Entries are invited for the Johnny Dennis Music Awards. There are three awards and each award carries a cash prize of $5,000. Entries will be accepted until Friday, 18 May 2012 (they can be received or postmarked 18 May or earlier.) Winners will be announced at a function at NSW Government House on 28 June.

The categories are as follows and the entry form is below:

• Best Popular Song Award                        Prize:  $5,000 cash
• Best Instrumental Award                        Prize:  $5,000 cash
• Best Movie Theme Award                        Prize:  $5,000 cash

• ---

  Entry Form

(Please print off this email as entry forms as required)

Title of Work: (please print)
Name of Composer/Nominator:
Composer:
Company: (if applicable)
Address:
Phone
Email:

Category (please indicate):

• Best Popular Song
• Best Instrumental
• Best Movie Theme
  

Please enclose:

• Lyric sheet (for Song category)
• CD (for Song and Instrumental categories)
• CD, DVD or VHS (for Movie Theme Award)
• Sentence outlining style of film (for Movie Theme Award)
  

Declaration by Person Making the Nomination

I, having read the conditions relating to the Johnny Dennis Music Awards, declare that I am eligible to receive the Award/s and that the music is original and has not been commercially released. I hereby nominate the work for consideration by the judges and agree to accept the decision of the Trustees, as final.

Name of Applicant:
Signature:
Date:

• On the CD or DVD do not write your name.
• Only write the category and title of work on the CD being entered into Song and Instrumental categories.
• For Movie Theme category only include title of film the music is composed for, plus a short sentence outlining the style of the film.
• The name of the songwriter should not be identified on any lyric sheets.
  

Entrants not following these requirements will be automatically disqualified.

Best Popular Song and Best Instrumental Awards

• Music must be original and not commercially released.
• The work should be no longer than four (4) minutes.
• Each entry must be accompanied by a separate entry form and CD.
• CDs should be clearly marked indicating category and the title of the entry only.
• Songs should be accompanied by a lyric sheet.
  

Movie Theme Award

• Music must be original and not commercially released.
• The work should be no longer than four (4) minutes.
• The theme can be written for a film in existence or a style of film i.e. comedy, action, drama etc. Please include a sentence outlining the style of film. Songs should NOT be submitted into this category.
  

General
Composers may enter all three (3) categories. There is no charge for entry. Entries are restricted to one (1) entry per category. If additional entries are sent only the first opened will be judged and additional entries discarded. All categories will be judged by a panel that will include respected Australian musicians and industry personnel.

Further Inquiries
Email: agsc@agsc.org.au

JD Music Awards Rules & Regulations

• The Trustees shall determine whether a composition falls within these guidelines and if a dispute arises the Trustees decision shall be final.
• The judging panel reserve the right to nominate any entry into another category if it deems that category more suitable.
• Each category will have its own judging panel and no individual can win more than one category in one year.
• All works submitted must be original.
• Entries for song, instrumental and movie theme should be no longer than four (4) minutes. Should the entry be longer than four (4) minutes only the first four minutes will be judged.
• Entries will be judged on the quality of the composition, not the recording or performance
• The Johnny Dennis Music Awards are not responsible for late, lost or damaged, misdirected, postage due, stolen or misplaced entries.
• No entries will be returned and receipt of entries will not be acknowledged. Entrants are advised to keep a copy of their entries.
• If the judges are unable to make a choice between two or more entries, the Trustees reserve the right to award the prize to more than one entrant and divide the prize money between or among the winning entrants.
• Recipients of awards are to be eligible, as defined by the Trust, to receive an award to encourage and assist them to receive appropriate recognition.
• Previous winners are not eligible to enter.
  

Trustees:  Mr MFW Harrison (Founding Trustee) & Perpetual Limited
Administered by the Australian Guild of Screen Composers
The Johnny Dennis Music Awards thank APRA for their kind support

Best known for his part on Australian children’s TV show Playschool JAY LAGA’AIA will join in the celebrations at the 2011 SCREEN MUSIC AWARDS. Jay currently narrates each of the characters on the children’s show Larry the Lawnmower and is part of the cast of Australian soap opera Home and Away, as Reverend Elijah Johnson. Jay released his second CD for children, I Can Play Anything, in August 2010.

