Ryan, Mark David (2010), ‘Independent from Everyone! Producing Australian Horror Movies for Global Markets’, 2010 Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference, Los Angeles, CA, March 17-21.
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Independent from everyone! Producing Australian horror movies for global markets
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Independent from Everyone! Producing
Australian Horror Movies for Global
Markets Production
Mark David Ryan m3.ryan@qut.edu.au
Queensland University of Technology
2010 Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference, Los Angeles, CA,
March 17-21.
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Acknowledgement of financial support
2
I would like to acknowledge that this trip and presentation
would not have been possible without the generous support of
the Australian Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) from its Cultural
Fund and the Creative Industries’ Career Fund.
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The boom in contemporary horror production
• Strong productivity and a sharp rise in expenditure on Australian horror
films
The growth and decline of Australian horror production by decade*
Decade Total
horror
films
produced
Average per
annum**
Increase/decrease
no. of films on
previous decade
Annual
production
expenditure
A$
Average
annual
budget
expenditure
A$
1970s 20 2 - n/a n/a
1980s 48 4 +28 n/a n/a
1990s 19 2 -29 $15 mil (est) $1.5 mil
2000–
2007/08
62 8 +43 $110.7 mil*** $15.8 mil
**Rounded up to the nearest number.
*** Aggregate total for both mainstream and underground production (see text).
Source: Ryan 2010
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The renaissance of the horror genre in global markets
Horror’s year-by-year market share of the US box office
Year
Movies in
Release
Market
Share
Gross
US$
1995 14 2.85% $151,853,368
1996 8 1.95% $112,765,676
1997 10 6.55% $407,732,973
1998 16 4.72% $318,151,658
1999 16 6.49% $477,746,379
2000 12 4.47% $332,969,478
2001 13 4.81% $390,815,057
2002 11 3.18% $297,478,878
2003 17 5.46% $505,051,037
2004 20 5.01% $464,817,596
2005 29 5.78% $512,308,262
2006 28 5.96% $553,225,088
2007 30 7.09% $680,994,021
Source: www.the-numbers.com/market/Genres/Horror [Accessed Wednesday, June 27, 2007].
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Horror films and Australian cinema
As Wolf Creek’s Greg McLean has argued:
‘Movies in Australia are state-funded so the government doesn’t want
to finance a film that might cast negativity on the country or affect the
tourist industry’ (Greg McLean quoted in Lamkin 2005).
- In the 1980s Richard Franklin was asked to leave the country in an
editorial in the Sydney Morning Herald
- Actors Equity campaigned against Franklin’s Road Games (1981)
upon release in domestic cinemas.
- Key figures such as Richard Franklin, Simon Wincer and Tony
Ginnane have been heavily criticized within the Australian film
industry for their production of horror and genre films.
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Two phases of development:
2000 to 2005
• Unsuccessful sales agent/distributor driven horrors trying to cash-in
on booming international demand;
• Cut, Cubbyhouse, Subterano,
• Growth of video markets
• Rise of indie production
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Two phases of development:
2005 to present
Following the success of Wolf Creek (2005) and Saw (2004), there has
been:
• The creation of an international reputation for Aussie horror titles
• Increasing International investment
• A flood of low budget titles
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Two tiers of horror production: mainstream and
underground production
$30 mil
$1 mil
$100, 000K
$1, 000K
Mainstream
Horror
production
Underground
Horror production
High-end
indie films
Rogue
Daybreakers
Wolf Creek
Undead
Gabriel
Reign in Darkness
The Killbillies
Budget ranges
Spheres of horror production
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Mainstream and underground production
• Mainstream horror production is an independent, internationally-
oriented production sector on the margins of the Australian film
industry.
• Underground horror production is a fan-based, guerilla filmmaking
subculture, both producing distinctively ‘Australian’ and ‘non-cultural-
specific’ horror titles.
• High-end indie films begin as underground films but cross over into
the mainstream (i.e. they receive cinema release but are low-budget
indie films).
