Last night the inaugural Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts awards were held at Sydney’s Opera House as the Australian film and television community gathered to celebrate the achievements of the past 12 months and those who went along for the ride left vaguely amused, with little thanks to the event’s producers.  

The show, produced by FremantleMedia, for delayed broadcast on Nine, provided a far different experience for the live audience member than the viewer at home. And Nine would have been grateful for the three-hour buffer from recording to broadcast – they certainly took full advantage of the delay. Entire award announcements were chopped from the show and with them the evening’s most memorable moment, director Stephan Elliott’s speech, delivered prior to his presentation of the best direction in television award, where he not only slammed those unwilling to support the local film industry but also included a statement about gay marriage as Elliott announced he was “coming out”. The broadcast was all the poorer for the loss of Elliott’s outburst which had audience members enthralled and was a welcome relief from the poorly scripted jokes several of the presenters delivered.

From my seat, the autocue could be seen and the cringe-worthy grabs for laughs were telegraphed well before they left the presenters lips. One such attempt was a sponsor-pleasing string of jokes incorporating naming rights sponsor Samsung where AACTA president Geoffrey Rush name-checked a series of films and performers whose names could be replaced with the word Samsung – like Samsung and Delilah or Samsung Neill. Boom-tish.

Jokes like this would have been forgiven had they been off the cuff but you couldn’t help but wonder just who was responsible for scripting the evening. For an industry that lives and dies by the written word, surely this was a major oversight.

But by far the most questionable decision of the show’s producers was the musical odes to nominees for best film. Admittedly, the performances improved as the night went on, but surely the only way to go was up after Justine Clarke’s jarring Playschool inspired version of Teddy Bear’s Picnic reinvented for Willem Dafoe vehicle The Hunter. As comediennes Magda Szubanski and Julia Morris belted out tongue-in-cheek songs for films that were far from tongue-in-cheek, Oranges and Sunshine and The Eye of the Storm respectively, the real question was what sort of treatment Mad Bastards and Snowtown would get when their turn rolled around. Surely bodies in barrels would make for a cracker of a comedy song? Alas, it was not to be as Tim Rogers hit a more serious note with his Snowtown inspired tune.

Other baffling moments from the evening included the presentation of an award by model Miranda Kerr. Why exactly she was there is unknown. Perhaps another sponsor pleaser, this time for David Jones?

From my seat at the Opera House, the AACTAs look to be on the right track but perhaps the comedy should be left to professionals like Ricky Gervais at the Golden Globes. The forming of our own academy is a start when it comes to competing on the international stage but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Really, there’s nothing wrong with a serious awards presentation, especially if that’s the best humour we can deliver.

Normally the minute the ratings period ends, viewers switch off the television in droves. There’s usually naught on they’ve not already seen, or some extremely poor sitcom from the US. But this year, Ten have been trying a different approach as they revive a retro favourite. Welcome back It’s A Knockout.

For those unfamiliar with the format, think Wipeout meets the Olympics as teams go head to head in physical challenges.

This is the first project from FremantleMedia’s new production arm Spring, described as the Jetstar to Fremantle’s Qantas and created specifically to pump out brand-funded and digital channel content. McDonald’s has partnered with Ten to commission the program and perhaps most interesting is how the brand is integrated into the show – and what happens to the content after the series airs.

Apart from the obvious logos, and advertising, news earlier this year the fast food chain will launch an in-store TV channel across the US means the show could have a second life in the not too distant future. It’s a Knockout certainly fits with the brand’s ‘healthy family fun’ position and would provide a wealth of content if the restaurant follows suit down under.

It’s a Knockout airs each Sunday throughout summer in the prime 7.30pm timeslot and other networks will be paying close attention. If this goes well, we can expect similar brand funded productions that move beyond straight product placement. We may also see commercial networks changing their commissioning model for off season programming.

While the first episode of It’s a Knockout drew 1.03m viewers, a better result than many of Ten’s in season programs, the audience fell to 872,000 for the second outing. With the ratings off, Ten has less to lose if the decline in viewers continues but how happy will McDonalds be with the result? It appears the game isn’t changing but perhaps the rules are.

Steve Molk is the editor of MolksTVTalk.com.

• This feature first appeared in the relaunched print edition of Encore magazine. To subscribe, click here.

