surrounding the tragedy.
IMAGO: What do you hope will be the result of the October 19th inquest?
Nigel Walters BSC: “It is important to understand that the sole function of the Coroner during the expected eight days is to determine why and how Mark was killed. It is not intended to apportion blame. The inquest will hopefully be able to make recommendations to prevent such deaths ever happening again.”
IMAGO: Can you tell us the circumstances surrounding the incident?
Nigel Walters BSC: “Unravelling any facts which would help to prevent a repeat tragedy has not been easy. The crew were originally told to remain silent, but slowly over the years a picture has emerged. A crucial factor appears to have been in replacing the original British Stunt-coordinator by one from South Africa named John Smith. He brought with him a stunt driver Nathan Wheatley.”
The stunt itself involved a Land Rover mounting a hidden ramp and overturning at speed on a country road. At night success required experience in precision driving. It is believed the vehicle hit the ramp area but failed to overturn, thus driving on and killing Mark and injuring his grip.
Many witnesses testify of Mark being assured that his camera position was the safest of the three-camera positions. The others were unmanned.
Neither the speedometer nor the rev counter of the action vehicle was working. Nothing is known regarding the previous experience, of either the stunt coordinator or his driver, to perform such a difficult stunt. As there is no extradition treaty between the UK and South Africa the Coroner is powerless to demand statements from the South African team. They are not expected to agree to give evidence according to the Coroner at the preliminary hearing.
The general agreement is the absence of the established pre-shoot Safety Briefing involving the rest of the crew. Bad weather and ground conditions on the day of the shoot had made difficult the positioning of the lights. Finally, only one light was working of the three planned. It illuminated in front of the approaching vehicle as it approached the stunt point.
IMAGO: How have the Trade Unions re-acted to this tragedy?
Nigel Walters BSC: “Unfortunately Mark was not a Union member. As a result, BECTU have in effect done nothing. My opinion, as a Union member of over 50 years, is that where future safety issues are involved the union should be assisting in giving vital evidence to ensure safety at any court. BECTU has an obligation in such cases to disclose to the industry the safest way forward. According to witnesses the Land Rover could have ploughed into the video village close by which housed the Director, Producer and others. When the driver finally brought the vehicle to a halt he enquired as to whether he “had hit something”. The female boom operator had taken her position near Mark assuming it to have been declared a “safe” position. Only after the full extent of the incident did she realise the implication of no safety briefing prior to the stunt."
IMAGO: What are your feelings today?
Nigel Walters BSC: “If anyone is killed manning a camera in a static position in a controlled night shoot which involved a stunt driver hitting a hidden ramp at night, failing to overturn as planned and causing death and distress, something is seriously amiss. Nobody should die as the price of a stunt going wrong. Whether Health and Safety rules were broken or not, they must be strengthened to ensure such a tragedy does not happen again. After three agonising years that might be small comfort for the Milsome family. A consolation would be for the Coroner to give a positive narrative conclusion to the inquest as a way of expressing any mistakes or problems surrounding his death. The Coroner should record any failings which may have caused the death. Mark should not have died in vain.'
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICOLA DALY ACS
A very special person bought me the best birthday cake ever! It's so me! Thank you for all your amazing birthday wishes I've had a great day xx
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SEEN AT PANAVISION QUEENSLAND
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Brian Flexmore from Panavision, Producer; Anne Bruning and Mandy Walker ACS ASC
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Canon’s EOS C70 brings the power of the RF Mount to its Cinema EOS System range for the first time.
Canon’s smallest and lightest Professional Cinema camera launches alongside a new EF-EOS R Mount adapter to unleash the full creative potential of Canon’s entire EF-Series and RF-Series lens line-up.
Canon Australia has launched the EOS C70 – a compact, versatile video camera that is the first to combine the powerful image quality of Canon’s Cinema EOS System range with the portability and flexibility of its EOS R line-up. For the first time, filmmakers using a Canon Cinema EOS System camera can enjoy the incredible possibilities of the powerful RF-Series lens range.
The EOS C70’s powerfully compact design – complete with professional interfaces and input/output terminals and ports – makes it perfectly suited for a broad range of uses including documentaries, productions of all sizes, news gathering, and events such as weddings. High production social media content has also never been easier to capture thanks to the EOS C70’s vertical shooting capability. The EOS C70’s compact size yet expansive features enable filmmakers to shoot handheld or on a drone or gimbal, giving them enhanced creative freedom. What’s more, it offers multiple recording formats to SD cards – including 4K up to 120 fps in 4:2:2 10-bit in XF-AVC, and MP4 in HEVC (H.265) or H.264 – providing filmmakers with the ability to meet diverse production requirements.