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Production Budgets
Average Australian film budgets and Australian horror films budgets
Five-year Australian feature films
Average 2001–02 to 2005–06*
Mainstream and underground horror
production budget ranges
2000–07
Range
($M)
Austn Co-prods Int. financed
Horrors
Independent
Horror
production
Co-prods
0 to 500, 000 - - - 14 -
500, 000 to 1 5 - - 1 -
1 to 3 5 - - 8 1
3 to 6 6 - 1 5 -
6 to 10 3 1 - 1 1
10 to 20 1 1 - - -
20 + 1 - 2 - -
Source: ‘5-year Australian feature films Average 2001/02–2005/06’: Australian Film Commission
(2006b) Australian Film Commission, ‘Mainstream and underground horror production budget ranges
2000–2007’: primary sample outlined in Appendix 3.
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Prominent economic model for horror producers
• Straight to DVD release is becoming a dominant economic model
• Cut’s costs associated with cinema release and films can be
marketed via the internet
• 25 % of Australian horror films received cinema release, while 56
% of all horror titles were released directly into video markets
• 73 % of 712 Australian feature films released between mid-1980
and mid-2006 received cinema release (AFC 2007b).
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Gross cinema returns
Returns from cinema markets
Film Year Budget
A$
Domestic
box office
returns
A$
International
box office
US$, UK£, A$
Total
box office
US$, UK£, A$
Wolf Creek 2005 $1.4 mil $ 6 mil US$21.6 mil
(approx)
US$27. 6 mil
Rogue 2007 $28 mil $1.8 mil A$1.3 mil A$3.1 mil
Gabriel 2007 $150, 000 $1.2 mil n/a A$1.2 mil
Black Water 2007 $1.2 mil $112,473 A$208,290
(UK box office)
A$320,763
Undead 2003 $1 mil $139,822 A$75,666 A$215, 488
Cut 2000 $5.2 mil $464,852 n/a n/a
Visitors 2003 $5.9 mil $34,276 n/a n/a
Feed 2005 $1–$1.5 mil n/a UK£3,159 UK£3,159
Gone 2007 $10 mil $86, 000 n/a n/a
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Gross video revenue/presales
Returns in home-video markets and international sales
Film Year Regions
sold into
Budget
A$
Presales/
Int sales/
video
revenues
Details
Wolf Creek 2005 every
saleable
territory in the
world
$1.4 mil US$15.38 mil
(video)
Gross US video rental
figures
as of 06/11/2006.
Undead 2003 40 regions $1 mil US$4.2 Mil
(video)
US video rental figures
only as of 2005.
Reign in
Darkness
2002 27 regions $49,000 A$7 mil
(All revenue)
Gross revenue from
domestic and
international rental and
sell-through video and
secondary markets.
Storm
Warning
2006 42 territories $4.2 mil A$4.2 mil
(In excess of)
(presales)
Presales only.
Recouped its production
budget and went into
profit before release.
Black Water 2007 76 countries $1.2 mil A$1.2 mil
(in excess of)
(presales)
Presales only.
Recouped its production
budget before release.
Feed 2005 Every major
territory
$1mil –
$1.5 mil
Almost
A$1mil -$1.5
mil (Approx)
(all revenue)
All revenue as of late
2006. DVD revenues
comprise a large
proportion of earnings.
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Independent from Everyone
Independent is a complicated term for Aussie horror. Aussie horror
production is:
• Independent from Hollywood
• Independent from Government funding
• Independent from major domestic distributors
• Low-end is ‘Indie’ or guerrilla filmmaking rather than ‘independent’
filmmaking
16
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The films: aesthetic groupings and characteristics
There are four broad aesthetic categories:
• Aussie horror films
• Non-cultural specific horror films
• Underground Indie horror films
• Hybrid/experimental horror films
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International markets: horror versus traditional Aussie
films
International markets: Aussie horror versus ‘Australian’ films
Horror films Australian films generally*
Title Domestic
Box-office
A$
Int.
