View source for Film Finance Corporation Australia

{{short description|Former Australian government company}}
{{use Australian English|date=March 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Infobox government agency
|image = Coat of Arms of Australia.svg
|name = Film Finance Corporation Australia
|formed = May 1988
|dissolved = July 2008
|superseding1 = [[Screen Australia]]
|jurisdiction = [[Australian Government]]
}}
The '''Film Finance Corporation Australia''' ('''FFC''') was the government agency responsible for funding commercial productions of Australian film, documentary, and television from 1988 to 2008. Unlike other publicly funded organisations responsible for financing media production in [[Australia]], the FFC operated as a commercially oriented funding agency,<ref name=":0">Garry Maddox, “A History of the Australian Film Finance Corporation.” Media international Australia incorporating Culture & policy 80, no. 1 (1996)</ref> backing projects with the intention of recouping part of its funding through investment. The organisation was responsible for financing several notable Australian feature films, among them [[Strictly Ballroom|Strictly Ballroom (1992)]], [[Muriel's Wedding|Muriel's Wedding (1994)]] and [[The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert|The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)]]. During its lifetime, the FFC supported 248 features with a total investment of A$662 million.<ref name=":1">Jordi McKenzie. Craig Rossiter. “Film Funding in Australia: Recent History and Empirical Analysis” In Handbook of State Aid for Film, (Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2018)</ref> In 2008, the FFC was succeeded by [[Screen Australia]], which merged the similar film financing bodies operated by the [[Australian Government|Australian government]].
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==History==
The Film Finance Corporation was first established in May 1988 by the Australian Government under the prime ministerial [[Bob Hawke]] with the organisation beginning operations in the following financial year.<ref name=":0" /> Its inaugural chairman was [[Kim Williams (media executive)|Kim Williams]].<ref name="rn">{{cite web|date=25 May 2015|title=Kim Williams|url=https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/kim-williams/6466520|access-date=27 December 2020|website=ABC Radio National}}</ref> The FFC emerged as an alternative source of support for the film industry to the then existent [[Australian Film Commission|Australian Film Commission (AFC)]] and the 10BA tax concession. It centralised government support for the Australian film industry, becoming the main source of film and television funding in the years immediately after its inception.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Operation of 10BA|url=https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/fact-finders/people-and-businesses/production-businesses/in-the-archive/operation-of-10ba|website=Screen Australia}}</ref> The role of the AFC was diverted to focus on personnel and script development for culturally significant productions.<ref name=":1"/> Instead, the FFC was conceived as a ‘film bank’ with then treasurer Paul Keating acknowledging the notion that the organisation might become self-funding.<ref name=":0" /> The guiding principles for what the FFC decided to fund was driven by the market in that projects required financial commitments from distributors or sales agents to secure funding. Thus, projects were largely dictated by the market.<ref name=":0" />
==Film and media contributions==
{| class="wikitable"
|+Academy awards for FFC financed films<ref name=":2">Film Finance Corporation Australia. Inquiry into Future opportunities for Australia’s film, animation, special effects and electronic games industry. By Film Finance Corporation Australia. 70. Canberra: Parliament of Australia, 2003</ref>
!Year
!Award
!Film
!Recipient(s)
|-
|1994
|Best Costume Design
|''[[The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert]]''
|Lizzie Gardiner and Tim Chappel
|-
|1996
|Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
|''[[Shine (film)|Shine]]''
|[[Geoffrey Rush]]
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+FFC financed films which have screened at Cannes Film Festival<ref name=":2"/>
!Year
!Title
!Director
!Selection
!Award Won at Cannes
|-
|1992
|''[[Strictly Ballroom]]''
|[[Baz Luhrmann]]
|Un Certain Regard
|Prix de La Jeunesse
|-
|1993
|''[[Frauds (film)|Frauds]]''
|[[Stephan Elliott]]
|In Competition
|n/a
|-
|1993
|''[[Bedevil]]''
|[[Tracey Moffat]]
|Un Certain Regard
|n/a
|-
|1994
|''[[The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert]]''
|[[Stephan Elliott]]
|Un Certain Regard
|Prix du Publique
|-
|1996
|''[[Love Serenade]]''
|[[Shirley Barrett]]
|Un Certain Regard
|Camera d'Or
|-
|1997
|''[[The Well (1997 film)|The Well]]''
|[[Samantha Lang]]
|In Competition
|n/a
|-
|1999
|''[[Siam Sunset]]''
|[[John Polson]]
|International Critics' Week Feature Film Competition
|Rail d'Or
|-
|2003
|''[[Japanese Story]]''
|[[Sue Brooks]]
|Un Certain Regard
|n/a
|}
Among the successful feature films funded by the FFC include the drama film ''[[Rabbit-Proof Fence]]'', an adaptation of [[Doris Pilkington Garimara|Doris Pilkington Garimara's]] novel ''[[Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence]]'' about three [[Indigenous Australians|Indigenous Australian]] girls' experiences as part of the [[Stolen Generations]]. It is one of many other notable FFC financed productions spotlighting indigenous stories and culture in Australian film. Other notable novel adaptations include the crime drama ''[[Chopper (film)|Chopper]]'' about the celebrity criminal [[Mark "Chopper" Read|Mark “Chopper” Read]] which adapts his autobiographies, and the television film ''[[On the Beach (2000 film)|On the Beach]]'', adapting [[Nevil Shute|Nevil Shute's]] [[On the Beach (novel)|novel of the same name]]. One financially successful original production is the low-budget horror film ''[[Wolf Creek (film)|Wolf Creek]]''.