Also launching is the Canon Mount Adapter EF-EOS R 0.71x – an EF Lens to RF Mount adapter giving filmmakers the freedom to use the entire EF lens line-up1 with the EOS C70, optimising compatibility across two of Canon’s most popular lens lines.
The EOS C70 bridges the gap between two Canon product portfolios – the Digital Interchangeable Lens camera line-up and the powerful Cinema EOS System cameras – with the short flange back design of Canon’s RF Mount making the compact design of the EOS C70 possible. While the camera is the smallest and lightest in Canon’s Cinema EOS System line-up, it’s packed with features that support a versatile range of professional video requirements. It has 13 assignable buttons, a multi-functional
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Oscars Predictions: Best Cinematography – Is James Bond Due for Its Camera Work at the Academy?
by Clayton Davis
Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars from Film Awards Editor Clayton Davis. Following Academy Awards history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Oscar predictions are updated regularly with the current year's contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four phases, running all year long: Draft, Pre-Season, Regular Season and Post Season. Eligibility calendar and dates of awards will determine how long each phase lasts and will be displayed next to revision date.
To see all the latest predictions, of all the categories, in one place, visit THE COLLECTIVE.
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After the success of our Signature Prime introduction ARRI was quickly asked when a complementary set of zoom lenses would become available – and just on two years after our primes started shipping we are ready to introduce a set of zooms with the widest focal length range of any Large Format lenses in the industry – 16mm to 510mm. That’s 16mm – 300mm at T2.8 and all the way out to 510mm at T4.9 with our dedicated 1.7x Extender for the longest of the lenses.
The Signature Zooms have been designed to perfectly match the image quality of the Signature Prime lenses – they’re capable of out-resolving 8K cameras but with a nuanced approach to image rendering that is reminiscent of vintage lenses. We call the Signature look a “timeless” look – they are modern lenses which have been designed with the requirements of 8K and HDR image capture in mind, while embodying a warm and low-contrast look that ensures smooth and gentle skin tones, outrageously smooth out of focus rendering and beautiful flares.
ARRI Signature Primes and Signature Zooms are the perfect choice for Super 35 as well as Large Format shooting, and are compatible with all major digital motion picture cameras through our universal LPL Mount. |
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POSTCARD FROM BRAD SHIELD ACS ASC ~ from Berlin
Here I am at Fantasy Film Festival Berlin
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Bloody Hell had its world premier and is the closing film of this Festival that plays in 6 cities in Germany
Good score for little a Aussie film .
It seemed to go down well with the audience, in fact one bloke asked for my autograph ( not sure who mistook me for -Brad Pitt? )
In the photo with me is Sam George and Daniel Weaver who acted in Bloody Hell and are here in Berlin doing Stunt rigging on the film I am working on and Frederike Dellert who runs the festival .
Hope everyone is coping with the social distancing, mask wearing and hand washing ? We are being tested 3 days a week and a lot of care is being taken on set but at least work can still be done .
All the best ,
Cheers Brad Shield
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Keeping Dementia in the front of our minds
Currently there are an estimated 459,000 Australians living with Dementia. Some of those may be your family members or friends.
Mind Games for Dementia fundraiser
From 6:00pm on the 23rd October 2020
until 6:00pm on the 25th October 2020
The fundraiser will be a marathon event whereby participants are to play board games and puzzles in relay teams over a 48 hour period. Boards games and puzzles are to be played as these activities are often referred to as good stimuli for one’s brain. The event will be held at my school, Santa Sabina College , Strathfield NSW 2315.
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For donations please go:
Thank you and stay safe.
Bella Merlino
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INDUSTRY INSIGHTS: SHOOTING IN THE MIDDLE
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Cinematographer Nicola Daley ACS talks about the challenges of shooting a second block of a TV series in the UK and America.
A couple of years ago no-one would hire me to shoot episodic TV, I had been shooting for about 13 years and I kept coming up against this brick wall; “you haven’t shot TV, so you can’t shoot TV.” It was a very frustrating period in my career. I had shot numerous documentaries for television, several feature films, hundreds of shorts, commercials and music videos but breaking into television seemed like the hardest thing to do. Then producer Linda Micsko took a chance on me and asked me to meet writers Alison Bell and Sarah Scheller, to shoot the second series of The Letdown. I jumped at the chance to work on such a brilliant and hilarious series. Shooting The Letdown opened the doors of TV to me, and suddenly having Netflix written on my CV seemed to make all the difference. Since then I have shot several second blocks of differing television series. Here are some of things I’ve learned…
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The Australian Cinematographers Society
@austcine
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Australian stories need strong rules and support to continue reaching audiences. Take action using this tool to contact Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
With the introduction of COVID safety guidelines, the screen industry is getting back to work and is ready to contribute to rebuilding the national economy.
