T R A C K D O W N

Ausfilm

Annual Report 2008/09

Contents

02 1.0 Chairman’s Foreword

03 2.0 CEO’s Report

04 3.0 Production Activity and Client Liaison

05 3.1 Productions attracted

06 3.2 New contacts/leads

06 3.3 Meetings

07 3.4 International Missions and Events

07 3.5 Familiarisation tours/inbounds

09 4.0 Membership

10 4.1 Members during period and losses and gains

11 4.1.1 Tailored Member Services

13 4.1.2 Newsletters/reports

14 5.0 Marketing

15 5.1. Campaigns

15 5.1.1 Australia – “Let Us Tempt You” Incentives campaign

(USA) 23 June – 8 July 2008

16 5.1.2 Australia – “Let Us Tempt You” Incentives campaign

(UK) October 2008

19 5.1.3 Make It In Australia – Talent Campaign

(USA) January 2009

21 5.1.4 Make it in Australia – Incentives Campaign

(USA) April 2009

22 5.2 Annual Online Impact Overview

25 5.3 General Advertising

25 5.4 Outlook

26 5.5 Media and Publicity

26 5.6 Website / Subscriber news

27 6.0 Information Services

28 6.1 Customer Relationship Management System (CRM)

28 6.2 Content Management System (CMS)

28 6.3 New Subscription Feature

29 7.0 Collaboration and Advocacy

30 7.1 Screen Australia

30 7.2 Ministerial support and liaison

30 7.3 DEWHA

30 7.4 States meetings

30 7.5 Outlook

31 8.0 Governance

32 8.1 Staff

32 8.2 Accounting

32 8.3 DEWHA: reports and deed

33 8.4 Committees

33 8.5 Board meetings

35 9.0 Appendix 1 – Committees

38 10.0 Appendix 2 – Website Visitors

41 11.0 Ausfilm Audited Accounts

1.0

Chairman’s Report

Ausfilm is a private/public

partnership that strives to reinforce

Australia’s standing as one of the

world’s pre-eminent destinations

for large-scale film and television

production, post-production

services and visual effects work.

It is a partnership that succeeds because of

a singular vision and a shared commitment to

the collective benefits of attracting overseas

productions to Australia.

When international productions shoot in

Australia they bring enormous benefit to the

local economy, with foreign dollars spent

in hotels, restaurants, on travel, real estate

and in tax revenue for government. For the

screen industry they provide employment

opportunities for local creatives and crews.

It also engages our service companies and

utilises our equipment, recording facilities,

stages, transport and expertise.

Ensuring that there is a consistent supply

of overseas-sourced production in Australia

enables the entire industry to have predictability

and stability; prerequisites for planning and

investment in infrastructure and training.

This financial year was a challenging one for

the screen sector worldwide on a number of

fronts. The global financial crisis put downward

pressure on many productions and the wildly

fluctuating Australian dollar made conditions

somewhat difficult. It was unfortunate that at a

time of transformative change for the Australian

screen sector in the form of the Australian

Government’s Australian Screen Production

Incentive, the economy stuttered; Ausfilm

responded, adapted and rose to this challenge.

During the year Ausfilm refined its message,

finessed its marketing approach, built stronger

links with existing partners and forged critical

relationships with new ones. Ausfilm today

stands for quality of outcomes and not quantity

of output and the industry stands to benefit

from that.

Ausfilm produced the first edition of its annual

Ausfilm magazine, providing information

about Australia’s talented screen industry,

diverse filming locations and Australia’s ability

to service all types of international film and

television production. It promises to become

a key resource for the international production

sector.

In the next financial year Ausfilm will be

focussing on a detailed Economic Impact

Study to review and assess the effectiveness

of the Location and Post, Digital and Visual

Effects (PDV) Offsets. We want to know what

is working and not working about the

incentives so that Ausfilm is fully equipped

to be a key contributor to the Federal

Government review in 2010.

Despite international production activity being

down during the period, there is cause for

optimism for the coming year. Looking ahead

to 2009/10 Australia will host filming of the

third episode in the hugely popular Narnia

franchise in Queensland as well as the horror/

thriller Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark filming in

Melbourne from July 09. With several other

projects looking closely at Australia, there is

no reason to think that 09/10 won’t provide

a boost for the industry. However, Ausfilm will

continue to work harder than ever to build,

grow and secure increasing numbers of

footloose productions to Australia.

It is an undertaking that requires indefatigable

pursuit of production leads by Ausfilm, primarily

in the US, as well as close co-operation

between relevant government agencies and

industry partners in Australia. For that I would

like to extend my deepest thanks to CEO

Caroline Pitcher and her team, whose energy

and commitment are undoubtedly one of

Ausfilm’s greatest assets.

I must also thank the tireless Deputy Chairs,

Alaric McAusland and Catherine McDonnell,

between them chairing the Marketing and

Policy committees, as well as Executive

Committee member, Kate Meyer they have

provided support and expertise I could not do

without. Sandra Sdraulig of Film Victoria was

the State’s representative on the Executive

Committee and I thank Sandra for her

commitment and valuable contribution.

Finally I wish to acknowledge the ongoing

critical support of the Australian Government

and in particular the Minister for Environment,

Heritage and the Arts, Peter Garrett, for the

continued engagement with, and support

of Ausfilm. Ausfilm works closely with the

Department of the Environment, Water,

Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA) and it is

a relationship Ausfilm values most highly.

Martin Cayzer

Chairman

2.0

CEO’s report

Ausfilm is a critically important

bridge between the Australian

screen industry and the

international production sector.

Its operations are targeted to

position Australia nationally

and internationally as a leading

destination for large-budget film

and television production.

