• Screen Australia

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01 March 2010This annual collection of statistics profiles the state of documentary filmmaking in Australia. Statistics include production, employment, funding and release data from 1996/97 to 2008/09.

SUMMARY

DOCUMENTARY AS A PROPORTION OF AUDIOVISUAL PRODUCTION
Documentary makes up 2-3 per cent of audiovisual production in Australia, compared to 11 per cent inNew Zealand and 21 per cent in Canada.

HOURS PRODUCED AND PRODUCTION BUDGETS
Documentary production in Australia peaked in 2007/08. A total of 509 hours (239 titles) were produced, with production budgets totalling $138.6 million, compared to an annual average of 331 hours and $74 million. For the last three years, activity by production companies has been well above average, largely due to documentary series, whereas in-house production by broadcasters has remained relatively steady
over the 13-year survey period.

BUDGET RANGES
Not including broadcaster-produced titles, 85 per cent of single documentaries made between 1996/97 and 2008/09 had budgets of less than $500,000, with nearly half made for less than $200,000.

ACTIVITY BY STATE
Most documentaries (55 per cent of titles, 64 per cent of hours) are made by production companies in NSW.

EMPLOYMENT
Around 220 producers, 170 directors and 140 writers have made two or more documentaries in the last five years. However, the majority of documentary filmmakers (66 per cent of producers, 67 per cent of directors and 71 per cent of writers) made only one.

SOURCES OF FINANCE
Government sources have provided the highest proportion of funding to the annual documentary slate in Australia over the last 10 years (46 per cent), with broadcasters providing 27 per cent and foreign finance
13 per cent. 153 provisional and 64 final Producer Offset certificates have been issued to 18 February 2010.

DOMESTIC NON-THEATRICAL SALES
Around $9 million was collected from educational institutions for off-air copying and retransmission of documentaries in 2009.

THEATRICAL RELEASE
Eight Australian documentaries were released in cinemas in 2009.

SALES OF DOCUMENTARIES ON VIDEO
Of the top 500 documentary titles sold on video in 2009, 12.2 per cent were Australian. The three highest-selling Australian documentary titles were Love the Beast, Fat Belly: Chopper Unchopped and First Australians.

FREE-TO-AIR TV RELEASE
A total of 428 hours of first-release Australian documentaries were broadcast on Australian free-to-air TV in 2009 – significantly higher than the annual average of 312 hours.

TOP DOCUMENTARIES ON TV
Eight of the top ten documentaries in 2009 were Australian, with World’s Strictest Parents at no. 2.