Also taking on presenter duties at the 2011 SCREEN MUSIC AWARDS is multi talented actor DON HANY. He was nominated for AFI’s in 2008 and 2009 and in 2010 won the Silver Logie for Most Outstanding Actor for the role of Zane Malik in the series East West 101. Don Hany was nominated for Most Popular Actor for his role on Offspring and Tangle at the 2011 Logies.

Joining Don Hany on the Screen Awards stage will be the wonderful CLAUDIA KARVAN whose credits as a producer, writer and actor are too great to list. As one of Australia’s most recognised actresses, she has achieved popular success and critical acclaim through her work in film and television. In August 2010, the Australian series Spirited was launched which Claudia Karvan co-created, produced and starred in.

Another of Australia’s leading and best loved actresses, SIGRID THORNTON will also take her place on the podium on the night. She has starred in many of the films, which are now regarded as classics of the Australian cinema along with several very successful television productions including the landmark Sea Change. Sigrid was most recently seen in feature film Face To Face, a film that has won 15 international awards and counting. Widely respected producer NELSON WOSS will also join the presenters’ line-up for 2011. In 2000 Nelson Woss set up his own production company and went on to produce the Aussie film Ned Kelly back in 2003. His most recent accomplishment is as producer of the acclaimed film Red Dog.

Also taking on a presenter role at the 2011 SCREEN MUSIC AWARDS is television presenter and gardener extraordinaire BRENDAN MOAR. A television host with more than 15 years on the small screen, best known for hosting several lifestyle genre shows on Foxtel, and being the host of program Dry Spell Gardening Brendan Moar is also host to Ten’s, The Renovators. Acclaimed television and stage actor STEVE BISLEY will join the SCREEN MUSIC AWARDS festivities. His major television roles have included Water Rats, Police Rescue and most recently in Sea Patrol as Commander Steve Marshall.

Currently playing the part of Guido Calletti in Underbelly: Razor RICHARD BRANCATISANO is an Australian television actor and musician, also known for his role as Xander Bly, the Green Mystic Ranger, in Power Rangers: Mystic Force. He studied for three years at Theatre Nepean and continues to work, both as an actor and musician, nationally and internationally.

Australian television and film actor DAMON GAMEAU, who has appeared in the Australian series Love My Way, Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities and the 2009 feature film Balibo is a confirmed presenter for the SCREEN MUSIC AWARDS. He also starred in Spirited as Adrian Brixton alongside Claudia Karvan and Matt King and is currently appearing in RTÉ’s latest Irish drama, RAW, based in an exclusive Dublin restaurant. AMANDA BROWN has been composing for stage and screen since 2000 and before that enjoyed a career as a multi-instrumentalist in several bands. She was a member of cherished Australian independent band The Go-Betweens, with whom she toured the world and recorded two albums, Tallulah and 16 Lovers Lane.

Multi award winner singer / songwriter SARAH BLASKO will make a special guest appearance to perform Miles Nicholasʼ Dream On from THE MISSING KEY, a composition nominated in the category of BEST ORIGINAL SONG COMPOSED FOR THE SCREEN.

Closing the nightʼs proceedings will be a special performance by two of Australiaʼs most daring and original performers PAUL CAPSIS AND CHRISTA HUGHES who will perform a selection of songs from PAPER GIANTS: THE BIRTH OF CLEO soundtrack.

A live orchestra conducted by musical director and composer CEZARY SKUBISZEWSKI will perform a selection of nominated compositions at the event.

The 2011 SCREEN MUSIC AWARDS (presented by APRA and the AGSC) will be held on Monday November 14th at City Recital Hall in Sydney.

Featuring host NONI HAZLEHURST and special guest presenters DON HANY, CLAUDIA KARVAN, JAY LAGA’AIA, SIGRID THORNTON, STEVE BISLEY, RICHARD BRANCATISANO, DAMON GAMEAU, AMANDA BROWN, NELSON WOSS and BRENDAN MOAR with performances by SARAH BLASKO and CHRISTA HUGHES & PAUL CAPSIS.

APRA and the Australian Guild of Screen Composers are proud to announce the nominees for the 2011 Screen Music Awards.

The Screen Music Awards sees the spotlight shines on the often unsung heroes of the small and large screens with the announcement of nominees for the 2011 SCREEN MUSIC AWARDS, jointly presented by APRA (Australasian Performing Right Association) and the AGSC (Australian Guild of Screen Composers).