Despite the tough economic climate,

2008/09 saw Ausfilm build on its strengths

and reputation and it is well placed to seize

every advantage for its members in the

coming year.

Ausfilm embarked on a series of overseas

missions on behalf of its membership, kicking

off with the Singapore/UK mission in October

2008. In Singapore and London the emphasis

was on promoting Co-productions and the

Producer Offset. These markets are more

suited to these two products and Ausfilm

accordingly tailored and targeted its marketing

and advertising message to maximise

opportunities in that arena.

In January Ausfilm launched its inaugural

magazine simultaneously with its major

campaign for the year, Make it in Australia

(MIIA), in its priority international market, the

US. Taking Australian talent as its theme,

Ausfilm magazine was distributed directly

to more than 3,500 key players in the film,

television and post-production market around

the globe. The magazine also promoted the

facilities and locations of Australia’s seven

states and territories as well as Ausfilm’s

member businesses. The response to the

magazine was so strong that we are already

looking forward to bringing you the second

edition in October 2009.

Ausfilm also continued to assume a major

presence at the most critical international

production industry events. The AFCI

tradeshow is a one-stop-shop for the US

film and television industry and Ausfilm’s

booth provided a unique opportunity for

its membership to connect with its target

audience and participate in discussions on

issues facing the industry. Visitors to Ausfilm’s

booth included film, television, video and

commercial industry studio executives,

producers, directors, cinematographers and

location scouts from all segments of the

entertainment industry.

Ausfilm demonstrated the versatility of

its marketing approach when it hosted a

reception honouring the Summit Entertainment

executives behind the successful film

Knowing. Instead of a traditional marketing

approach, the guests at this event learnt

about Summit’s experience filming in

Australia during a casual evening and the

industry response was fantastic.

Ausfilm sponsored five international inbounds

during the year with overwhelmingly

positive feedback. Large-scale projects are

currently budgeting for Australia as a result,

underscoring the value of the program.

I am delighted to report that Ausfilm conducted

an independent assessment of its customer’s

satisfaction with Ausfilm services and found

that nearly 90 percent of its clients are “very

satisfied”, the highest classification. Citing

Ausfilm’s professionalism, knowledge and

responsiveness in obtaining necessary

information as the organisation’s primary

benefits, this survey was confirmation that

Ausfilm is fulfilling its brief, successfully

engaging with the very best opportunities for

its membership in key markets.

Ausfilm continues to diligently plan ahead and

is already in advanced planning for a marketing

campaign to promote Australia’s post-digital

and visual effects production capabilities.

Advertising expenditure will be geared heavily

to the US market with the campaign proposed

to launch in the first half of the next financial

year, capitalising on the Location and PDV

Offsets.

Ausfilm has carefully developed its business

plan and budget for the coming year to

respond to the current needs of its members

and the wider industry. Ausfilm prides itself

on being responsive and agile and the

business plan reflects Ausfilm’s determination

to remain relevant to its membership and

consistently be innovative and resourceful

in its marketing.

Ausfilm is first and foremost a membership

organisation and we are only as strong as

our membership base. The generosity of the

membership in providing time, expertise and

market intelligence is essential to Ausfilm’s

ongoing success. However, when Ausfilm

succeeds, it benefits the entire industry,

and to that end I would strongly encourage

Ausfilm’s members to continue to promote

the value of membership to potential

industry partners.

For their invaluable skill and enthusiasm

I extend sincere thanks to the outstanding

Ausfilm staff in Sydney and Los Angeles.

Importantly I would like to thank the Australian

Commonwealth Government for its recognition

of the critical role Ausfilm plays through its

ongoing financial support through DEWHA.

Particular thanks must go to Stephen Arnott,

Stephen Richards and Greg Jericho who are

always a pleasure to work with.

Finally, as this is my last annual report as CEO,

I would like to extend my sincere gratitude

to Martin Cayzer, the Deputy Chairs, the

Executive Committee and the Ausfilm Board

for their support, guidance and generosity

to me during my time as CEO. The passion

and commitment of Ausfilm’s members,

committees and staff has made leading

Ausfilm an immense privilege.

Caroline Pitcher

Chief Executive Officer

3.0

Production Activity and Client Liaison

3.0

Production Activity and Client Liaison

3.1

Productions attracted

It was a challenging year for attracting

international production activity to Australia,

primarily explained by the global financial crisis,

an erratic and strengthening Australian dollar

and fierce competition from other territories

offering incentives, particularly from non-

Californian states in the US.

There was also uncertainty caused by industrial

activity at the Hollywood guilds, initially the

Writers’ Guild of America, and subsequently

the Screen Actors’ Guild, resulting in

depressed levels of production. This translated

into overall lower levels of production attracted

to Australia.

There were no projects (TV, Film & PDV)

attracted from overseas and executed in

Australia in 2008/09 which are eligible to

apply for, or receive the Location or PDV

Offsets. Post-production work on Knowing

(which wrapped principal photography in

Melbourne in June 2008) continued during

the period, as did post-production work on

Australia and Broken Hill.

Productions attracted to Australia and

intending to undertake production, post and/or

VFX work in Australia in the next financial year

which may be eligible for the Location or PDV

Offsets are:

/ / Invisible Army (Voyage of the Dawn Treader),

Twentieth Century Fox

/ / Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, Miramax

/ / Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Part 1 & 2, Warner Bros.

/ / The Way Back, Scott Rudin Productions

3.0

Production Activity and Client Liaison

Stephen Richards, DEWHA, Caroline Pitcher,

Ausfilm, Stephen Arnott, DEWHA and

Catherine McDonnell, Deputy Chair, Ausfilm,

Parliamentary Screening of

X-Men Origins: Wolverine,

Canberra, June 2009.