But the federal government is putting that at risk. Lack of meaningful action on content rules, financial incentives, and funding for public broadcasters and screen agencies is costing jobs and driving businesses to the wall.
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It would be great to hear first hand from Minister Paul Fletcher regarding the scrapping of the Australian local production quotas as it could well have long term ramifications for workers in our sector.
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FULLY SUPPORTED BY THE ACS & OTHER GUILDS. MORE INFORMATION TO COME.
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Pinewood sets stage for blockbuster visitor attraction
in £450m expansion
The home of the James Bond film franchise is preparing to unveil plans for a visitor attraction, Sky News learns.
By Mark Kleinman, City editor @MarkKleinmanSky
Britain's best-known film studio is to deliver a boost to the country's embattled movie and tourism industries by unveiling expansion plans that will include a blockbuster visitor attraction.
Sky News has learnt that Pinewood Group, which has played host to many instalments of the James Bond and Star Wars franchises, will announce proposals on Thursday for a development - called Screen Hub UK - on a 77-acre site to the south of the existing studio complex.
The scheme, which will involve a total investment of about £450m, is expected to create up to 3,500 jobs, according to sources who have been briefed on the plans.
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AC Magazine ~The ACS Flagship Magazine ...Out Quartly
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Missing something... If you've moved remember to let your ACS Branch Secretary know your new address in order to continue to receive your copy of AC MAG
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2020 AACTA Awards to proceed, reimagined, alongside a new online screen festival!
We are delighted to announce that the AACTA Awards presented by Foxtel, will return in 2020, albeit a little differently. Reimagined to meet COVID restrictions, this year’s luncheon will be presented online, the 2020 AACTA Awards will be held across two sittings due to reduced capacity at The Star Sydney and the inaugural ScreenFest, a free online festival will run the entire week - connecting industry and fans with the best content and creators.
The screen industry has kept us up-to-date and entertained like never before in 2020 as we've turned to television, film, streaming and video platforms to stay informed and to binge watch thousands of hours of content across multiple genres. Now we look to honour and celebrate the incredible work of Australia’s acclaimed and loved artists, creatives and productions.
2020 also marks 10 years since the inaugural AACTA Awards and this milestone will be celebrated by looking back on Australian screen achievements and triumphs here and overseas from across the decade. This year’s event will also incorporate the exciting addition of the AACTA Audience Choice Awards, which will be announced in greater detail later this week. The reimagined celebration will be broadcast on Channel 7 on Wednesday 2 December, along with highlights from the 2020 AACTA Awards presented by Foxtel Ceremony.
KEY DATES AND CHANGES
Nomination Announcement Dates
Monday 5 October
- Nominees announced for Best Short Film and Best Online Drama or Comedy
Sunday 1 November
- Nominees announced for Best Television Program Award categories for Entertainment, Reality, Lifestyle, Drama Series, Comedy, Factual Entertainment, Children’s, Miniseries or Telefeature, Documentary or Factual
- Nominees announced for Best Online Entertainment
- Nominees announced across Film and Documentary categories
- Acting nominees announced across all Television and Film categories
Wednesday 11 November
- Nominees announced across all TV Craft, Documentary Craft, Casting and VFX
Stay tuned to see which people and productions are nominated for Australia’s top screen awards!
2020 AACTA Awards presented by Foxtel Industry Luncheon
- This event will become the AACTA Industry Awards presented by Foxtel
- These Awards will be delivered online - streamed on Friday 27 November
2020 AACTA Awards presented by Foxtel Ceremony
- The Ceremony will be held at The Star Sydney on Monday 30 November
- The event will be held over two sittings in the interests of guest safety, and attendance will be limited to manage a significantly reduced venue capacity in accordance with a COVID safe plan
- Highlights from the 2020 AACTA Awards Ceremony presented by Foxtel will be broadcast nationally on Channel 7 - Wednesday 2 December.
SCREENFEST - AACTA'S NEW, ONLINE SCREEN FESTIVAL
We are committed to connecting everyone to the best content and creators from home and abroad and 2020 is no exception. This exciting, new online festival will be available to all, spanning all forms of screen entertainment from social media and short films to insider chats with award-winning cast and crew of some of the world’s biggest television and film productions, and will be held from Friday 27 November alongside the AACTA Awards. The full program will be announced via aacta.org on Wednesday 28 October.