Each year the music industry gathers to celebrate excellence in the composition of music for film and television. Nominees across 12 categories have today been recognised and the list includes some of the country’s most respected screen composers alongside some exciting new faces. Some of the nominated

pieces include compositions from some of the year’s most talked about screen events including Snowtown, Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo, Rush, Rake, Mad Bastards, Yes We Canberra, The Legend of the Guardians and Cloudstreet.

With a roll call of multiple nominees that includes Alex Lloyd, Alan Pigram and Stephen Pigram, Bryony Marks, Christopher Elves, David Hirschfelder, Burkhard Dallwitz, Miles Nicholas, Ash Gibson Greig, Stephen Rae, Neil Sutherland and Michael Yezerski, drum roll please for the finalists of the 2011

SCREEN MUSIC AWARDS.

The prestigious FEATURE FILM SCORE OF THE YEAR category features a mixture of newcomers to the world of screen composition alongside established heavyweights. Screen composition debutante Jed Kurzel (of Sydney band The Mess Hall) has been nominated for his work on the eerie film Snowtown. The stunning collaboration between musicians Alex Lloyd and Alan and Stephen Pigram has been nominated for Mad Bastards. Multiple Screen Music Awards’ nominee and winner David Hirschfelder has been nominated for The Legend of the Guardians as has another multiple Screen Music Awards winner Burkhard Dallwitz who has been nominated for his work on The Way Back. Alex Lloyd, Alan Pigram and Stephen Pigram return as nominees in the category of BEST SOUNDTRACK ALBUM, again for their work on Mad Bastards. In his first Screen Music Awards nomination is Dmitri Golovko who is recognised for his work on Red Hill. Rafael May is nominated for Road Train: Road Kill Soundtrack and composer Michael Yezerski returns as a nominee in 2011 for his work on The Lost Thing.

With the addition of composer Brendan Fletcher, Alex Lloyd, Alan Pigram and Stephen Pigram make it 3 Screen Music Awards’ nominations, this time receiving a nod in the category of BEST ORIGINAL SONG COMPOSED FOR THE SCREEN. They are nominated for Won’t Look Back from Mad Bastards. The multi talented Andrew Hansen and Chris Taylor from The Chaser make an appearance in this category for their composition Negotiate from Yes, We Canberra. Composer Miles Nicholas makes his first of two appearances in the 2011 Screen Music Awards nominees list for Dream On from The Missing Key. And Cain Horton and Paul Kingston are nominated for Sweet Dreams: Sky Boat from Giggle & Hoot.

The category of BEST MUSIC FOR A SHORT FILM features a collection of exciting composers including Mike Darren (for Collision), Dale Cornelius (for Polo’s Robot), Paul Haley (for The Maker) and Kathryn Brownhill, Miles Nicholas and Jonathan Nix for their collaboration on The Missing Key.

Composer Martin Armiger is nominated in the category of BEST MUSIC FOR A DOCUMENTARY for Cane Toads: The Conquest. He is nominated alongside Ash Gibson Greig and Petris Torres for Jandamarra’s War, Matteo Zingales for Lachlan Macquarie: Father of Australia and Christopher Elves

for The Silent Epidemic.

Another first time Screen Music Awards nominee is Kit Warhurst, composer of Adam Hills in Gordon Street Tonight, which is nominated in the category of BEST TELEVISION THEME. Also in the running for this award is composer David Chapman for AFP, Cliff Bradley for Message Stick and Haydn Walker for

Scariacs.

The collaboration of Michael Lira, David McCormack and Antony Partos has seen a nomination garnered for Rake in the category of BEST MUSIC FOR A TELEVISION SERIES OR SERIAL. Stephen Rae is nominated for Rush: Series 3: Episode 16 and Ash Gibson Greig for Who Do You Think You Are:

Series 3. In the first of two Screen Music Awards nominations for 2011 respected composer Bryony Marks appears on the 2011 nominees roll call for Tangle: Season 2: Lost and Found. Bryony Marks returns with a nomination in the category of BEST MUSIC FOR A MINI-SERIES OR TELEMOVIE for her work on the adaptation of Tim Winton’s classic Cloudstreet. She is joined in this category by fellow nominees Guy Gross (for East West 101: Series 3: Episode 1) Stephen Rae (for Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo) and the prolific Burkhard Dallwitz for Underbelly Files: Tell Them Lucifer Was Here.

