Advance Australian Fare

Why are so many overseas interests impressed by Australian film, television and media producers and their ideas? We're a relatively small market of 18 million people and a long way from Europe and the US. But a lot of overseas companies are setting up bases here to produce and distribute film, television and other forms of programming for the many local and global media channels. And these companies are coming with their money, their expertise and their way of seeing the world.

One of the more high-profile immigrants, the much-trumpeted Fox Film Studios, managed by Kim Williams, the ex-head of the ABC and Fairfax joint venture, Australian Information Media (AIM) - a venture which has since departed the scene - will be bringing big-budget film projects to its temporary headquarters in Sydney's Pyrmont. The Sydney Showground move west to Homebush in a few years' time will see the studio relocate to the pavilions left vacant, turning them into enormous sound stages reminiscent of a Hollywood backlot.

Already the Warner Bros Studios on the Gold Coast, part of the Warner/Village Roadshow Movie World, is host to a range of local and overseas productions bringing nearly 50 million dollars' worth of overseas money a year to Queensland. Other states, mainly Victoria, also benefit from this "transfer" of money and skills to our local economy. To add to this, the opening up of the new pay television industry is estimated to involve billions of investment dollars and to employ several thousand people.

Not only has Australia been identified by overseas business as a "hotspot" for the production of new entertainment and media forms like CD ROMs and on-line services, it is also justifiably recognised as an important player on the world stage in film and television production. This recognition includes the Australian directors, writers, actors and many other skilled film makers working overseas, and the increasing international reach of Australian-made film and television.

We are also seen as a "launching pad" into the brave new market stratosphere of Asia, the proximty to our near neighbours being a considerable attraction. And, thanks to the relatively lower costs of cast, crew and equipment that our falling Australian dollar and our skills at producing high quality, low budget programs have provided, the trend to set up shop here is assured. With all this activity and the onslaught of international programs to be delivered on the new pay channels, we are increasingly becoming part of the global tele-community.

Not only are we the largest island, we are also a cultural island, awash with the outpourings of hundreds of other cultures. Combined with our unique and precious indigenous cultures, we occupy a special place in the world and in the world of the cinema and television. Australia has been making films for nearly one hundred years and this and other features could stand us in good stead in resisting, and, in our own way, re-defining, the effects of the so-called "Hollywood juggernaut" of overseas programs and ideas.