Kimberly Cooper, Twentieth Century Fox,

Tennyson Cooper and Tania Chambers, NSW FTO,

Pre-gala Cocktail Event,

Los Angeles, January 2009.

3.2

New contacts/leads

The period was notable for the number of

enquiries received on the newly-legislated

Australian Screen Production Incentive scheme

(ASPI).

The Los Angeles office tracked 111 completely

new productions and 192 projects in total,

of which 16 would potentially qualify for the

Producer Offset.

The proportion of Ausfilm time spent on

the Producer Offset continued the trend

established last year and fell further as the

features of this strand of the ASPI became

well-understood.

Since the introduction of the Producer Offset,

an increasingly large number of international

client enquiries relate to the requirements

for accessing the 40 percent rebate and

opportunities to forge creative partnerships

with Australians.

There were approximately 150 “unprompted”

enquiries in the reporting period, received

mostly through Ausfilm’s website.

There has been a significant increase in

Australian producers contacting Ausfilm in

Los Angeles for advice and assistance on

pitching or locking in their US deals. Australian

creatives contacting Ausfilm’s Los Angeles

office are looking to sell their concept and/or

script and arrange meetings to set up deals

with production financiers in the USA. They

are reaching out to Ausfilm for assistance with

contacts and advice on how to best achieve

their desired outcome.

Ausfilm continued to refine and update its

electronic database which at the end of

the period contained 5,887 contacts. The

roll-out of Ausfilm’s Customer Relationship

Management system (Sugar CRM) enables

greater detail on the source and nature of

enquiries to be collated and a more effective

mechanism for executing sales strategy.

Outlook

Ausfilm will continue to promote all aspects of

the ASPI scheme. It is of note that the market’s

intense interest in the Producer Offset during

the previous reporting period has levelled out

and as a result Ausfilm intends to place a

greater emphasis on the Location and PDV

Offsets. In particular Ausfilm will focus on

the attraction of post-production and visual

effects work to Australia through a targeted

international mission as well as an intensive

marketing campaign.

Ausfilm will continue to communicate details

of the Producer Offset and promote it in

conjunction with Screen Australia, with a

particular emphasis on the UK market where

co-production opportunities will be further

explored for their potential to locate in

Australia.

3.3

Meetings

The three LA-based staff undertook 121

meetings with 153 industry figures throughout

the year as well as coordinating and attending

numerous events, detailed in the regular

LA monthly reports to members. Intensive

relationship building is essential to gain

project leads and intelligence early enough

to effectively pursue them for Australia in an

intensely competitive international market.

Ausfilm also provides comprehensive project

leads and briefs to State Screen Agencies for

their consideration and action.

3.0

Production Activity and Client Liaison

3.4.

International Missions and Events

US Mission (September 2008)

Ausfilm led a delegation of members and State

Screen Agency partners to Los Angeles in the

last week of September 2008. The focus was

continuing promotion of the federal incentives

and the fostering of closer links between

Ausfilm members and producers looking at

Australia for specific projects. Ausfilm also

arranged group meetings for State Screen

Agencies and collaboratively promoted the

Australian industry.

Singapore and UK Missions

(October 2008)

Ausfilm travelled to Singapore in October 2008,

joined by Alex Sangston, Screen Australia’s

Head of Co-productions and the Producer

Offset. Meetings were held with Singapore’s

Media Development Authority to discuss

Singapore’s approach to co-production and

with entertainment lawyers from the Samuel

Seow Law Corporation, which hosted an

afternoon tea and provided an opportunity to

meet Singaporean producers.

The London leg of the mission (4 – 10 October

inclusive) comprised an Ausfilm delegation

including Ausfilm’s CEO and PCSE, as well as

Alex Sangston of Screen Australia, NSW FTO’s

Tania Chambers, SAFC’s Richard Harris, Film

Victoria’s Kate Marks, PFTC’s Jess Conoplia

and Jane Corden from Moneypenny Services.

Ausfilm hosted a breakfast seminar for 65 key

industry contacts to raise awareness about

the benefits and opportunities in partnering

with Australian filmmakers. A panel comprising

Alex Sangston, Richard Harris, Jane Corden,

Julie Baines (producer of Triangle, a recent

Australian co-production), and Jacqueline Hurt

(partner at UK law firm Olswang) discussed

the Producer Offset and co-production

opportunities with Australia, focussing on the

feature film Triangle as a case study. Julie

Baines and Jacqueline Hurt also talked about

their experiences making a co-production work

with Australia.

US Mission (January 2009)

G’Day LA/NY – Australia Week

Ausfilm undertook a major promotional event

in the form of a breakfast seminar at the

Renaissance Hotel during G’Day LA week in

Los Angeles. The central feature of the seminar

was a panel moderated by Alaric McAusland

(Deputy Chair, Ausfilm) and including

Stuart Beattie (writer), Adam Elliott (writer,

producer, director), Greg McLean (writer,

producer, director), Mandy Walker (director of

photography), Chris Godfrey (VFX supervisor)

and Alex Sangston (Screen Australia). The

event attracted more than 170 guests including

producers, directors, studio executives and

key decision makers from the Hollywood

entertainment industry.

Ausfilm also hosted a cocktail reception at the

Renaissance Hotel prior to the Black Tie Gala

dinner, providing an opportunity for all Ausfilm

members and their guests to network. Ausfilm

hosted key contacts at the Black Tie Gala at

the Hollywood and Highland Centre with over

900 people in attendance.

In addition, the LA Film Commissioner,

Tracey Vieira, was asked to speak on the

“globalization and incentives, Films without

Borders” panel at Loyola Law School. Tracey

joined Susan Ord from Film New Zealand and

Ralph Winters, producer, to discuss X-Men

Origins: Wolverine and the success of the

film in using multiple jurisdictions.

