Screen Australia’s 27th annual DRAMA REPORT is not just for number crunchers.  It has major implications for what we see and hear on Australian Screens.  And the news is good.

The $1.3 billion spent on screen drama production in 2016/7 is an all-time high.  Of that $667 million was spent on home-grown projects and foreign project spending here was also up, showing as $610 million.

The report covers Australian and foreign feature films, TV drama and online programs and includes PDV-only (post, digital and visual effects). In addition, for the first time, this report includes online drama programs longer than 30 minutes.  These are reported separately, with 22 titles made for platforms such as Stan, ABC iview and YouTube.

Graeme Mason, CEO of Screen Australia said: “Crossing the $1 billion expenditure threshold is an incredible milestone for the Australian screen industry and has not happened by accident. There is a whole ecosystem of support measures that keep our industry firing, including direct government funding, tax incentives and Australian content quotas.”

We all know though that there have been some big budget blockbusters worked on here, both full shoots and PDV only.  The Australian dollar remained below USD$0.80 assisting companies to remain competitive and the Location Offset and PDV Offset, as well as other state and federal government incentives, attracted foreign productions.  These included Thor: Ragnarok, Aquaman and Pacific Rim: Uprising and the PVD on Spider-Man: Homecoming.

But local production of drama features rose to 41 titles from 32 films in the previous year. The report cites  the foreign-backed Peter Rabbit as a driver but also strong domestic and co-production ventures including Sweet Country, Swinging Safari, Cargo and Mary Magdalene (UK).

When we look at drama on the small screen, the growth continues.  Last year had record highs for Australian produced television and this year raises the bar again.  With 46 titles and 457 hours of content.  The majority of which were half-hour comedy formats such as The Family Law (S2), Here Come the Habibs! (S2) and Get Krack!n. Mini-series production remained strong too and included series returns of Cleverman, The Secret Daughter and Wentworth, as well as adaptations such as Wake in Fright and Picnic at Hanging Rock.

Locally produced children’s television drama took a knock though with a sharp decline in Australian expenditure in 16/17 ($48 million), significantly below the five-year average of $60 million.

For those interested in state rivalry New South Wales accounted for the largest share of total expenditure in Australia (36%), however Queensland was not far behind (33%) with the significant rise driven by several major Hollywood blockbusters shooting in the state.

The Screen Australia’s DRAMA REPORT 2016/2017  is available online at     https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/fact-finders/reports-and-key-issues/reports-and-discussion-papers/drama-report-2016-17