Australia: record investment in home-grown drama

Screen Australia recently announced that 2017/18 was a record year for expenditure on local film and television, with $718 million invested in Australian productions throughout the year.

Online dramas saw the largest increase, with the $53 million spent during the year more than tripling the amount spent in 2016/17. Despite seven fewer online drama titles compared with 2016/17, the longer episodes and higher costs-per-hour of titles such as Deadlock (iview), Homecoming Queens (SBS), Romper Stomper (Stan), Tidelands (Netflix), Life of Jess and Superwog (YouTube), all drove investment throughout the year.

While the news was positive on the local front, reduced foreign production lead to a 37 percent decline in overall expenditure. Just $92 million was spent on foreign features in 2017/18, compared with $577 million in 2016/17. According to Screen Australia the coming year looks more positive in this respect, with large productions including Godzilla vs Kong and Dora the Explorer set to contribute to next year’s totals.