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Robust screen sector hits new highs in South Australia
10 November 2022
South Australia’s screen sector has achieved record-breaking results in this year’s national drama spend, with a total of $144 million spent in the state on drama production and post production in 2021-22 – the state’s second highest year on record.
According to Screen Australia’s National Drama Report released today, South Australia’s drama spend is up 47% on last year’s total of $98 million, and is nearly on par with 2019-20’s record high of $148 million.
Included in the $144 million total spend is a record-breaking $89 million expenditure on PDV (post production, digital and visual effects) – South Australia’s highest PDV spend on record, and a more than 115% increase on last year’s total of $41 million.
South Australia’s PDV expenditure represents 16% of the national total, and ranks the state third in the national PDV spend breakdown behind New South Wales and Victoria, demonstrating the strength of the sector and the success of the South Australian PDV rebate introduced in 2018.
The Screen Australia report further details that South Australia’s $144 million spend in 2021-22 is above the state’s five-year average spend of $117 million.
Screen Australia’s National Drama Report measures the health of the Australian screen industry by covering the production of local and foreign feature films, TV dramas and online programs plus PDV activity, and revealed a resilient South Australian screen industry delivering continued growth despite the interruptions of the global pandemic.
Minister for The Arts The Hon Andrea Michaels MP said: “South Australia’s screen sector continues to go from strength to strength with these record-breaking results. These are even more impressive considering they were achieved in a year where productions continued to experience delays and disruptions due to the COVID pandemic. I congratulate the South Australian Film Corporation in steering the local industry through this unprecedented period in partnership with the sector to achieve such outstanding levels of growth.”
South Australian Film Corporation CEO Kate Croser said: “In this year of the South Australian Film Corporation’s 50th anniversary it is a pleasure to celebrate another milestone with these record-breaking results for the state’s screen industry. The state’s soaring drama expenditure in 2021-22 is even more significant for the fact that it was driven by productions led by South Australian production companies and producers, the majority of which are based on underlying South Australian IP, and which employed 83% South Australian crew including 75% South Australian resident Heads Of Department.
“South Australia shone in TV production with Firebite, Aftertaste S2, and A Beginner’s Guide to Grief, and feature film production with horror Talk to Me from debut feature filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou, The Survival of Kindness, and sci-fi Monolith which gained the first feature film credits for new South Australian writer, director, and producer team Lucy Campbell, Matt Vesely and Bettina Hamilton, alongside Run Rabbit Run from local writer Hannah Kent.
“On top of that South Australia had a particularly strong year in children’s television drama with season two of Emmy Award winning First Day, Netflix series Gymnastics Academy: A Second Chance, and ABC series Beep and Mort.
“South Australia continues to punch above its weight in PDV, with the state’s record-breaking $89 million spend on titles including Elvis, Thor: Love and Thunder, Joe Vs Carole, La Brea S2 and Hawkeye, ranking the state as the third highest spend in the nation. This is further testament to the strength of our globally recognised and award-winning PDV sector – including studios such as Rising Sun Pictures, MPC, Resin, KOJO and Artisan Post Group – supported by the SAFC’s highly successful SA PDV Rebate.”
To download the full report, visit the Screen Australia website here.
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