The composition of the Giggle & Hoot: Christmas Special by Sean Pete has been nominated for BEST MUSIC FOR CHILDREN’S TELEVISION, along with Henrique Dib for Gravity, Christopher Elves (in his 2nd nomination for 2011) for K9: Eclipse of the Korven and Roger Mason for My Place II: Henry. In the category of BEST MUSIC FOR AN ADVERTISEMENT, Blair Joscelyne is nominated for Cascade: The Feel, composers Ramesh Sathiah and Gerard Fitzgerald are given a nod for their collaboration of Pure Blonde Pardon, Michael Yezerski scores his 2nd nomination for 2011 for his composition of SBS Films 2 and Elliott Wheeler for his work on VW Passat: Change Rooms.

Neil Sutherland has been nominated for the MOST PERFORMED SCREEN COMPOSER in both AUSTRALIA and OVERSEAS. The other most performed nominees are: Adam Gock, Dinesh Wicks, Jay Stewart, Brenton White, Ricky Edwards, Ric Formosa and David Hirschfelder.

The diversity of the 2011 nominees announced today show the depth of Australia’s screen composing talent. The 2011 SCREEN MUSIC AWARDS, presented by APRA (Australasian Performing Right Association) and the AGSC (Australian Guild of Screen Composers) will be held at the City Recital Hall,

Angel Place, Sydney on Monday November 14th. A live orchestra conducted by musical director and composer CEZARY SKUBISZEWSKI will perform a selection of nominated compositions at the event and multi-talented actor NONI HAZLEHURST will host the 2011 SCREEN MUSIC AWARDS.

Congratulations to all nominees, and special thanks to all who entered the 2011 Screen Music Award.

Best Music for an Advertisement

Title                      Cascade: The Feel

Composer                   Blair Joscelyne

Publisher                  Nylon Publishing Pty Ltd

Title                      Pure Blonde Pardon

Composers                  Ramesh Sathiah / Gerard Fitzgerald

Publisher                  Song Zu Publishing Pty Ltd

Title                      SBS Films 2

Composer                   Michael Yezerski

Publisher                  Nylon Publishing Pty Ltd

Title                      VW Passat: Change Rooms

Composer                   Elliott Wheeler

Best Music for a Documentary

Title                      Cane Toads: The Conquest

Composer                   Martin Armiger

Publishers                 Mushroom Music Pty Ltd / M L R P Music (BMI)

Title                      Jandamarra’s War

Composers                  Ash Gibson Greig / Petris Torres

Title                      Lachlan Macquarie: Father of Australia

Composer                   Matteo Zingales

Publisher                  Sonar Music Pty Ltd

Title                      The Silent Epidemic

Composer                   Christopher Elves

Publishers                 Beyond Properties Pty Ltd administered by

Sony/ATV Music Publishing

Best Music for a Short Film 

Title                     Collision

Composer                  Mike Darren

Title                     Polo’s Robot

Composer                  Dale Cornelius

Publisher                 Native Tongue Music Publishing

Title                     The Maker

Composer                  Paul Halley

Title                     The Missing Key

Composers                 Kathryn Brownhill / Miles Nicholas / Jonathan Nix

Best Soundtrack Album

Title                     Mad Bastards

Composers                 Alex Lloyd* / Alan Pigram / Stephen Pigram

Publisher                 Rondor Music Australia Pty Ltd*

Title                     Red Hill

Composer                  Dmitri Golovko

Title                     Road Train: Road Kill Soundtrack

Composer                  Rafael May

Title                     The Lost Thing

Composer                  Michael Yezerski

Publisher                 Source Music Pty Ltd

Best Original Song Composed for the Screen

Title                     Dream On from The Missing Key

Composer                  Miles Nicholas

Title                     Negotiate from  Yes, We Canberra

Composers                 Andrew Hansen / Chris Taylor

Publishers                ABC Music Publishing Pty Ltd administered by Mushroom Music Pty Ltd

Title                     Sweet Dreams: Sky Boat from Giggle & Hoot

Composers                 Cain Horton / Paul Kingston

Publishers                ABC Music Publishing Pty Ltd administered by Mushroom Music

Pty Ltd

Title                     Won’t Look Back from Mad Bastards

Composers                 Brendan Fletcher / Alex Lloyd* / Alan Pigram / Stephen Pigram