Punters visit the cinema for an exciting communal experience, not the ease of parking.
As the multiplex struggles to keep the candy bar traffic flowing, automated cogs pump out digital images and the passionate few who strive to make their independent exhibition houses a cultural beacon (The Ritz, The Astor, Chauvel and so on) face impending doom. It’s an education problem, to be honest.
Kids these days have no idea what it means to sit in a cinema where the environment is part of the experience. Moviegoers of past generations were spoilt and didn’t know it. They had choice with unique cinemas specialising in various genres and programming. Today it’s just a shopping mall with seemingly no celebratory effort. Get ‘em in and bang ‘em out.

They don’t even bother to use curtains anymore. ‘Who cares, we’ve got their money and they will take what they’re given.’

Franchised exhibition, as a creative business, is lacking the gusto and inventive passion that smaller independent venues offer. As a result they’re all clambering for the next big thing to keep punters from illegally downloading or just waiting a few months for the DVD. The small guys have known and acted on this all along ironically due to the back-room blanket deals that have shut out mainstream product from independents for decades.

Much like how the music industry sucked on a shotgun, it’s about freedom of choice, a passionate delivery and getting people excited.

Wouldn’t it be great if instead of having one building with 20 screens, have 20 buildings with two screens scattered across town? Spread ‘em out, show different things, have each venue exude different atmospheres and attract likeminded audiences.
Don’t for a second tell me there’s not enough product.

That’s like saying there’s not enough bands for numerous live venues. CD sales are down, record labels are failing miserably, but kids are still out every night watching their favourite bands.

If people are downloading films, it means they want to watch them, right? So why don’t we take the effort to make that experience affordable, irreplaceable and somewhat magical once more.

Chris Murray is the creative director of Popcorn Taxi.

• This feature first appeared in the relaunched print edition of Encore magazine. To subscribe, click here

My name is Steve Molk and I like to live tweet television shows. A lot. I get a kick from connecting with people who watch the same programs I do and together we discuss, joke, and in the blood sport that is ABC1’s Q&A, compete  to see our tweets on screen.

The term ‘two screening’ was coined to describe the growing number of people who, like me, consume television with two different devices, usually the TV and a smart phone or laptop. This allows viewers to watch (or more accurately, listen) to a show while keeping up with the conversation, primarily on the social media network Twitter.

The use of a ‘hashtag’ (a word, acronym or phrase used to identify the show, preceded by a hash e.g. #JnrMasterChef) allows those following the conversation to identify tweets they wish to read. It’s a phenomenon that went largely unnoticed by wider TV audiences and it’s only as programs started to include hashtags and respond to questions in-show that the public has become aware of this clandestine undertaking.

Over at the Seven Network, Twitter is at the top of the to-do list, demonstrated by the appointment of producer extraordinaire and self-proclaimed social media addict Adam Boland in the role of director of social media (he and I attend the same online 12-step program).

Television networks and advertisers clearly see the benefit of instant feedback from a committed audience, and by nurturing and developing this sub-culture, they have the opportunity to shape their product for a market that tells them exactly what they want in near real time.

The era of two screening is upon us but how long will this trend last? As TV manufacturers develop ‘smart’ TVs with internet access, we’ll soon be able to overlay a Twitter stream on screen. Until then, everybody wants in. Keep an eye out for hashtags and tweets coming soon to your favourite show.

Steve Molk is the editor of MolksTVTalk.com and tweets as @MolksTVTalk.

• This feature first appeared in the relaunched print edition of Encore magazine. To subscribe, click here

It has recently come to light that the Hungarian government has some innovative ideas for supporting their local film industry. By introducing three different taxes, our European friends plan to channel funds into local productions and ailing art house cinemas.

The first tax would apply to local porn websites; another, a three per cent tax on multiplex tickets, to funnel into art house exhibition; and finally a general 20 per cent tax break on foreign productions.

According to Variety, the latter has so far generated a US$98 million injection into the local economy via the miniseries World Without End, The Borgias and feature film 47 Ronin starring Keanu Reeves. This is on top of income from Brad Pitt’s US$125m budgeted zombie flick World War Z which is currently shooting in the Hungarian capital, Budapest.

Of course, with our government wisely banning the casting of small-breasted women in adult films in 2010 (no, I’m not making this up), we’re now funding BMWs for plastic surgeons instead.

Could we think of similar ways to re-flow cold hard cash into our local productions?

Perhaps our nation’s capital – where you can buy as much porn, fireworks and cultivate ‘personal use’ pot as you wish – could have an Indulgence Committee committed to the reinvestment of ‘naughty dollars’.

What if just $1 from taxation on every X-rated video, pack of crazy-jacks, lap dance or bong was given directly to local funding bodies – perhaps specifically to first-time directors and producers so as not to upset ‘the usual suspects’ who still get their bi-annual allocations?

