1. Australian Film – Measuring Success

2. Australian Film
Success of Australian Film has been largely determined by box office receipts
when it’s not busy depressing us with films about cancer and people who collapse in gutters with needles in their arms, Australian films are cringe-inducing ‘g’day mate’comedies. The sort of face palm productions geared towards jokes featuring things as stereotypically nationalistic as shrimps on a barbie (thanks, Paul Hogan). (Buckmaster 2014)

3. Importance of the Industry
Feature films remain critical flagships to any national film industry.
can be highly commercial endeavours
perform symbolic functions at a national level
big screen based sound and imagery.
conduct a dialogue with domestic audiences as well as showcase key aspects of Australia in the global film festival circuit
launchpads for the careers of many Australian writers, directors, actors and technical crew..

4. Table 1. Australia vs. Foreign: 2000–2011 local film market shares as percentage % of box office/ admissions.
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Australia
4.9%
3.5
1.3
2.8
4.6
4.0
3.8
5.0
4.5
3.9
France
28.9
39.0
34.0
34.8
38.4
36.8
44.7
36.6
45.4
35.7
40.9
Germany
12.5
16.2
11.9
17.5
23.8
17.1
25.8
19.9
26.2
27.4
16.8
21.8 UK
21.0
11.7
15.4
12.4
33.0
19.0
28.0
31.0
16.5
24.0
36.2
Italy
19.4
22.0
20.3
24.7
29.3
24.4
32.0
37.5
Spain
10.0
18.0
14.0
15.8
13.4
17.0
13.5
13.3
16.0
12.7
15.0
Japan
31.8
27.0
41.3
53.2
47.7
59.5
56.9
53.6
54.9
South Korea –
45.2
49.7
54.2
55.0
64.2
50.8
42.1
48.8
46.5
52.0
China
60.0
45.9
56.6
56.3
India
92.5
86.0
76.5
90.5
92.0
89.0
Russia
12.0
27.7
23.3
26.3
25.5
23.9
14.5
Sources: Australia: Screen Australia; Foreign: EAO World Market Trends Focus Reports 2001–2012.

5. Producers Dilemma
Producers are at the heart of the film industry. They commission and/or generate the ideas that fuel the industry’s creative engine.
low levels of business sustainability mean that many producers exit the industry early, creating a constant flow of ideas, energy and experience out of the sector
A film may take 3-10 years to produce and the producer may only get one shot at it.

6. Top grossing films
Crocodile Dundee (1986) remains the top grossing Australian film at the Australian box office earning over $47.7 million and is the eighth highest earner of all time against all foreign and domestic titles.
Only 2 other Australian films occupy places in the top 50
income earners at the Australian box office
Australia (2008) at 27th place earning over $37.5 million and
Babe (1995) at 30th place earning just over $36.7 million.

7. Box Office isn’t Everything
There is a more informal market, out of sight of the box office.
Year after year, hundreds of commercial flops and straight-to-video releases go on to reach massive audiences through informal channels, out of sight of the conventional film industry.
Box office doesn’t take into account costs of production

8. Box office Issues
Annual figures don’t take account of the christmas/new year busy period – 31st December cut off date
Skewed in favour of countries with higher ticket prices

9. Film Industry Measures
Film exposure creates tourism interest
Trade improves relations between countries - cultural exposure
consider the number of countries visited, local and international screenings, venue saturation and both domestic and international box office in order to present a more holistic approach to measuring the impact of films in terms of their theatrical presence
The largest markets are USA, Australia, Mexico, England, Japan, Canada and Germany

10. Film Impact Rating

11. Successful Small Productions
Satellite Boy has a very high rating for production cost relative to box office and does generally well in terms of box office domestically.
For a small budget film it travels far and plays in many venues
It has a relatively high critics rating average as well as excelling in award nominations and wins

12. Big Budget Films
From the top 10 FIR results that the biggest impact films are typically big budget co- productions.
the top 5 films are co-productions, and 6 out of the top 10 are co-productions.
the top 5 excel in more than one category – particularly in the case of coverage and commercial performance

13. FIR – Film Impact Rating
Using FIR we find that film impact tends to be positively clustered in terms of production budget. Typically a film involving a higher initial investment is generally associated with a bigger subsequent impact