Publisher                 Rondor Music Australia Pty Ltd*

Best Music for Children’s Television

Title                      Giggle & Hoot: Christmas Special

Composer                   Sean Peter

Publishers                 ABC Music Publishing Pty Ltd administered by Mushroom Music Pty Ltd

Title                      Gravity

Composer                   Henrique Dib

Title                      K9: Eclipse of the Korven

Composer                   Christopher Elves

Publishers                 Fintage Publishing & Collection Australia obo Resonant Music 1 Ltd

   Partners

Title                      My Place II: Henry

Composer                   Roger Mason

Best Television Theme

Title                      Adam Hills in Gordon Street Tonight

Composer                   Kit Warhurst

Publisher                  Mushroom Music Pty Ltd

Title                      AFP

Composer                   David Chapman

Title                      Message Stick

Composer                   Cliff Bradley

Publishers                 ABC Music Publishing Pty Ltd administered by Mushroom Music Pty Ltd

Title                      Scariacs

Composer                   Haydn Walker

Publisher                  Song Zu Publishing Pty Ltd

Best Music for a Television Series or Serial

Title                      Rake

Composers                  Michael Lira / David McCormack / Antony Partos

Title                      Rush: Series 3: Episode 16

Composer                   Stephen Rae

Publishers                 Universal Music Publishing Pty Ltd obo Southern Star Entertainment Pty Ltd

Title                      Tangle: Season 2: Lost and Found

Composer                   Bryony Marks

Publishers                 Universal Music Publishing Pty Ltd obo Southern Star Entertainment Pty

   Ltd/Source Music Pty Ltd

Title                      Who Do You Think You Are: Series 3

Composer                   Ash Gibson Greig

Best Music for a Mini-Series or Telemovie 

Title                      Cloudstreet

Composer                   Bryony Marks

Publisher                  Source Music Pty Ltd

Title                      East West 101: Series 3: Episode 1

Composer                   Guy Gross

Title                      Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo

Composer                   Stephen Rae

Publishers                 Universal Music Publishing Pty Ltd obo Southern Star Entertainment Pty Ltd

Title                      Underbelly Files : Tell Them Lucifer Was Here

Composer                   Burkhard Dallwitz

Feature Film Score of the Year

Title                      Mad Bastards

Composers                  Alex Lloyd* / Alan Pigram / Stephen Pigram

Publisher                  Rondor Music Australia Pty Ltd*

Title                      Snowtown

Composer                   Jed Kurzel

Publishers                 Ivy League Music administered by Mushroom Music Pty Ltd

Title                      The Legend of the Guardians

Composer                   David Hirschfelder

Publishers                 Universal/MCA Music Publishing Pty Ltd obo Warner Olive Music LLC

Title                      The Way Back

Composer                   Burkhard Dallwitz

Publishers                 Fintage Publishing & Collection Australia obo Resonant Music 1 Ltd Partners

Most Performed Screen Composer – Australia*

Composer                   Adam Gock/Dinesh Wicks

Composer                   Jay Stewart

Composer                   Neil Sutherland

Composer                   Brenton White

Most Performed Screen Composer – Overseas*

Composer                   Ricky Edwards

Composer                   Ric Formosa

Composer                   David Hirschfelder

Composer                   Neil Sutherland

*Determined by statistical analysis

To view never-seen-before interviews with composers David Hirschfelder, Bryony Marks, Martin Armiger, Roger Mason, David McCormack and Michael Lira, Stephen Rae, Guy Gross and Kit Warhurst talking about their nominated compositions, visit the 2011 SCREEN MUSIC AWARDS nominations site! For all this, plus more previously unseen content, go to: www.apra-amcos.com.au/2011ScreenMusicAwards/

The screening followed by a Q&A with Cezary Skubiszewski & Jill Bilcock, the editor of the film.

Sunday, 16 October at 3.30pm at Sydney Hoyts EQ, Moore Park

Cost: No charge   RSVP Essential: rsvp@agsc.org.au

Now in its 10th year (in the current format), the SCREEN MUSIC AWARDS, which is an event held jointly by APRA (Australasian Performing Right Association) and AGSC (Australian Guild of Screen Composers Limited) remains the only Australian event to honour the unseen champions of music composition in film and television.

This year’s celebration of the marriage between screen and music will be staged at the impressive City Recital Hall at Angel Place on MONDAY NOVEMBER 14TH.