Ausfilm attended the Black Tie Gala dinner in

New York, with NSW FTO and Fox Studios

Australia, where Baz Luhrmann was honoured

for his work on Australia. Approximately

30 Ausfilm magazines were distributed at

meetings in New York by the Ausfilm CEO

and LA Film Commissioner in the week of

19 January.

US (April 2009)

Ausfilm hosted a Hollywood reception on

14 April honouring Summit entertainment

executives behind the box office hit Knowing,

which filmed and posted in Australia. The

event, held at the Sunset Marquis Hotel and

Villas, had over 100 guests who during the

course of an informal event learnt about

Summit’s experience filming in Australia.

AFCI Locations Trade Show (April 2009)

Ausfilm participated in the AFCI Locations

Trade Show held in Santa Monica from

16 – 18 April. Members in attendance

included Pacific Film and Television

Commission, Warner Roadshow Studios,

Melbourne Central City Studios, Film Victoria,

Trackdown and Lemac. The Trade Show

attracted 4,000 people and gave Ausfilm and

its members multiple opportunities to build

new contacts and reconnect with existing

clients. Ausfilm conducted a marketing

campaign which ran from 13 – 17 April to

coincide with the Trade Show (see Figure 6

on page 21 of the report).

Outlook

Ausfilm will continue its focus on the US

market, with a mission to Los Angeles in

October 2009, followed immediately by an

expansion of its activity in the UK with a

mission to London.

Tracey Vieira, Ausfilm and Lynne Benzie,

Warner Roadshow Studios,

Locations Trade Show,

Santa Monica, April 2009

3.0

Production Activity and Client Liaison

Ausfilm staff: Michelle Sandoval, Tracey Vieira,

Caroline Pitcher and Vivien Flitton,

Ausfilm’s Annual Breakfast Seminar,

Los Angeles, January 2009.

Over 180 guests attended

Ausfilm’s Annual Breakfast Seminar

in Los Angeles in January 2009.

3.5

Familiarisation tours/inbounds

Ausfilm sponsored five international inbounds

to Australia during the period:

/ /

Betsy Megel, Associate Production

Executive, Feature Production

Management at Paramount Pictures

(in September/October);

Barry Rosenbush, Producer at T&C

Pictures. Barry travelled to Tasmania,

which was the first time that an Ausfilmsupported

inbound had visited the state;

Rod Brown and Andrew Boswell, The Mob

Film Co (UK), visited New South Wales

and Victoria;

Bruce Hendricks, President of Physical

Production at Walt Disney Studios (Buena

Vista) visited New South Wales, Queensland,

South Australia and Victoria; and

Steve Chasman and Gary McKendry from

Mosaic Media arrived in Australia at the

very end of the period to visit locations

on their feature film project The Killer Elite.

4.0

Membership

4.0

Membership

4.1

Members during period and

losses and gains

Corporate membership at the beginning

of the financial year stood at 37. Ernst

& Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers and

Beyond International joined during the period.

Soundfirm did not renew its membership for

the financial year.

Figure 1. Membership Pitches

Company Date Pitched Company Type STATE

Beyond International 1/02/2009 TV Production NSW

Blue Rocket Productions Animation TAS

Chaotic Pictures 12/06/2009 Post/VFX NSW

DLA Phillips Fox 17/04/2009 Law/Production Services NSW

Eliza Films 29/09/2008 Producer NSW

Entertainment Personnel 4/03/2009 Recruitment NSW

Ernst & Young 16/10/2008 Accountants/Finance NSW

Fin Design 22/06/2009 Post/VFX NSW

Fragomen Lawyers 17/04/2009 Legal Services NSW

FujiFilm/Hanimex 15/09/2008 Film Stock NSW

Galaxy Transport 1/07/2008 Transport NSW

Gold Coast City Council 18/09/2008 Government QLD

JMB FX 23/09/2008 Special Effects QLD

Lachlan River Studios 1/10/2008 Studio & Facilities NSW

Marine Coordinator 19/06/2009 Marine Equipment QLD

Phlimsound 26/05/2009 Sound Production NSW

PricewaterhouseCoopers 31/07/2008 Accountants/Research NSW

ScreenCorp Production Co NSW

Smart Street Films 1/07/2009 Production Co NSW

Spectrum 1/07/2008 Editing/Post-Production NSW

Stacey Testro Management 13/01/2009 Casting VIC

Strategic Aviation Group Pty Ltd 10/06/2009 Aviation QLD

Superyachting 16/09/2008 Equipment NSW

The Creature Technology Company 6/02/2009 Animatronics VIC

The Post Lounge 1/07/2008 Post-Production QLD

4.0

Membership

4.1.1

Tailored Member Services

Email Campaigns

Ausfilm members receive a variety of annual

benefits including the opportunity to

promote their business via Ausfilm’s

e-marketing service. Email “blasts” can

be sent to a tailored database of clients on

behalf of the members, further details of

which can be found in Table 1 below, which

lists Ausfilm’s entire e-communications to

international clients for the period. This year

the service was taken up by:

// ARRI Australia

An e-blast for ARRI Australia was sent to

169 contacts in the Australian and US film

industry with 65 unique opens and five click

throughs to links in the email.

// Stage and Screen

An e-blast was sent to ten unit production

manager contacts in the Australian

film industry.

// Trackdown Orchestral Scoring Stage

An e-blast was sent to the email

addresses of 167 contacts in the US

post-production industry.

// T P H

E-blast invites were sent to the email

addresses of 304 key contacts.

This was followed by the distribution of

the May client Newsletter to 4,253 email

contacts globally.

Table 1. Financial Year Overview E-Marketing Campaign Results

Date Emails

Sent

During the reporting period Ausfilm

implemented an e-newsletter subscription

feature on its website to attract interest from

filmmakers seeking information on Australia.

