A presentation that presents the findings of the Gold Coast Independent Screen Production report. The Department of Economy, Planning and Environment of the Council of the City of Gold Coast commissioned this study to investigate independent screen production activity and capacity in the City of Gold Coast. The research investigates the industry’s size, value chain and workforce; the screen business ecology and content formats created; and the views of above-the-line content creators on the state of the industry.
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Gold Coast Independent Screen Production
Mark David Ryan, m3.ryan@qut.edu.au
Associate Professor, Film, Screen, Animation
21 September, 2020, Home of The Arts, Gold Coast
For the Gold Coast Independent Screen Production Survey -
Consultation Event
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Project length
8 month study – roughly August 2019 to June 2020
Commissioned by
Department of Economy, Planning and Environment of the Council of the City of Gold
Coast
Research team
• Mark David Ryan (Project lead)
• Phoebe Macrossan
• Stuart Cunningham
• Marion McCutcheon
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The Gold Coast is:
• Home to the Village Roadshow film and television studios
• A significant location for international blockbuster and
Australian feature film productions.
Since the late 1980s, GC has developed:
• World-class production facilities
• A large workforce of skilled technical screen workers
• A concentration of specialised production services
GC screen industry principally as a service industry rather
than a producer of local screen content
Background: Gold Coast film and television industry
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Previous research has focussed on Village Roadshow studio
production
No major study of film & television production occurring outside
the studios
Since 2000, a small group of content creators based in GC have
produced local content both in and outside the region.
But, before 2009:
• Small number of GC-based writers, directors and producers
creating original IP and developing projects
• Production infrequent
• Talent-drain common
Why the need for this study?
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Research focus
The report investigates industry’s size, activities and structure:
• Independent screen industry’s size, value chain and workforce.
• Screen business ecology and content formats created.
• Views of above-the-line content creators on state of the industry.
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• A large volume of foreign and Australian production film in the region
• Mobility of GC freelancers and production companies
• Who exactly are Gold Coast content creators? People live outside region but work in GC.
Complexities in defining Gold Coast screen
production
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GC content creators = screen workers who live and work on the Gold Coast, or
those who may live outside the region but whose primary place of work or
business is the Gold Coast.
Independence = that which is independent of Hollywood, but also that
which is independent of, and occurs outside of the Village Roadshow Studios.
Survey focus: above-the-line creatives (producers, writers, directors)
Statistical focus: whole screen workforce (camera operators, production
designers, lighting etc)
Gold Coast Content creators and independence
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Core screen content & commercial corporate content
Core screen content
(priority areas for public screen agencies)
Narrative-based:
• Feature film
• Television series (including SVOD)
• Documentaries
• VR and AR production
• Narrative-based online screen content
(YouTube, web series).
Commercial corporate content
(Scripted and unscripted content)
Short-form content commissioned by a commercial
or corporate client for a fee-for-service.
• TVCs
• Music videos
• Promotional videos
• Branded content
• Lifestyle videos
• Social media marketing content
• Tourism, travel and event videos, real-estate,
training and safety videos, and customer
testimonials.
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Methods and data sources
1) Creative Industries Trident (CIT) analysis of population-level data
• ABS Census data (2011 and 2016)
• Australian Business Register (ABR) data (2015 and 2019)
2) Data mining of screen crew directories
• Screen Queensland’s Crew directory and IF Production Book
3) Data mining IMDB.com
4) Online environmental scan for production companies
5) Online survey (n=100): business activities, employment and production practices
6) Semi-structured key-informant interviews
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As of the 2016 ABS census, 1,274 people working on the Gold Coast reported the film and
television industry as their primary source of income.
• 162 Film and Television Specialists, including Producers, Directors, Stage Directors, Art
Directors, Directors of Photography, Editors and TV Program Directors.
• 260 Other Creative Specialists including Actors, Dancers and Other Entertainers, Music
Composers, Music Directors, Artistic Directors, Make-Up Artists, Camera Operators, Light
Technicians, Sound Technicians and Television Equipment Operators.
• 856 people employed as Support Workers (Information Officers, Sales Representatives,
Carpenters and Joiners, Telecommunications Trades Workers, Accounting Clerks).
Workforce
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GST-registered and non-GST registered ABN
companies
Active GST registrations Active ABNs with no GST
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Cable and Other
Subscription
Broadcasting 3 3 3 3 2 3 2 3 3 2
Free-to-air
Television
Broadcasting 4 6 6 6 6 13 12 13 15 13
Motion Picture and
Video Production 245 243 253 283 308 268 283 322 389 466
Post-production
Services and Other
Motion Picture and
Video Activities 31 33 38 41 42 41 49 65 83 82
Total 283 285 300 333 358 325 346 403 490 563
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42 independent feature films shot on the Gold Coast between 2009 and 2019:
• 35 independent films shot on the Gold Coast outside the Village Roadshow Studios from 2009
to 2019.