APRA|AMCOS CEO Brett Cottle said: “The Screen Music awards showcase the depth of talent and diversity of creativity of Australia’s film and television composers. Through this annual event, we can show our support for, and shine the spotlight on, the often unsung heroes of the creative experience in film.”

The 2011 SCREEN MUSIC AWARDS will honour music composers across 12 categories including compositions for documentaries, short films, miniseries, children’s television and feature film scores. A panel of highly respected Australian film and television composers will determine four nominees across 10 categories. APRA will use statistical analysis to define nominations based on performance activity as reflected by earning for the categories of Most Performed Screen Composer – Australia and Most Performed Screen Composer – Overseas.

“Music is the life blood for any screen project and the Screen Music Awards honours the blood, sweat and tears spent by all composers bringing a project to life. The past year has been a rich year for screen music reflecting the creative talent across many crafts in the Australian screen industry” said AGSC President Clive Harrison

In keeping with recent tradition a live orchestra, conducted by musical director CEZARY SKUBISZEWSKI will perform a selection of nominated compositions at the event. A Screen Music Award winner himself, CEZARY SKUBISZEWSKI is one of Australia’s leading film composers and responsible for numerous well known pieces including screen compositions for Two Hands, After The Deluge, The Sound of One Hand Clapping, Bran Nue Day, Beneath Hill 60 and Red Dog.

The wildly talented actress NONI HAZLEHURST who most recently made headlines for her online narration of Go The F— to Sleep, the runaway book by American novelist Adam Mansbach and illustrator Ricardo Cortes, will host this very special black tie event.

Nominees in the following categories for the 2011 SCREEN MUSIC AWARDS will be announced on Thursday October 13th.

2011 SCREEN MUSIC AWARDS CATEGORIES

•    Most Performed Screen Composer – Australia*

•    Most Performed Screen Composer – Overseas*

•    Most Performed Screen Composer – Overseas*

•    Best Music for a Documentary

•    Best Music for a Short Film

•    Best Original Song Composed for the Screen

•    Best Music for a Mini-Series or Telemovie

•    Best Music for a Television Series or Serial

•    Best Television Theme

•    Best Music for Children’s Television

•    Best Feature Film Score

•    Best Music for an Advertisement

•    Best Soundtrack Album

*Determined by statistical analysis

 2011 SCREEN MUSIC AWARDS 

Presented by APRA and the AGSC, Hosted by Noni Hazlehurst

Monday November 14th

City Recital Hall, Angel Place, Sydney

Then you may be entitled to royalty payments. Log in to the APRA website, submit your Live Performance Return (LPR) for the 10-11 financial year by August 31, and get paid in November!

To help with the process, APRA|AMCOS are hosting LPR Connecting Members sessions around the country in August. For more information or to submit your LPR, head to apra-amcos.com.au

Relief for NSW sector as new State government comes to the continuing party. Meanwhile, national cycle trends up for a bit, and the dollar continues to be dolorous. Lyn Norfor remains calm under the conflicted circumstances.

It was a wet and freezing night in old Sydney town for this year’s NSW screen industry briefing. People drizzled into the upstairs foyer at the Australian Institute of Music, and huddled in small groups, warmed only by an overpowering aroma of air-freshener. Slowly the foyer filled until the doors were opened to the impressively named but equally chilly Concert Hall.

As in the previous two briefings, Sandy George chaired the proceedings with her usual straight talking and sharp humour. She introduced the all-women panel – Ruth Harley (CEO, Screen Australia), Tania Chambers (Chief Executive, Screen NSW) and Deborah Richards (Chief Executive, Ausfilm). George blamed a confluence of factors for the economic pain she acknowledged that many people and companies she had spoken to were currently suffering. She listed the withdrawal of international productions due to the high Australian dollar, the digital revolution, the GFC and terrorism in the modern world! She even added that it’s possible that producers are taking advantage of the soft economic climate and driving prices down, especially with post houses.

Ruth Harley was the first to address the nearly three quarters full house, and she stated the obvious – the last financial year has been ‘extremely tough with the high Australia dollar a complete nightmare and no foreign productions’. But, on the bright side, more Australians are returning home to film – Baz Luhrman, Stephan Elliott, PJ Hogan and George Miller.

Harley said that our industry was cyclical and in 2009/10 there was a peak, 2010/11 was a trough and 2011/12 is predicted to be on the rise again, with The Great Gatsby leading the charge. Features to be filmed in NSW this year include The Sapphires, Dead Europe and Venice, coupled with a renaissance in quality TV adult drama. She predicted further productions would be announced next week in the latest production round.