Territories
Title Domestic
Box-office
A$
Int. sales
Wolf Creek
(2005)
$6 mil every
saleable
territory
worldwide
Candy n/a 41
Cut (2000) $464,852 every
saleable
territory
worldwide
Little Fish $3.7m 39
Black Water
(2007)
$112,473 76 Romulus,
My Father
$2.6mil 39
Storm
Warning
(2006)
N/A 42 Jindabyne $5.3mil 32
Undead
(2003)
$139,822 40 Clubland $1.2 mil 18
Feed (2005) N/A every major
international
territory
The Oyster
Farmer
$2.4m 17
Reign in
Darkness
(2002)
N/A 27 December
Boys
n/a 8
Lost Things
(2003)
$20, 899 22
*As of the 1 December 2008
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Australian horror film releases 2003–09
Year No. of
titles
Release Title Release type
1
2003 3 September
November
n/a
Undead
Visitors
The Killbillies
Cinema release
Cinema release
European only DVD release
2004 3 November
n/a
n/a
Lost Things
Aussie Horror Pt 1
(compilation of classic Aussie
horrors)
Aussie Horror Pt 2
Cinema release
US only DVD release
US only DVD release
2005 1 November Wolf Creek Cinema release
2006 5 May
August
September
n/a
n/a
Feed
Savage Cinema Down Under
Safety in Numbers
Bloodspit
Defenseless: A Blood
Symphony
DVD release
US DVD compilation release only
(Films of Mark Savage)
DVD release
DVD release (US premiere)
Online DVD release:
http://www.subversivecinema.com
2007 9 June
Mid-2007
June
July
July
November
November
November
December
When Evil Reigns
Parallels
Voodoo Lagoon
Gone
Nailed
Demons Among Us
Rogue
Gabriel
Silence is Golden
Online DVD release:
www.whenevilreigns.com
Online DVD release:
www.filmannex.com
Germany DVD release June;
Japan release July
Cinema release
US and South Africa DVD release
DVD release
Cinema release
2
Cinema release
DVD release
2008
(as of
May)
6 February
February
July
October
November
Storm Warning
Black Water
Watch Me
Dead Country
Dying Breed
Black Water
DVD release (premiered straight
to DVD in the US)
Cinema release (UK release)
Australian release – April
US DVD release
US DVD release
Cinema release
DVD release
2009 2 April Dying Breed DVD release
1
Where no international release or online details are given this indicates a domestic release.
2
Originally scheduled for release in August, then October, then finally released in November.
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Conclusion
• Horror films cause tensions for cultural policy in Australia
• They are commercial, internationally focused and genre-based
• They are not valued ‘Australian’ production and most are distributed into
video rather than cinema markets or prestigious festivals such as
Cannes and so on
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Resources
For those interested in knowing more about the latest Aussie horror
movies, check out:
“Aussie horror films” Facebook Group
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2443433853&ref=ts
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References
Cunningham, Stuart (1985), ‘Hollywood genres, Australian movies’, in Albert Moran and
Tom O’Regan (eds), An Australian film reader, Currency Press, Sydney, pp. 235–41.
Everman, Welch (1993), Cult horror films: From Attack of the 50 foot woman to Zombies of
Mora Tau, Carol Publishing Group, New Jersey.
Lamkin, Elaine (2005), ‘Wolf Creek’, an interview with Greg Mclean, Bloody- disgusting.com,
December, Available: http://www.bloody- disgusting.com/features.php?id=186 [Accessed
07 March 2007].
Prince, Stephen (2004), The horror film, Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ.
Schneider, Steven Jay and Williams, Tony (eds) (2005), Horror international, Wayne
State University Press, Detroit.
Ryan, Mark, David. (2010). Australian cinema's dark sun: the boom in Australian horror film
production. Studies in Australasian Cinema, 4(3), pp. 23-41.
Wells, Paul (2000), The horror genre: From Beelzebub to Blair Witch, Wallflower Press,
London.