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EnergaCAMERIMAGE 2020
IN A NEW FORMULA |
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| Bearing in mind the safety of fans of the seventh art and the unique atmosphere of EnergaCAMERIMAGE, we are pleased to announce that this year's edition of the Festival will be held in a hybrid formula, which means the possibility of participating in the Festival both on site and online. |
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EnergaCAMERIMAGE 2019,
photo by Krzysztof Wesołowski |
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It is a solution often chosen by Polish and foreign film festivals, offering the possibility of watching films and participating in a wide range of accompanying events either on site, in festival cinemas, or via the festival's online platform.
The Festival Center will be located in CKK Jordanki. Film screenings, seminars, meetings with filmmakers and discussion panels will also be held at the Centrum Cinema at CSW, the headquarter of the Tumult Foundation, and Cinema City Czerwona Droga. For the first time, the festival will be held in close cooperation between two organizers - the Tumult Foundation and the European Film Center CAMERIMAGE.
Through the online platform, we will not only invite you to screenings of selected films, etudes, TV series pilots and music videos, but also enable you to have a virtual walk around the Festival Center. Seminars, press conferences, and specialized discussion panels with authors will also be available online. The EnergaCAMERIMAGE Festivalhas always been a place of vibrant exchange of technological ideas, which is why this year we tried to gather knowledge about the latest developments in the field of film equipment, this time in a new, virtual version of the EnergaCAMERIMAGE Market.
This year's edition of EnergaCAMERIMAGE will be held in the sanitary regime, which means that cinemas will have a seat limit (currently the limit is 50%). Festival participants will be required to keep social distance and cover their mouth and noseduring participation in the events. We will make every effort to ensure that attendance in the Festival is safe. We will provide sanitizers and disinfection of screening rooms and other places, where EnergaCAMERIMAGE events will take place. The principle of keeping the distance between the participants will apply in all festival venues.
Detailed sanitary and epidemiological rules and recommendations will be provided in a separate message. |
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| MICHAEL CHAPMAN, CINEMATOGRAPHER AND DIRECTOR, A FRIEND OF CAMERIMAGE FESTIVAL HAS DIED |
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| It is with great sadness that we received the information about the death of Michael Chapman, an outstanding American cinematographer, director and music video maker. Director of photography of Raging Bull and Taxi Driveramong others, died at the age of 84 on Sunday, September 20 of congestive heart failure. |
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CHANGES TO AUSTRALIA'S SCREEN TAX OFFSETS
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The Australian Government announced changes to Australia's Screen Production Incentives and guidelines. A snapshot of some of the main changes to the Australian Screen Production Incentives are:
- The Post, Digital and Visual Effects (PDV) Offset minimum qualifying Australian production expenditure spend will be increased from AU$500,000 to AU$1 million. These amendments will come into effect for productions that commence post, digital and VFX activity on, or after 1 July 2021.
- The rate of the Producer Offset will be standardised at 30 per cent for eligible film and television production, regardless of the release platform (currently it is 20% for TV and 40% for theatrical feature film).These amendments will come into effect for productions that commence principal photography on, or after 1 July 2021.
The main changes to the Location Offset & the Location Incentive Program guidelines are:
- the Location Incentive seeks to encourage international production companies and studios to commit to film multiple productions over multiple years in Australia to support continued employment and investment.
- to be eligible for the Location Offset & Incentive projects must genuinely be ‘footloose’, that is not already locked in to undertaking production in Australia.
- to be eligible projects must commit to undertaking training and skills development activities; and
- state/territory government support is required to be commensurate with the benefits that the production will bring to that state or territory.
These amendments will come into effect for productions that commence principal photography on, or after 1 July 2021 and the changes have been implemented to clarify the objectives of the Location Incentive Program and help the Australian Government continue to achieve the strongest outcomes for the government, production studios and the production industry.
Access the revised Location Incentive Program Guidelines here.
As noted in the Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety & the Arts' announcement, the Australian Government has made the decision to pursue changes to the Australian Screen Production Incentive in response to the feedback received during the Government's Supporting Australian stories on our screens Options Paper consultations.
Read the Minister's Press Release.
Ausfilm has outlined what these changes are in further detail here.
As the Australian Screen Production Incentive is underpinned by the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 and changes will be implemented through legislative amendments before they come into effect.
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National Major Sponsor
National Platinum Sponsors
National Gold Sponsors
National ACS CineKids Sponsor
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