There were many figures and graphs in Harley’s power point presentation but the big print can be summarised as Screen Australia investment totalled $66.5 million in 99 projects, which triggered $264 million worth of production. In 2010/11, SA funded 17 features, 11 TV drama projects, 4 children’s TV series and 67 documentaries. Harley also predicted that Australian films would be in every A-list international film festival this year – even though Venice and Toronto haven’t been announced, she is very confident.

Harley didn’t forget documentaries, noting that the local box office for Mrs Carey’s Concert has just hit $1million and the top 10 television documentaries were all Australian. Harley said ‘convergence is the big word for this year with the Convergence Review a great opportunity to expand and grow our industry.’ Harley finished her bullish presentation with a metaphor that even she admitted was long and complicated –something to do with the crew in the audience being the ‘heart, brains and body’, which then got entangled with other bodily organs and functions such as veins and blood. A trailer for Stephan Elliott’s A Few Good Men got everyone laughing with the antics of the handsome young leads and the many sheep shagging jokes – which Harley said she particularly enjoyed.

Tania Chambers was next up and she agreed with Harley that this has been a very tough year. She said that the new NSW Liberal government was very supportive of the industry with the Minister for the Arts, George Souris, attending the Sydney Film Festival. She also advised the audience to take special note of the important trend in regional growth, with 13 new ministers from regional areas, as compared to the 2 regional ministers in the last Labour government.

Chambers mentioned the ongoing benefits and flow-on effects of the two years of the additional $5 million funding as well as the improving film friendly practices in NSW. She said there were no international productions ahead, with The Great Gatsby and Happy Feet 2 being counted as local productions. Let’s hope that these two industry lifesavers will not suffer the same on-again off-again fate of the other much-touted saviour, Fury Road. Chambers said that all the facts and figures in her power point presentation could be found on the Screen NSW website.

Deborah Richards was the final speaker and she warned the audience that, unlike the previous two speakers, she had pages and pages of notes and only three slides. She then listed increasing both the Location and PDV Offsets as a major focus of the lobbying efforts of Ausfilm. Both pegged at 15 per cent until the latest budget, Richards said ‘they worked well when the Australian dollar was at 64 cents. But at 82 cents they were in dire straits and when the dollar hit parity and beyond, they fell off the page’.

Ausfilm decided, after commissioning an economic impact study, to recommend to the federal government a doubling of both the Location and PDV Offsets. A petition of 9,000 industry signatories, organised by Jen Cornwell, accompanied the Ausfilm submission. After much lobbying and several visits to Canberra, the PDV Offset was doubled to 30 per cent but the Location Offset was only raised to 16.5 per cent. Richards is still hopeful there will be a further increase in the Location Offset in the next budget and encouraged the audience to contact and lobby their local members. Richard’s quirky turn of phrase and wry humour added a light touch to a rather gloomy outlook.

Sandy George kick-started the question and answer part of the evening with a couple of questions that had been emailed in. The question, which sparked the strongest response from the panel, asked how to make screen agency personnel take responsibility for their decisions to back films that failed dismally. The second part of the question was about keeping agency staff on short-term contracts so they could regularly return to the industry. Tania Chambers jumped in and explained that most Screen NSW staff, including herself, are already on contracts and there were very few permanent staff. Ruth Harley agreed regarding SA personnel and then gave a spirited defence of Sleeping Beauty as an outstanding winner, even though it failed to perform at the Australian box office. This was may not have been one of the films referred to in the question as a ‘dismal failure’ – there are several other contenders, which Harley obviously ignored, vying for that coveted moniker.

Another related question concerned the issue of conflict of interest by screen agency staff and board members. Chambers answered by outlining the standard policies every agency had in place to cover this eventuality and finished by challenging the audience that the only way to completely avoid this was to have non-industry personnel assessing and approving projects.

There were a number of questions from the floor concerning the regional film offices, information on ‘greening’ the industry and the preferential treatment, via the Creative Enterprise Scheme, being given to large, established production houses rather than to small, independent documentary filmmakers.

As the audience leave this third annual industry briefing, the energy and buzz in the room rises as the ‘heart, brains and body’ of the industry look forward to yet another year of fluctuating fortunes.
Lyn Norfor
Lyn Norfor is a producer with factual and drama television projects in development.