In addition to financing feature films, the FFC funded Australian children's television drama productions. Australian commercial broadcasters were required to broadcast a certain number of publicly funded children's programming. The FFC alongside the [[Australian Film Commission]], the [[Australian Children's Television Foundation]], and the public broadcasters the [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation|ABC]] and [[Special Broadcasting Service|SBS]], were among the major sources financing these mandated acquisitions.<ref name=":3">Standing Committee on Communications, IT and the Arts. From Reel to Unreal: Future opportunities for Australia’s film, animation, special effects and electronic games industry. By The House of Representatives. Canberra: Parliament of Australia, 2004</ref> Between 1995-96 and 1999-2000 the FFC funded 20 out of 52 children's drama programs, contributing approximately a third of their finances.<ref name=":3"/> Between 2000 and 2003 the FFC funded 15 out of 33 programs.<ref name=":3"/> Notable titles include the [[Fantasy (genre)|fantasy]] [[teen drama]] ''[[H2O: Just Add Water|H<sub>2</sub>O: Just Add Water]]'', the [[Fantasy (genre)|fantasy]] [[Adventure (genre)|adventure]] ''[[Spellbinder (TV series)|Spellbinder]]'' and its sequel ''[[Spellbinder: Land of the Dragon Lord|Spellbinder: Land of the Dragon]]'' which were both [[international co-production]]s with [[Poland]], and the [[science fiction]] series [[Wicked Science]].
The FFC also financed the production of documentaries through a program with [[Film Australia]] and the ABC. Between 1990 and 2004, the ABC was annually mandated to pre-purchase up to 24 hours of independently produced programs which would be mediated through an FFC funding mechanism.<ref name=":2"/> Laughren notes that FFC financed documentaries were often successful in international markets and often won awards.<ref>Laughren, Pat. “Debating Australian Documentary Production Policy: Some Practitioner Perspectives.” Media International Australia 129, no. 1 (2008): 116–28.</ref> The documentary ''[[Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!]]'' about the history of [[Ozploitation|Australian exploitation B-movies]] from the 1970s to the 1980s was awarded the Best Feature Length Documentary by the [[Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts]] and Best Documentary by the [[Australian Film Critics Association]].
== Production and financing ==
=== Financing by the FFC ===
Between 2004 and June 2007, the FFC streamlined its financing policies by implementing their “two-door” system for Australian producers seeking funding. The first “door” referred to projects that had already secured financing from non-government or private sources above one-quarter of their budget were eligible for automatic funding provided by the FFC of up 45% of their budget. Such projects were termed “Marketplace” films. The second “door” referred to as “Evaluation” films required a commitment from the market, either financial or nonfinancial, such as a commitment by a theatrical distributor to release the film, and also required passing an evaluation by an internal committee. Such films were provided possibly larger funding by the FFC.<ref name=":1"/> Although there was little difference between the box office performances of “Marketplace” and “Evaluation” films, “Evaluation” films tend to screen at significant global film festivals.<ref name=":1"/>
=== Federal Government Support ===
From 1988 to 1994, a total of A$337.7 million of federal government support was provided to productions through the FFC.<ref name=":1"/> By then, the FFC's recoups on the invests were 36% for films, 35% for television drama, 25% for co-productions and 6.5-10% for documentaries.
The international success of [[Strictly Ballroom]] was responsible for driving the revenue of the FFC from A$8.05 million in the 1989/90 financial year to $18.3 million in the 1992/93. Although the FFC had not fulfilled a “promise” to be self-funding within three years of its inception, [[Paul Keating]] used it as an example in his campaign to maintain the status quo for government financing.<ref name=":0" />
== International activity ==
From 1997 onward, the international marketplace became a more significant financier for Australian films, the FFC in particular growing connections to international sales agents. Australian children's television drama in particular saw an increase in foreign financing, making up 33% of the total budget matching the commitment by the FFC.<ref name=":3"/> In 1999-2000 financial year, feature films funded by the FFC had contributions of 20% of their cost, 64% came from private investors overseas with the remaining among contributed by private Australian investors.<ref name=":3"/> The FFC in fact received 79% of its total recoupment from overseas markets.<ref name=":3"/>
== Dissolution ==
The passing of the Screen Australia Act 2008 in the commonwealth means that from 1 July 2008 the FFC merged with the adjacent [[Australian Film Commission]] and [[Film Australia|Film Australia Limited]] into a single body, [[Screen Australia]].<ref>Federal Register of Legislation. Screen Australia Act 2008 (Australian Government)</ref> This unified the FFC's core financing principles for commercial productions with the AFC's role in script and profession development and Film Australia's role commissioning productions under the National Interest Program.
==References==
<references />
==Further reading==
*{{cite thesis|url=https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/2440/120762/1/Chung2019_MPhil.pdf|title=South Australian film-makers' perspectives on policies: State and federal film policies and the representation of cultural diversity in Australian films|first=Linh|last= Chung|type=Master of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts in the Discipline of Media|date=July 2019|publisher=[[University of Adelaide]]}}
==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/19981203042119/http://www.ffc.gov.au/ FFC home page, archived December 1998]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070813183053/http://www.ffc.gov.au/ FFC home page, archived August 2007]
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Film production companies of Australia]]
[[Category:Defunct government-owned companies of Australia]]
[[Category:State-owned film companies]]
[[Category:Australian companies established in 1998]]
[[Category:Film finance]]
[[Category:Financial services companies established in 1998]]
[[Category:Australian companies disestablished in 2008]]
[[Category:Financial services companies disestablished in 2008]]