Visitors can choose to receive quarterly email

updates from Ausfilm on Australian screen

production industry news. Despite the feature

only being implemented in the final month of

the reporting period, 21 subscriptions had

been received by 30 June, 2009.

Ausfilm Emarketing

Communication

Territory Audience Email

Contacts

Unsubscribe

Requests

Unique

Opens

Clicks

on Email

4/07/2008 1 TPH Client E-blast invite to event USA Client 304 0 n/a n/a

27/08/2008 1 UK “Let Us Tempt You” UK Client 743 0 0 0

10/09/2008 Stage and Screen Client E-blast AUST Client 10 0 0 0

20/11/2008 Arri Australia Client E-blast US/AUST client 169 0 65 5

7/12/2008 1 G’Day LA Breakfast Invite Reminder USA client 2218 0 575 4

8/12/2008 1 G’Day LA Breakfast Invite USA client 2063 3 658 12

10/12/2008 1 2008 Xmas Card - Global GLOBAL client 7129 5 1958 81

15/01/2009 1 Make it in Australia

Campaign Launch

GLOBAL client 7123 0 1409 341

23/03/2009 1 Knowing Event Invite USA client 1108 0 261 n/a

1/04/2009 Trackdown E-blast USA Client 595 0 98

8/04/2009 1 Knowing Event Reminder USA client 1108 0 265 n/a

31/05/2009 1 May Australian News GLOBAL Client 4253 1 922 235

1 July 2008 -

30 June 2009

24 Ausfilm Member Newsletters &

Project Leads

AUST member 180 n/a n/a n/a

4.0

Membership

Meeting Scheduling for Members

Fourteen Ausfilm member companies

including four State Screen Agencies

benefited from tailored client introductions

in the past year.

Ausfilm provided lists of potential partners,

and contacted them on behalf of members

to make an introduction and to set up

meetings. Ausfilm staff also accompanied

members to meetings, if requested, to

assist with sales pitches.

In total 38 different executives were

confirmed for meetings with Ausfilm

members. Many of these met with

more than one member. The list of

executives included:

Figure 2. Executives Met by Ausfilm Members

Executive Title Company

Bruce Hendricks President, Physical Production Walt Disney

Paul Steinke Sr. VP, Production Finance Walt Disney

Gary Hamilton Managing Director Arclight

Steve Eddy Production Executive Summit Entertainment

Gary Wordham VP, Physical Production Universal

Simonne Overend Development Executive RGM Associates

Betsy Megel Associate Production Executive Paramount Pictures

Stephanie Ito Post-Production Executive Paramount Pictures

Greg McRitchie Exec. VP, Post-Production Universal

Hansa Adams Prasad Manager, Acquistions and Co-Productions The Weinstein Company

Mark Indig Producer

Mark Scoon Sr. VP, Physical Production Warner Bros.

Bill Bowling Location Manager Warner Bros.

Bill Draper Exec. VP, Physical Production Warner Bros.

Steve Papazian President, Physical Production Warner Bros.

Kelli Smith-Wait VP, Physical Production Warner Bros.

Karen Fouts Executive Director Budgeting Warner Bros.

Chris DeFaria Exec. VP, Digital Production Animation

and Visual Effects

Warner Bros.

Doug Jones Exec. VP, Physical Production Walden Media

Mylan Stepanovich VP Physical Production Walden Media

Jonas Thaler VP Post-Production Walden Media

Sean Santiago Director, Visual Effects Walden Media

Liz Gutierrez Production/Post-Production Coordinator Walden Media

Luke Homeres Production Coordinator Walden Media

Barry Rosenbush Producer T & C Pictures

Steve Chasman CEO Mosaic

Greg Coote CEO/Chairman Dune Entertainment

Jillian Longnecker Director, Physical Production Spitfire Pictures

Jason Lust Sr. VP, Feature Films Henson Company

Steven Spira President Worldwide Business Affairs Warner Bros.

Todd Isroelit Sr. Production Supervisor, Visual Effects Twentieth Century Fox

Marc Solomon, Exec. VP, Post-Production Warner Bros.

Ruth Hauer VFX Associate Producer Walt Disney

Andy Fowler VP, Visual Effects /Snr Visual Effects Producer Walt Disney

MaryAnn Hughes VP, Film and Television Production Planning Walt Disney

Fred Chandler VP, Post-Production Twentieth Century Fox

Kim Cooper Sr. VP, Physical Production Twentieth Century Fox

Alex Brunner Sr. VP Spitfire Pictures

Eric Feig Entertainment Lawyer Rosen Feig Golland & Lunn

4.0

Membership

Group Meetings (State Screen Agencies)

Group meeting schedules for State Screen

Agency partners and studio members were

arranged and executed on four separate

occasions in Los Angeles during the period:

/ / September Mission (Sept/October 2008)

/ / G’Day LA (January 2009)

/ / New York (January 2009)

/ / Locations Trade Show (April 2009)

Additionally, Ausfilm facilitated guest

attendance at an event hosted by Threadgold

Plummer Hood in July 2008 showcasing their

Eclipse and EzyPo systems.

4.1.2

Newsletters/reports

Over 30 e-newsletters were distributed to

members in the reporting period including

ten LA project lead reports and 26 general

information or member e-invitation newsletters.

See Table 1 on page 11 for a complete list.

Top – Bottom

Knowing E-Invite

X-Men Origins: Wolverine E-Invite

5.0

Marketing

5.0

Marketing

In 2008-09, Ausfilm undertook a number

of significant marketing initiatives to attract

productions to Australia.

