The fight for the future of our film and TV industry begins…
Actors, crew, producers, writers and directors turned out in force yesterday to officially launch the Make it Australian campaign.
Hundreds attended events across the country to hear why there’s never been a more important time to fight for the future of the Australian film and TV industry.
Now the Make it Australian campaign really ramps ups. Politicians need to see and hear from the people whose livelihoods depend on the screen industry.
A delegation of screen industry leaders will visit Canberra in the coming weeks to meet with key politicians and deliver a visual petition. To add your selfie to the petition, click here.
MEAA Equity member Shareena Clanton, who starred in all five seasons of Foxtel’s Wentworth, told the Melbourne event: “A quality Australian series like Wentworth costs an average $1.3M per hour to produce. Imported US/UK drama costs less than a 1/10th of that – as little as $3,000 per episode. Left to the market, broadcasters would buy overseas content rather than commission new Australian drama and comedy, even though there is an audience and appetite for our stories. We need more targets and inclusivity, not less.”
MEAA Crew member Ben Osmo, a production sound mixer whose work on Mad Max: Fury Road earned him and the sound team an Academy Award, spoke about his experience shooting The Kettering Incident: "Thanks to the producers of that series we had a generous time frame to shoot on location in Tasmania. Its success overseas, and that of a handful of other productions, shows that we have the opportunity to expand our audiences if we meet the high standard required and produce an international quality of work. For our whole industry to stay competitive we need competitive incentives that will increase production at all levels.”
MEAA members Helen Dallimore, Nadine Garner, Kat Hoyos, Camilla Ah Kin, Veronica Neave, Remy Hii, Patrick Frost, Monica Main, Robert Jarman, Katie Robertson, John Fairhead and Neil Sharma were among those who also brilliantly hosted events or delivered speeches. A big thank you to each of them for their powerful words and the hundreds of MEAA members who attended the events in each city.
