Huge drop in drama, comedy production in Australia, new figures show

Hollywood’s 2023 writers’ and actors’ strikes have had a delayed impact locally, pushing screen production in Australia to its lowest level since the beginning of COVID.

The sector recorded expenditure of $1.697 billion in 2023-24, according to Screen Australia’s annual Drama Report. That was down 29 per cent on the previous year, when $2.385 billion was spent making film and television drama and comedy in this country, including both local content and offshore (primarily Hollywood) productions.

Gwilym Lee, Miranda Tapsell and Gladys-May Kelly in Top End Bub.Credit: Amazon Prime Video

The year before that, the figure was $2.38 billion, and in 2020-21 it was $1.903 billion. The last time production spend was lower than in the most recent year was the COVID-ravaged 2019-20, when it topped out at $1.06 billion.

Australian titles accounted for more than half the total. But at $929 million it was down 18 per cent on the previous year’s $1.13 billion, which was itself down on 2021-22’s $1.53 billion spent on Australian titles – an all-time record, driven in large part by big-budget features Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Foe and the soon-to-be-released Robbie Williams biopic Better Man (expenditure is recorded in the year of production, not of release).

Despite the drop, Screen Australia chief executive Deirdre Brennan claimed the tally “represents a solid result after a three-year peak driven by Australia’s status as a COVID-safe filming destination, streaming growth and a number of high-budget theatrical features … we’re optimistic about the future and confident that there will be an uplift in production in the year ahead”.

Jai Courtney and Lily LaTorre in the family film Runt, based on Craig Silvey’s book.Credit:

Released annually, the Drama Report captures expenditure on the vast majority of scripted productions in this country, and also includes money spent on post-production and digital effects by shows that are not filmed here.

Screen Australia and its predecessors have been capturing the data and publishing the report for 34 years.

Two clear trends emerge from this year’s report.

First, while the total spend was down, the sector remains healthy. Total production expenditure only passed the $1 billion mark for the first time in 2016-17, and just five years ago the agency hailed a “record” $768 million spent on Australian titles within a $1.17 billion total.

Australia’s emergence as a safe place to film during COVID has had lingering benefits. Though the strikes made a dint in foreign productions in 2023-24 (down 39 per cent in expenditure year-on-year), generous incentives for foreign productions, a favourable exchange rate and the studios’ confidence in our cast, crews and locations is likely to result in that bouncing back.

Nicolas Cage in The Surfer.Credit: Stan

However, the second clear trend is a negative for the sector: the decline of free-to-air TV as a commissioner of original Australian drama and comedy.

Public broadcaster (ABC, SBS and NITV) spending was static, but with fewer titles. Commercial TV spend was down 38 per cent year-on-year, and resulted in just four titles, with long-running serials Neighbours and Home and Away accounting for most of the hours produced. Foxtel produced just one.

With the free-to-air networks no longer obliged to commission children’s content, it is in marked decline, with just eight shows (down from 12 a year ago) and 35 hours (down from 60) produced. Expenditure was down to $58 million, from $81 million a year ago, and a five-year average of $65 million.

The bulk of TV drama production is now firmly in the hands of the streamers. According to the report, “Stan contributed to 12 titles, Netflix and Binge to four titles each, Paramount+ and Amazon Prime to two titles, Acorn and Adult Swim to one title each.”

The streamers spent $168 million on drama, the public broadcaster spent $50 million, and the commercial FTA networks spent just $41 million between them.

That the streaming platforms are now the principal commissioners of Australian drama and comedy will surprise no one in the sector. But the fact they are under no obligation to continue to play that role is a concern for some because, unlike free-to-air and subscription TV, the streamers are not obliged to commission or stream any Australian content.

Arts Minister Tony Burke had promised that long-heralded streaming quotas – or local content obligations – would be in place by July 1, and would be set higher than the 5 per cent floor proposed by the previous Coalition government.

However, that deadline came and went without legislation being introduced to parliament.

The delay, sources within both the government and the streamers have confirmed, owes to pushback from the Motion Picture Association (MPA), the lobby group representing the major studios.

The MPA has challenged quotas as a breach of the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement, opening up the possibility of screen content becoming embroiled in wider negotiations over tariffs.

Confirming no deal was likely before the next election, Burke recently told this masthead: “We’re continuing to consult [with streamers]. It’s important to get this right.”

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