5.1

Campaigns

5.1.1

Australia – “Let Us Tempt You” Incentives

campaign (USA) 23 June – 8 July 2008

Based on the previous success of this

campaign in April 2008, this promotion was

repeated and overlapped with the reporting

period. A space was road-blocked on the

Variety.com homepage for the periods of

23 – 26 June and 30 June – 8 July (11 days

in total) and in the daily e-newsletter for one

week from 23 – 27 June (5 days).

The aim of this campaign was to:

/ /

Continue to raise awareness of Australia’s

new and enhanced ASPI scheme;

Seize the attention of Ausfilm’s target

market in the US; and

Increase enquiries and interest in the

scheme.

Online Impact

The June/July Campaign had a combined

circulation of 891,227 viewers with 19 percent

of viewers clicking through to the Ausfilm

website. This is the largest quantity of online

advertising impressions (total audience

exposure) Ausfilm has ever achieved.

The website analysis revealed a 32 percent

increase in unique visitors to the Ausfilm

website during this campaign compared to

the previous month when no online advertising

was conducted.

Despite the larger audience exposure, there

was a 15 percent reduction in unique visitors

to the Ausfilm website in the July 2008

campaign as well as a reduced click through

rate compared to the US incentives campaign

in April 2008. The reduction in click through

rates and unique visitors to the Ausfilm website

are attributed to the fact that, unlike in April,

there was no direct mailout, direct email

marketing or print advertising undertaken

in July, nor complimentary “welcome mat”

advertisement provided by the Hollywood

Reporter which was valued at $10,000.

Figure 3. Campaign Mix and Distribution

Advertising // online advertising

campaign on

Variety.com’s

homepage,

23 – 26 June and

30 June – 8 July

(11 days); and

// Variety daily e-newsletter,

23 – 27 June (5 days).

5.0

Marketing

5.1.2

Australia – “Let Us Tempt You”

Incentives Campaign (UK) October 2008

Ausfilm produced revised marketing and

advertising materials under the Australia – “Let

Us Tempt You” theme for the UK and European

market. These included an incentives “cherry”

folder, a postal DL-size double-sided invitation,

a revised campaign website, two e-marketing

blasts and four online advertisements.

Ausfilm also produced three new hardcopy

and online factsheets and an Ausfilm Member

Directory for the London event. These

factsheets were enclosed within the incentives

“cherry” folder and were contained in an

Ausfilm branded give-away-bag for the London

industry seminar. Member marketing materials

were also included in these bags.

The aim of this campaign was to:

/ /

Introduce and raise awareness of Australia’s

new and enhanced ASPI scheme to the UK

and European market prior to and during

Ausfilm’s London marketing mission;

Promote the benefits of partnering

with Australian producers on official

UK/Australian co-productions;

Seize the attention of Ausfilm’s target

market in the UK and Europe; and

Increase enquiries and interest in the

scheme from this market.

Online Impact

The online advertising for the Ausfilm

‘Australia – “Let Us Tempt You” incentives

campaign featured on the Screendaily.com

homepage for the period of 29 September –

14 October (11 days) to coincide with

Ausfilm’s UK marketing mission.

The online advertising campaign was

bolstered by two e-marketing campaigns

delivered to key contacts within the UK. This

totalled 743 individual email addresses within

Ausfilm’s database. The e-marketing blasts

led audiences to the campaign website which

linked back to the Ausfilm website. There

were ten requests for postal information packs

stemming from this e-marketing campaign.

The campaign message for the UK/European

market emphasised co-productions and the

Producer Offset. This market is more suited for

these two products. Therefore, the advertising

message focused on the fact that official

co-productions with Australia qualify for the

Producer Offset. The four different sized digital

adverts used throughout the campaign were

as follows:

/ / Screen Daily e-newsletter banner:

6 – 12 October with 49,500 impressions

/ / Screen Daily e-newsletter skyscraper:

28 September – 15 October with

141,903 impressions

/ / Website homepage mini-skyscraper:

6 – 14 October with 69,901 impressions

/ / Website button: 26 September –

15 October with 280,467 impressions

5.0

Marketing

Table 2 on page 22 shows impressions

(audience exposure) and click through rates

for unique visitors in all campaigns across the

US and the UK/Europe for the past year.

There were a total of 541,770 impressions

over the length of the UK campaign with

0.08 percent of viewers clicking through to

the Ausfilm website compared with the US

June/July campaign of 891,227 viewers with

19 percent of viewers clicking through to the

Ausfilm website.

From 191,402 people who viewed the Ausfilm

adverts in the Screen Daily e-newsletter, two

hundred and sixty-three people clicked onto

the Ausfilm advert which linked back to an

incentives campaign web page on

ausfilm.com/letustemptyou.

Figure 4. Campaign Mix and Distribution

Digital

Campaign

Direct mail

electronic

Dedicated campaign website

with URL: ausfilm.com/

letustemptyouUK providing

PDF versions of the ASPI

and PDV Factsheets and

links to the Ausfilm and

DEWHA websites.

Two e-marketing blasts

to 743 addresses (from

European targets in

Ausfilm’s database)

Advertising Four different sized online

adverts on Screendaily.com

Australia – “Let Us Tempt You”

Incentives Campaign

Online Advertisement

make it in australia

SUBLIME

LOCATIONS.

FILMING THe WORLD IN ONe COuNTRY

BEEN THERE.

DONE THAT.

