Home-grown and local storytelling is changing as the Australian film and television industry continues to modernise how content is digested in the online and broadcast space.
A recent Senate inquiry into the factors contributing to the growth and sustainability of Australian content on broadcast, radio and streaming services, as well as examining the economic value, has recommended higher local content quotas, producer offsets and focused on the current state of broadcasting for traditional, streaming and catch up viewing.
“Telling stories about who we are and what our values are gives us a chance to reflect, debate and celebrate who we are as a nation. It is a unique, and important type of soft diplomacy that lets us engage with the world,” says Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, the spokesperson and chair of the House Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts.
Senator Hanson-Young spoke fluently of the changes to the way Australian audiences consume media, with over 7.1 million Australians using streaming services. “We need to introduce content quotes for services like Netflix, Amazon and Stan. We need to make sure Australian programming is being shown where Australian audiences are.”
The committee heard more than 40 submissions from Australia’s very own film and television industry, from Screen Producers Australia, Sony Pictures Entertainment to Netflix. Although the art industry injects almost $14 billion into Australia’s economy, the complex system received no direct support in the 2019 Federal Budget.
Screen Producers Australia chief executive Matt Deaner says the lack of funding could play an increasing role in the existence of Australia’s home-grown content. “Our industry has, in this government’s term, been reviewed three times and with every indecision and inaction is at great risk of becoming less globally competitive.
“SPA has long been a proponent of these positions, which not only mirror original policy intents but are all needed to curb the rise of production costs, changes in TV viewer habits as well as changes in distribution and release models for feature film.
“These recommendations serve as timely reminders of the value of the diversity of Australian content, despite efforts to see parts of our content quota system reduced or abolished,” says Deaner.
Leading towards the 18 May Federal Election, Labor has promised a Taskforce to modernise the settings that support Australian and children’s content in a converged media environment. In a statement from Shadow Minister for the Arts Tony Burke and Shadow Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland, the opposition is aware of the “concerted effort” from attempts to make progress on the reform agenda, highlighting that the Liberal government have ignored the key issues that have affected the growth of the industry.
With the increase of online content and services being accessible to Australian audiences and creators, many members of the industry are taking their storytelling to digital platforms. Over the last five years, Sebastian Peart, animator of the web-series Stepmates TV, has built an online community surrounding a collection of online content with over 1.3 million viewers on YouTube. With over 130,000 followers across multiple channels, it was only in December 2018 that the comedy group were approached by an Australian network to write and pitch a 6 x 22-minute series, taking their online presence to broadcast.
Peart says that networks are taking the right steps to improve their current standpoint in the industry as online streaming services gain more viewership. Australian networks like Channel 7 have turned to on-demand streaming services with 7Plus, alongside the Australian Broadcasting Cooperation’s ABC iview who celebrated their tenth anniversary in 2018, making broadcast content available online for streaming.
“As time goes on, television numbers are going to keep dwindling until it’s not feasible. I think what networks are doing now, especially digital networks, is they’re trying to incorporate that aspect of TV and far more on-demand content available – it’ll be sink or swim for those networks who don’t take that path,” says Peart.
“More and more people are using Netflix and YouTube to watch content. I know when I get home every night, I don’t even touch the telly, I’ll just scroll through YouTube videos.”
With the amount of online content available, it’s still clear that a considerable amount of Australia’s younger audience’s consume video content compared to those who grew up watching traditional free-to-air TV. In a recent study by Analytic Partners, measuring the meta-analysis of over 22,000 market mix models, found that the return on investment for online content is significantly higher than that of the traditional TV for millennials.
Peart says although it’s up to the Australian government to improve content quotas and producer offsets, Australian creators will have to take matters into their own hands to produce online content. “No one’s going to take a risk from someone who’s unproven (in the industry.) We’re lucky in this day and age that we have a way to prove ourselves. To some extent, I think it’s in the hands of the Australian government. But I think that young creators need to get out there and prove their work. It doesn’t all rest on the government to provide handouts.”
Creators Marc Gallagher and Luke Goodall share a similar story of creating a catalogue of broadcast quality content for the web. Under the name Goodall and Gallagher, the pair have been creating short-form sketch comedy for over 5 years, developing a strong relationship with their online viewers.
During this time, Gallagher questions the process behind developing broadcast content in comparison to online content. “It seems in the current landscape if you want to make the leap from the internet to a traditional broadcasting system, whether that be (Network) Ten, Seven (Network)… you have to be championing your own content. You have to be making your own content.”