The Malinauskas Labor Government is putting the spotlight on Australian stories with an investment of $5.2 million in our local screen industry over the next three years.
The South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) will partner with the ABC to provide South Australia with an ongoing pipeline of quality, Australian television production from early 2023.
This partnership will be a significant driver of South Australian employment, with up to 460 production jobs (91 FTE) expected to be created across numerous screen productions.
The ABC SAFC Content Pipeline Fund will also drive engagement of local service companies and South Australian suppliers, create pathways for training and skills development, and create highly skilled work for the sector.
The partnership will also ensure South Australian stories are put front and centre.
The Government’s support includes a Matched Development Fund specifically for South Australian producers to support the development of new, homegrown SA programs for ABC creating opportunities for SA writers and directors.
The production pipeline is set to start immediately, with season two of SA made children’s series Beep and Mort from Adelaide’s Windmill Pictures the first to get underway.
A hit with both audiences and critics when it premiered in 2022, the South Australian made and owned original series was created, produced and post-produced entirely in South Australia. Season two is now in pre-production at the SAFC’s Adelaide Studios in Glenside.
Beep and Mort is the first studio program for children made in the state in more than a decade. It is expected to inject more than $9.2 million into the South Australian economy and create 125 South Australian jobs across cast, crew and creatives combined over its two seasons.
The Malinauskas Labor Government’s investment in skilled jobs in the state’s screen industry is expected to deliver significant economic return.
For every four South Australian jobs within the screen sector, another three jobs are supported elsewhere in the economy.
South Australia has been a national leader in the screen industry since the SAFC was established in 1972 as the first screen agency in Australia under the leadership of Labor Premier Don Dunstan.
The creative industries are the lifeblood of South Australia and our Government is committed to supporting the screen industry to thrive and tell our stories.
Those stories not only capture our imagination and allow us to experience life through someone else’s eyes, they are an important driver of employment and boosting South Australia’s economy.
Quotes
Attributable to Premier Peter Malinauskas
For more than fifty years, the South Australian Film Corporation has been telling our stories – putting South Australians in the spotlight, and ensuring our lives, culture and experiences are reflected to us at home, around the nation and overseas.
I’m proud that the Government I lead will continue that important tradition.
Beyond the cultural benefits, this $5.2 million investment in our screen sector will deliver more than 400 production jobs and even more flow-on jobs right here in South Australia.
Attributable to Andrea Michaels
As our national broadcaster, who better to show Australia’s stories than the ABC in partnership with our extraordinary South Australian Film Corporation.
South Australia has been recognised globally as a powerhouse of film in recent years and we are seizing this opportunity to continue this proud legacy.
Our investment will see a pipeline of fantastic Australian television being produced here in South Australia to tell our stories to the world.
Attributable to David Anderson, ABC Managing Director
We’re delighted that the South Australian Film Corporation is partnering with the ABC in this joint-initiative to generate exciting new South Australian-based projects for the ABC.
The collaboration will provide South Australia with a pipeline of quality television production and deliver finance certainty over the three years.
Attributable to Kate Croser, SAFC CEO
The SAFC is thrilled to partner with the ABC in making South Australia a “home” for ABC scripted production over the next three years.
South Australia’s screen industry is poised to deliver the highest quality productions for ABC viewers, from our production companies, creatives and Heads of Department, to actors and crews, our world-class facilities, phenomenal locations and businesses and screen service suppliers across the state.
The recent success of original ABC series from South Australia, Closer Productions’ Aftertaste, Epic Films and KOJO Studios’ First Day and now Windmill Theatre’s Beep and Mort, as well as SA filmed children’s series MaveriX, have paved the way for this consistent stream of production, and demonstrate the capacity of creativity to drive cultural and economic outcomes.