HOLLYWOOD PRODuCeRs TALK GReAT AussIe LIFesTYLe

makeitinaustralia.com

THE TALENT ISSUE

Issue #01 | January 2009

Cinematographer MANdy WALkEr

Writer/Director GrEG McLEAN

Composer dAvId HIrScHfELdEr

Production Designer OWEN PAT E rSON

Make it In Australia –

Ausfilm Magazine

Talent Campaign (USA)

January 2009

Cinematographer

Greg McLean, director/writer,

Wolf Creek, Rogue

5.0

Marketing

5.1.3

Make it in Australia – Talent Campaign

(USA) January 2009

Ausfilm launched its Talent Campaign to

promote the capabilities of Australia’s offscreen

talent. The campaign’s centrepiece

was the launch of the new Ausfilm annual

magazine. The magazine was distributed

to 2,300 US-based contacts. 19 members

purchased advertising in the magazine

generating $26,450 towards the cost of

producing the magazine.

DVD Testimonial Presentation

A four minute visual presentation was

developed featuring four testimonials from

clients who were working or had worked in

Australia. The DVD screened at Ausfilm’s

G’Day LA Breakfast Seminar in January.

Testimonials included the following US

executives:

/ /

Todd Isroelit, Vice-President, VFX

Production at Twentieth Century Fox

John Palermo, producer,

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Ralph Winter, producer,

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Chris Wyatt, producer,

Broken Hill

Online Impact

There were a total of 745,600 impressions

over the length of this campaign with 0.09

percent of viewers clicking through to the

Ausfilm website compared with the US June/

July campaign of 891,227 viewers with 0.19

percent of viewers clicking through to the

Ausfilm website.

Of the 325,000 impressions of the Ausfilm

adverts in the Variety.com daily e-newsletter,

167 people clicked onto the Ausfilm advert

which linked back to the Ausfilm website.

This equates to a 0.05 percent click through

rate, half the 0.10 percent achieved for the

digital campaign conducted on Variety.com

in June/July.

However, there were a total of 12,387 unique

visitors to the Ausfilm website in the month of

January 2009. This is the largest amount of

unique visitors to the Ausfilm website in the

08/09 reporting period and can be attributed

to the broader Make it in Australia marketing

campaign and Los Angeles sales mission.

Figure 5. Campaign Mix and Distribution

Magazine Ausfilm magazine was

/ / Direct mailed to 2,300 US film and television personnel.

/ / Distributed to 190 studio and production executives

in LA events and meetings.

/ / Distributed to 30 production executives in

New York meetings.

/ / Distributed to 160 government stakeholders,

domestic producers and members.

Direct Mail / / A direct email advertisement launching Ausfilm magazine

was sent to over 7,123 US film and television personnel

via the Ausfilm customer relationship management

system (Sugar).

/ / 2 html invites for G’Day LA seminar to 2,100 US executives.

/ / Hardcopy, 3D invite mailed to 2,000 executives.

Online Advertising / / Two animated digital advertisements on the Variety.com

homepage and in its daily newsletter. One horizontal banner

(superbanner) and one square island (marqueee) were used

from 12 – 16 January.

Print Advertising / / One full page full colour advertisements placed in

G’Day LA Black Tie Gala Program

Campaign Website / / Dedicated campaign website: makeitinaustralia.com

where the following factsheets were available:

Screen Production Incentives, Screen Production

Talent in Australia and Co-productions in Australia.

Magazine Request button / / 234 Ausfilm magazines were requested.

Signage / / Four banners were produced featuring each of the

four talent profile subjects.

Campaign website – makeitinaustralia.com

A Make it in Australia website and domain

name were created for this campaign

showcasing the four Australian talents

featured in Ausfilm magazine. The magazine

is promoted on this site with a call to action

“Click here to request the Talent Issue”.

The site also contains the three key Ausfilm

Factsheets on Screen Production Incentives,

Screen Production Talent in Australia and

Co-production with Australia which can be

downloaded from the site.

Ausfilm measured the performance results

of the dedicated website created for the

campaign via Ausfilm’s corporate website

(see Table 3 on page 24).

Make it in Australia –

Incentives Campaign

AFCI Locations magazine

Print Advertisement

owen

paterson

Speed Racer, V for Vendetta, The Matrix trilogy

5.0

Marketing

5.1.4

Make it in Australia – Incentives Campaign

(USA) April 2009

Ausfilm repeated the Make it in Australia

(MIIA) campaign, this time emphasising on

the Australian Screen Production Incentives,

to coincide with the Association of Film

Commissioners International’s Locations Trade

Show in Santa Monica from 16 – 18 April.

The MIIA campaign communication included

the four key messages of Australia’s screen

incentives:

/ / 15 percent Location Offset;

/ / 15 percent Post/Digital/VFX Offset;

/ / 40 percent Producer Offset – Australian

Features; and

/ / 20 percent Producer Offset – other

Australian Productions.

This campaign included print and online

advertising, a direct mail campaign of Ausfilm’s

new sales brochure, attendance at the AFCI

Locations Trade Show, an Ausfilm promotional

event in Los Angeles held in the week of the

Locations Trade Show and an associated

hardcopy and e-invitation to LA-based clients.

The aim of the campaign was to:

/ /

Continue to promote and build awareness

of Australia’s Screen Production Incentive

scheme in the US;

Promote and build awareness of Australia

as a leading destination for film, television

and post, digital and visual effects

production;

Motivate Ausfilm’s target market to explore

filming and or undertaking post-production

work in Australia; and

Generate and increase production enquiries

and project leads for Australia.

Online Impact

As a result of Ausfilm’s print advertising

booking, Variety provided a discounted online

advertisement package which achieved a

small rate of impressions (24, 236) for the

week of 13 April. These online adverts were

for “run of site”, meaning they were displayed

across all pages on Variety.com and not

solely placed on the homepage. Two digital

advertisement sizes were submitted:

a marquee (square) and a super-banner

(thin rectangle) in which the four MIIA

campaign messages were replicated

(see page 23 for online artwork).

