Screen Producers Australia (SPA), which represents TV/film producers down under, is calling for industry-wide reforms related to development funding and the provision of financial support to producers during this key phase of content-making. 

A new SPA survey has revealed that producers are increasingly being asked to cover development costs without adequate compensation, creating more strain for an already struggling sector.

In theory, most projects in development are funded through a mix of producer spending and external funds. But in reality, producers covered 80% to 100% of the development costs for 26% of all projects produced in Australia between 2022 and 2024. And survey respondents also revealed that only 10% of fully produced projects eventually earned enough to recoup their development spend.

According to the fact sheet SPA released yesterday, 31% of producers reported spending between US$32,000 and US$65,000 of their own money on development. 

And when they do receive development funding, 62% of producers say the money isn’t enough to cover internal development costs or third-party fees for elements such as options, writing, script editing and legal advice.  

SPA’s members are in agreement that there’s an explicit expectation that they’ll defer their producer fees during development—meaning they could potentially be working without pay for months or even years on projects that might not ever reach production. 

Matthew Deaner, CEO of the Australian trade org, attributes these conditions to two factors—unregulated streamers “writing their own commissioning rules” and Australia’s broadcasters/funding bodies having smaller budgets to work with. 

“There’s no doubt that the Australian screen industry is rapidly approaching a development crisis point, and that action is needed to address these issues,” says Deaner. “It is untenable for screen producers to not be paid something reasonable for their work.” 

SPA plans to bring these issues up for discussion with the federal government, key stakeholders and its members in the coming months. 

Image courtesy of Photoholgic via Unsplash.