Beamafilm supports Government streaming quota plans
Louise van Rooyen - Beamafilm
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30/01/2023
Beamafilm welcomes the Federal Government's National Cultural Policy that was released today and congratulates Hon Tony Burke MP for the new policies. It is a landmark event for Australia’s creative industries, and Beamafilm supports the Government's plan to introduce new requirements for Australian screen content on streaming platforms by July 1st, 2024.
"Beamafilm shares a commitment to streaming Australian stories with more than twenty-five per cent of the on-demand catalogue comprising acclaimed Australian cinema," according to Beamafilm founder and managing director, Louise van Rooyen. "Beamafilm library members can support Australian filmmakers by streaming great Australian stories on their devices or directly to their TVs for free. Subscribers across the world can also access Australian film on-demand with the Beamafilm website, mobile or TV apps," she adds.
The Australian Federal Government's landmark National Cultural Policy that was released today, 'Revive: a place for every story, a story for every place', aims to deliver new momentum that will enable creative workers, organisations and audiences to continue to thrive and grow. With a five-year plan to renew and revive Australia's arts, entertainment culture and heritage, the new policy aims to re-position arts and culture as central to Australia's future.
Embedded within the new National Cultural Policy document is a proposal to address the increasing migration of Australian audiences away from local broadcast and subscription television services and towards SVOD content. According to the report “In 2020–21, for the first time, Australians were more likely to have watched an online subscription service than live or recorded free-to-air television,” as “the Australian subscription video-on-demand market grew nearly fifty per cent in 2021, with estimated total earnings exceeding A$2.4 billion." While the large streaming platforms may be producing some quality local content, there is currently no requirement for them to make Australian content available in the same way that there is for free-to-air broadcasting services and subscription television.
The report warns us that the proliferation of overseas-produced content, in particular from the USA, presents a risk of overshadowing the voices of Australian storytellers that are so vital in maintaining cultural identity. It aims to ensure that Australian audiences continue to have access to their own stories and culture, in spite of business decisions made offshore and in the USA. It warns that without regulation, the downward trend in Australian screen stories will be able to escalate, unchecked.
The federal government will introduce new plans for introducing quotas on how much Australian content the large streaming platforms such as Disney, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Paramount and Apple TV must produce from mid-2024 onwards. These new plans will force them to divert a percentage of their revenues into creating programs in Australia.
The ‘Make it Australian’ campaign has promoted this proposal across the screen industry via six distinct Government and Parliamentary reviews, the most recent being a 2021 Parliamentary inquiry endorsing a 20 per cent investment. Australian streaming revenues were estimated at over $2.4 billion for 2021 and if there was a requirement for 20 per cent of this revenue to be spent on local content it would see about $480 million channelled towards Australian productions, which could generate 10,000 jobs.
While the details of the new policy still need to be negotiated via a 6-month consultation, Screen Producers Australia CEO, Matt Deaner, suggests that the announcement is a timeline that is good for the industry as it will put an end to uncertainty. Deaner told Sky News Australia that “the big internationals need to really solidify their positions in the market, they need to come on board with doing great work with us,” and importantly, that “it also sets a sort of finish line.” Deaner adds “There’s some critical detail now to be negotiated between industry and government that will affect whether this policy delivers what is needed for Australian screen culture and industry,” He adds that “This includes what is counted as ‘Australian content’ and whether that definition meets the objectives of the new Australian National Cultural Policy and public expectations.”
Other important integrity measures within the industry include no double-counting across platforms, with each hour of newly commissioned content to only be counted once irrespective of the content platforms and also a 20 per cent cap on how much content obligations can be allocated within vertically integrated businesses to help avoid distortions to the value of the investment requirement. SPA also advocates that intellectual property and rights ownership in Australian screen stories should revert to the creator after three years to ensure that Australian stories are kept under Australian creative control and that valuable Australian cultural rights are not lost overseas.
Beamafilm offers an alternative to mainstream SVOD platforms that enables audiences to access the service for free by signing up via their local libraries. Australian film examples from the Beamafilm Library Exclusives program are featured below.
Watch for FREE with a participating library card or on a 30-day trial. Also, you can rent a film for 48 hours.
A moving and intimate portrayal of one father’s fight to save his son, Ithaka exposes the brutal realities of the campaign to free Julian Assange.
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Wild Things follows a new generation of environmental activists hell-bent on saving their futures from the ravages of climate change.
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A young woman discovers 10 disturbing tales in her mother's Book of Dark Whispers, as told by 11 female filmmakers from across Australia.
A young American couple finds themselves stranded in the Australian outback and must look for a way out.
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A young man returns from Syria to see his terminally ill mother in Sydney. However, he must face his unforgiving family.
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A young woman returns home to her family vineyard after her father dies in an accident on the winery. But when his death is ruled a murder and her mother becomes the prime suspect, she must uncover the truth.
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An angsty teenager named Ethan finds love with a cheery and optimistic Christian girl named Trinity. This bugs his fellow angst-filled bandmates and her evangelistic brethren.
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Four brides. Four countries. One big day. Women spend their lives receiving contradictory messages about marriage.
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While the yearly crab migration takes place and locals perform rituals for ghosts, a therapist works in Christmas Island's asylum seeker detention center.
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A struggling actor living in South Africa travels to Sydney, Australia, to visit his girlfriend. Things go wrong for the couple when the girlfriend suddenly disappears.
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Two deranged housemates lure an unbalanced woman into their lives and a trap, that ends with dangerous and murderous results.
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A daughter's search for her lost family stretches from Australia to Trinidad and WWII Germany. Rich with archival images, Su Goldfish's autobiographical documentary echoes through all those touched by forced migration.
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A coming-of-age drama about Charlie and Hugo who are aged in their 20’s and live in a rural town in Central Queensland. They’ve been best friends their whole lives, but there’s just one thing – Hugo is an imaginary friend.
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Milena travels to a remote opal mining community to see her estranged, ill father.
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When it looks like his novel is going to be published, a high school teacher and once famous novelist thinks his luck has finally changed. But things soon spiral out of control.
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A disgraced sports star attempts to turn his life around.
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Australia, Australian film, Make It Australian