• 17 GC-originated features (two per year; 49%).
• 18 features produced by Brisbane or NSW-based production entities, sometimes with
partners from elsewhere.
7 independent GC-originated features filmed at Village Roadshow Studios.
5+ GC-originated features filmed outside QLD
Gold Coast-originated production between 2009 and 2019
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Experienced practitioners
How long have you worked in the screen industry?
Which of the following best describes your degree of
experience as a screen content creator?
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Between 2009 and 2019:
• Shifting away from being largely a service industry
• Marked increase in the volume of local production
• low-budget features, online content and commercial corporate
production. Scripted web series and online content activity is also
growing.
• Growth a result of: growing concentration of content creators living and
working in the city & development in local production capacity.
• + Growth in freelances; lowering of production barriers; growth in online
platforms stimulating greater levels of production in digital/social media
content
Big picture findings: a growing hub for local production
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Two tiers of production
Two distinct tiers of Gold Coast core content production activity:
1) Screen production that is part of the formal screen industry and is
supported largely by public funding
-award wages, fully-funded
-public funding a key source of finance
-budgets range from $1 mil to $30 mil
-big producers try to film at studios
2) ‘Indie’ self-funded or privately funded ‘guerrilla’ screen production.
- do-it-your-self filmmaking
- self-funded or private sources of finance for production
- Wages deferred fees, professional-amateur creatives
- 66% of respondents had not received any government sources of
funding for production
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Different industry segments and types of
production activities
Film crews
and service
companies
Commercial
corporate
prod.
companies
Indie
production
Formal
screen
industry
production
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79 commercial corporate production companies + a significant cluster of 32 wedding
videographers
Producing short-from screen content as commercial services for most sectors of the
economy: i.e. advertising, education, accommodation and health industries.
BUT also produce narrative-based short-form online, social media content, short films
Overlaps with indie production:
• Indie producers raise finance for production from the money they earn from commercial
video work.
• Large companies looking to develop core content production arms
Corporate commercial production
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Survey responses: barriers facing industry
• A lack of established producers involved in the formal screen industry
• Lack of a large production companies with ongoing production slates
• Indies: Need for more professionalisation of business and financing practices
• Weak networks
• Lack of post-production facilities
• Confusion around communication around permits and zoning
• Low-awareness of council incentives
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GC Value Chain
Weaknesses in script
development and
financing, cast attraction.
Few barriers to physical
production
Limited post-production
facilities and VFX
specialists
Development/financing
weakness impacts
releases; some
unreleased others SVOD
only
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Ø A producer development and mentorship program
• Enterprise funds for established producers to grow production.
• Especially projects led by mid-career female producers.
• Attach indie or emerging producers to established A-list producers.
• Mentorship program to transition experienced line producers into core screen
content creation.
• Mentorship scheme for emerging female screen producers.
Recommendations
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Ø Mid-career mentorship program designed to transition commercial corporate
producers into core screen content production
• Attachment scheme with producers with established core content production
companies
OR
• Funding assistance for script development
Recommendations
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Ø A targeted mentorship program to increase professionalisation in the industry
• A program to pair talented key creatives with A-listers from around Australia to
increase high-quality of talent pool.
Ø Networking, community building and skills workshops
• More business and financing skills development workshops for indie producers
• More regular and ongoing industry events
Recommendations
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Ø Lower the Council’s film attraction $1.5 million production threshold to support
independent production
• Qualifying threshold of $1.5 million for the City of Gold Coast Film Attraction
Program too high for independent filmmakers. Screen Australia’s Producer
Offset’s qualifying budget threshold is $500,000.
Recommendations
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Ø Rebranding or reconceptualising how the Council positions the screen industry.
• This would involve launching a public information campaign to rebrand the
Gold Coast as both a popular filming location and a vibrant region for an
increasing volume of local production.
Recommendations
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Full report
Ryan, Mark David, Macrossan, Phoebe, Cunningham, Stuart, & McCutcheon, Marion
(2020) Gold Coast Independent Screen Production. Digital Media Research Centre,
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane.
Summary of research findings
Ryan, Mark David, Macrossan, Phoebe, Cunningham, Stuart, & McCutcheon, Marion
(2020) Gold Coast Independent Screen Production: Summary of Research Findings.
Digital Media Research Centre, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane.
Final report details
