The South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) is set to put its $1.1 million FilmLab scheme on hiatus and close several smaller development programs.
The proposed changes form part of a SAFC strategic review prompted by the end of the government’s four-year funding commitment to its Film SA screen attraction program.
“We realised that the chances of getting anything [funding] in the immediate term were pretty tough…,” SAFC chief executive Richard Harris said, “and so we had to be really tough about what decisions we were going to make in the short to medium term”.
The $1.24 million Film SA funding cut represents 20-25 per cent of the SAFC’s annual program and investment funding, according to the screen agency.
However, the bulk of Film SA activities – marketing SA locations, crew and infrastructure to attract film, television, commercial, and PDV (post, digital and visual effects) work to the state – will be covered by the FilmLab and development program cuts.
The Emerging Writers Scheme and Short Film Development programs will cease while the Documentary Innovation Fund will be put on hold. (These activities may be picked up by the SAFC partnering with another organisation, such as the Media Resource Centre).
The FilmLab scheme was launched in 2009 to develop filmmakers who have a short-form track record and are looking to take the leap into long-form film production. FilmLab's biggest success was the documentary Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure, which screened at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011. Two other FIlmLab projects, Inner Demon and 52 Tuesdays, have recently completed filming, while another, One Eyed Girl, is in production. The SAFC strategic review issues paper said it is too early to assess the success of programs such as FilmLab, although the brand may be retained and the program adapted in future.
Among the other changes proposed under the SAFC review include an increased focus on the producer development business program (and ending the high-level Enterprise funding which only AMPCO has so far accessed), incorporating the SAFC's digital funding into other programs in a platform-neutral manner, exploring innovative funding models such as public-private partnerships, and increasing administration fees.
Contact this reporter at bswift@www.if.com.au or on Twitter at @bcswift.