** Updated 27/4/2007
You can find the full transcript of this 7:30 Report feature on the Australian games industry at the ABC website, and there's also a streaming broadband/dialup friendly version of the segment which you can view online too.
Screenplay has written a great response to the 7:30 report feature which I implore all of you to check out and comment on at this link...
** 26/4/2007
Thanks to Chameleon for posting this in the forum!! This is on *tonight*, so tune in and check it out!
Just wanted to remind people that the ABC's 7.30 report tomorrow (Thursday 26th of April @ 7.30pm of course) will feature some Australian Games companies (Torus and Tantalus at least), and will look at how the Australian Games Industry is being left behind the rest of the world because of lack of investment and funding. Should be an interesting watch, and directly relevant to anyone in, or wanting to get into, the games industry. Pretty much everyone who visits this site I'd hope. And some of us might see a few familiar faces on there too. If you miss it, you should be able to read the transcript at http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/.
Screen Play has done a follow-up story on this topic today.
You can find the full transcript here:
<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2007/s1907612.htm">http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2007/s1907612.htm</a>
Can be summarised: Please, hand us more taxpayer money, pretty please. We'll be your friend.
To my mind, the important thing here are the tax benefits to investors in line with the film tax breaks... this mitigates the risk for investors as they're able to write off their tax by investing in games.
If anything, this would make Aus studios more independent, rather than dependent... particularly on handouts.
Scott.
those tax breaks are a handout themselves.
Why was a movie like Saw which was written and directed by Queenslanders for a rediculously small budget fail to get any funding at all by the film industry here? The film industry is so smug and complacent with their funding yet they have failed the Australian industry on a massive scale.
Because Saw probably had a decent script and directors attached, whereas Australian film financing bodies only require the lead to be a dumb sl*t.
Seriously, the last movie the local film industry raved about was just that: "(something) mayhem" flick. I wouldn't give it anything more than a 6 out of 10, more like a 5. The way they went on about it, you would think it deserved an 8 or even 9.
Then there was that movie with Abbey Cornish. I'd give it the same, and only becuase you got to see her naked. That was the highlight. The rest was sh*t!
"those tax breaks are a handout themselves."
Yes, and so they should either apply to all similar areas, or none at all.
Agreed, so remove them from the film industry, they hardly deserve them.
Put the money into decent schools to teach all aspects of game development so we aren't all fighting for local bottom of the barrel scraps and hiring from OS.
Since January 2006 to February 2007 the Australian Film Commision has approved $12.8M AU in funding to be given to almost 300 applicants with some approvals totalling several hundred thousand dollars.
The AFC are not the only avenue for people in the film industry to obtain governemnt funding.
Your point being the film industry is also so incompetent they can't manage without massive cash injections either?
they need to attract funding from other areas, not just from the government.
isn't that what they do in other country's.
maybe if instead of the film commission if there was a multimedia department that covered other areas instead of just film cause film isn't going to grow as much as games,internet etc.