Imagine that people – every time you get intimate with yourself or others, blow up a letterbox or ‘kiss the sky’, you too could help the local film industry to grow.

Besides the fact that being called a ‘wanker’ will indeed be a badge of honour at Australia’s many small film festivals.

Chris Murray is the creative director of Popcorn Taxi (and was once the editor of Australian Playboy)

• This feature first appeared in the relaunched print edition of Encore magazine. To subscribe, click here

Last night Foxtel made the most of having its hands on the Sydney Opera House for the Australia’s Next Top Model final and announced its plans for 2012 too.

It was a glitzy upfront, attended by media agencies and trade journalists, plus plenty of Foxtel personalities.

But comparing it to last year’s affair, the emphasis appears to have shifted away from local drama.  

A year ago, the excitement was around local dramas including Spirited and Slide.

Foxtel’s 2011 upfronts (August 2010):

Neither Spirited or Slide made it into this year’s presentation, which suggests they haven’t got new series.

I suspect that the high costs of the 2012 Olympics (Rove McManus being part of the commentary team was a big part of last night’s proceeedings) may be a factor.

For local productions in other genres, a couple of the big announcements also had something a familiar ring

Both The People Speak Australia and Got To Dance were first announced in the Foxtel upfronts of 14 months ago.

However, all is not quite lost for local drama on subscription TV. Foxtel’s director of TV Brian Walsh did tell the room that there would be an announcement of a drama commission early next year.

Hopefully it’ll be a big one.

Tim Burrowes

But Australian programs rating well, and the Australian TV industry thriving are completely different.

Despite the high ratings of Packed to the Rafters and The X Factor, what is the likelihood commercial programmers would keep investing in Australian shows? Slim, considering FTA industry body Free TV’s two cents to the convergence review was a request to ease local content rules.  It doesn’t fill me with confidence that they’d keep investing.

To buy a pre-packaged program from the US can be one-tenth the price of making something local, so it’s just straight business sense for programmers to buy internationally.

Cast your remote, Mat, to Eleven, Gem or 7Mate and see what happens when a channel has no local content ruling. Swamp People and Murphy Brown – that’s what happens.

In these pre-convergence review days, the multi-channels are the perfect example of Programmers Gone Wild.

The multi-channels are the ideal arenas to offer alternative local TV. With the ad rates on digital channels being generally much cheaper, in place of The Brady Bunch, they could try screening Australian short films; instead of Heartbeat, show local documentaries (docos on a commercial channel, say it ain’t so!), and possibly, maybe, commission a comedy… if it’s good. If they work, bump them up to the network’s parent channel.

Hell, It’s A Knockout would have sufficed as a good multi-channel option, but so genius is the idea of this second-hand and branded-content series it will air on Ten* in prime time.

Indeed a few locally produced programs, drama specifically, are performing swimmingly, but there’s not a lot in the pool.

As per the convergence review, since 2008, foreign content on free to air television has increased 154 per cent, while Australian content only by 59 per cent.

Local drama-only programming accounts for 7.8 per cent of hours on TV while US drama-only accounts for 81 per cent of broadcast hours.

Look to your left, the Australian film industry is drowning not waving, though I’m not suggesting local theatres should be subjected to similar content rulings – that’s a whole other mess.

What I am saying Mat, is I am not confident. While Packed to the Rafters and Underbelly might stick around, everything from Wild Boys down the rating charts would disappear… or get moved to a multi-channel, deemed experimental because it’s local and drama.

*Sarcasm aside, I can’t wait for HG to get behind the commentary mic for more ‘flap jacks’ and ‘hello boys’.

Colin Delaney

The main thing that struck me (apart from the massively rude security guy on the gate) was how depressingly empty most of the place was.

It was desolate. It had the atmosphere of a business district on a Sunday afternoon rather than the film hub of one of the world’s great cities.

Today though, the feeling is very different.  

Board room showdowns being filmed for The Celebrity Apprentice, Mel B et al bustling around for The X Factor, Paradise Lost gearing up and, of course, the massive undertaking that is The Great Gatsby.

Right now Sydney is a screen city. Long may it last.

Tim Burrowes

Trouble is brewing over this year’s SPAA conference, with the scripts selected for the feature film shop window staging a sit-in at SPAA head office.

Wake Up Dead, a particularly fat script, blocked the door of the SPAA lunchroom just before lunch yesterday while other scripts phoned media outlets with a list of demands.

Sci-fi thriller The Room was clearly angry, “I mean, we all wrote ourselves, didn’t we? You saw the SPAA press release last week. We’ve got producers. We’ve got directors. But we don’t get a look in. Look at us; we’re all great ideas. Fresh, original, compelling – of course we wrote ourselves! And now it’s time for a bit of recognition.”

SPAA spokesman Bunty Swine admitted the scripts had indeed put a lot of work into themselves, “But screen storytelling is a collaborative business, the scripts couldn’t have invented themselves without a lot of help from the producers and the directors. That rom-com over there on the phone to Michael Idato – it got completely blocked writing its own first act. The producer had to stand at the computer and yell ‘first they hate each other!’ over and over until it got through the worst of it.”

Bunty Swine heaved a troubled sigh, “We thought we’d solved this malarkey by getting rid of the writers. Writers are just annoying. They worry about their career. You get one of their scripts up and they want to do another! As if. And sometimes they expect to be paid. With real money. I mean, hello? Having the scripts write themselves was supposed to be SO much easier.”

In the lunch room Red Car and a pdf version of Boys Club had abandoned the phones and broken into the SPAA wine fridge. Several third acts were in danger of becoming incoherent. Bunty Swine was philosophical, “That’s so typical of Australian features. We’ll have to get someone in to fix it.” Did he mean to employ a writer? Swine grins. “As long as they don’t expect a credit. Or a mention in a press release.”

The Growler or GRRWR (Guardian of Rightful Recognition for the Writer) lives in the basement of the Australian Writers Guild. Injustice and failure to give a writer their due give him dyspepsia and cause him to rant and demand credits or rectification.

• For career reasons, the writer of this piece has asked to remain anonymous

It would seem, based on serial offenders to the numerous blogs in and around the Australian Film Industry, that as a generalisation, filmmakers have a lot of time on their hands.

Unless you’ve succumbed to the evils of commercial TV, or worse still, commercials themselves, you’ll be one of the countless many touting their writing/directing abilities to funding bodies as the 120-page screenplay to your feature film Independent-genre-feature-with-commercial-potential-that-still-adheres-to-a-distinctly-Australian-sensibility sits atop a desk (or indeed buried under numerous coffee rings) in every Govt department.

You spend most of your time scouring the ‘interwebs’ for news of what jargon is being sprouted at industry workshops and how the producer offset is that one step closer to being as easy to negotiate as driving in India.

Fear not, for we have a cunning stunt that surely will have the industry again thriving, and hopefully minted.

‘Screen Workers Combined.’ This is a small fleet of taxis (owned by The Writer’s and Director’s Guilds, with a small ‘Silver Service’ style fleet for SPAA members) which keeps scribes and creatives engaged in the greater community where the ‘real stories’ are to be found, plus earning everyone a quid.

Imagine it – potential audiences usually allergic to Australian Films (unless it has a dog, a bogan or a combination of the two driving a ute) are now guaranteed to grab a lift with an industry professional who literally has a script under the seat and will pitch it en-route. Punters can thus be immediately fueling the film industry at ground level while also offering advice and feedback. The funding bodies must use these cabs exclusively among their busy schedules; thus inadvertently funding prospective projects first-hand as they pop off to an important meeting or business lunch. In fact, the entire public service could be helping the arts with no middle management.

Of course, I jest. As such an idea would come under too much fire from those with bad driving records and poor eyesight whom are unable to partake in this ingenious revenue model. The alternative here would be a fleet of permanently parked ‘pie and peas’ caravans where visiting VIPs, highly paid actors and off-shore producers can purchase a tasty snack from a film scribe and enjoy the view while also being pitched the ‘next-big-thing’ – all the while safe in the knowledge that it’s pretty hard for anyone to actually get out of the caravan in a hurry (locked from the outside) so a fast escape is easily achieved if need be.

In all seriousness, if there’s a problem there’s usually an answer, or at least an idea. The trick is to be open to thinking about a solution to industry problems that doesn’t require mountains of red tape, jargon, double-meaning and outdated methodology applied at the speed at which a Koala does aerobics to help and support an industry that is founded on ingenuity and creativity, not politics.

It is, however, a ‘business’ and thus if the people aren’t consuming your product (and let’s face it – they are always right), perhaps it’s a good idea to try and improve it and experiment a little more. The artistic nature of the film should come from within regardless; not be the excuse for failure of incorrect investment or poor support at distribution and exhibition level. An incentive for local exhibitors to actually screen a smaller Australian product over another film involving a talking cat, may also be another idea. I’m not talking an ‘Aussie quota’ – no way – just an incentive so that exhibitors feel less reluctant to take a punt in a dangerously fickle world.

But hey – what the fuck would I know?

Chris Murray is the Creative Director of Popcorn Taxi.