Statistical analysis of unique visitors to

Ausfilm’s website during this campaign

period show a 17 percent decrease when

compared to the previous Ausfilm campaign

in January 2009. However, there was a 213

percent increase in unique visitors compared

to the July 2008 campaign.

Figure 6. Campaign Mix and Distribution

Advertising

MIIA Sales

Brochure

Campaign

Website

/ /

Two full page colour advertisements using the

MIIA campaign featuring Owen Paterson and the

three offsets presented in Variety Weekly

(13 – 17 April) and daily (13 April) magazines.

One full page colour advertisement placed in

the AFCI Locations magazine for April 2009.

Distribution covered the US and Europe/UK.

Direct mailed to:

/ / 610 key clients in the US market;

/ / 275 Ausfilm members and key stakeholders in

state and federal government departments and

agencies within Australia;

/ / 100 distributed at the AFCI Locations Trade Show;

/ / 80 distributed in Knowing event bags; and

/ / 230 distributed at the Cannes Film Festival.

Dedicated campaign website: makeitinaustralia.com

where the following factsheets were available: Screen

Production Incentives, Screen Production Talent in

Australia and Co-productions in Australia.

5.0

Marketing

5.2

Annual Online Impact Overview

Ausfilm measures the performance results of

its marketing campaigns by measuring the

number of times the relevant trade website

carrying the Ausfilm advertisement is accessed

(“Impressions”) against the number of times

a user “clicks through” to Ausfilm’s website.

The industry benchmark for what constitutes a

positive click through rate (CTR) is 0.1 percent

(1 click through for every 1,000 views) and as

Table 2 demonstrates below, Ausfilm achieved

or exceeded this target in all but one instance.

Table 2. Financial year overview online advertising campaign results

Online Advertising Days of

Campaign

June/July 2008

US Digital campaign

Variety.com Homepage

June/July 2008

US Digital campaign

Variety.com Daily e-Newsletter

29 September – 14 October 2008

UK Campaign

Screen Daily e-Newsletter

29 September – 14 October 2008

UK Campaign

Screen Daily Homepage

12-16 January 2009

MIIA Talent Campaign

Variety Homepage

13-17 April 2009

MIIA Incentives Campaign Variety Run

of Site (ROS)

When compared with the preceding US

campaigns, the results for the UK campaign

demonstrate substantially less traffic to the

Ausfilm website, with 4,559 fewer unique

visitors than during the July 2008 campaign.

However, while there were 65 percent more

impressions (350,000 more) during the US July

campaign compared to the UK campaign, the

significantly higher cost of advertising in UK/

European publications forced Ausfilm to limit

the scale and scope of its online presence.

Total

Impressions

Delivered

Unique Users to

website during the

month

Impressions

per day

Total Clicks

Delivered

Clicks

per day

CTR %

(Click

Through

Rate)

11 505,948 5,271 45,995 1284 117 0.25%

7 385,279 5,271 55,040 367 52 0.10%

25 191,402 6,188 7,656 263 11 0.14%

29 350,368 6,188 12,082 460 16 0.13%

5 420,600 12,387 84,120 518 104 0.12%

5 24,236 10,232 4,847 36 7 0.15%

5.0

Marketing

Figure 7. Three-Year Trend of Unique

Users to Ausfilm’s website

(Number of impressions)

16000

14000

12000

10000

8000

6000

4000

2000

July

August

Make it in Australia –

Incentives Campaign

Online Marquee

Advertisement Slides

September

October

08 October UK Incentives Campaign

November

December

January

08 January MIAA Talent Campaign

Feburary

March

April

09 May Client e-Newsletter

09 April MIAA Incentives Campaign

08 April Incentives Campaign

May

June

2006/07

2007/08

2008/09

5.0

Marketing

Table 3. Campaign Website Downloads and Unique Visitors

Campaign Websites Viewed Site Web Page Views Total Downloads

Australia - “Let Us Tempt You” Campaign Website

Unique Users to Homepage

October 08 - June 09

Downloads of Incentives & PDV

Factsheets from Campaign Website

October 08 - June 09

makeitinaustralia.com Campaign Website

Unique Users to Homepage

January 09 - June 09

Downloads of Incentives, Talent &

Co-production Factsheets

from Campaign Website

January 09 - June 09

Figure 8. Two Year Trend of Ausfilm Website

Pageviews (Number of impressions)

70000

60000

50000

40000

30000

20000

10000

654 728

1,501 1563

July

August

September

October

November

December

January

Feburary

March

April

May

463

1,024

2007/08

2008/09

June

5.0

Marketing

5.3

General Advertising

Factsheets

In addition to specific campaigns, Ausfilm

continued its marketing and promotion of

Australia’s capabilities through the maintenance

of its factsheet series, the most popular of

which are regularly updated. In particular, the

Screen Production Talent in Australia factsheet

has proved very valuable when meeting US

clients who are eager to engage Australian

talent. Demand for Australian talent has

been driven in part by the introduction of the

Producer Offset. Factsheets are available in

printed hardcopy and a downloadable format

on the website.

Ausfilm Make it in Australia brochure

In March, Ausfilm produced a new brochure

for international clients profiling the benefits of

shooting and/or post-producing a production

in Australia. The five key communication

messages within this brochure are:

/ / Australia’s screen production incentives;

/ / The three major studio complexes in NSW,

VIC and QLD;

/ / Australia’s skilled and talented production

and creative personnel;

/ / Australia’s innovative visual effects, sound

and post-production industry; and

/ / Diverse and accessible shooting locations.

The Ausfilm Make it in Australia brochure was

distributed in the following territories in the

reporting period:

/ / USA - The Australia/Ausfilm stand at

AFCI Locations Trade Show (100);

/ / USA - The Ausfilm hosted Knowing cocktail

celebration in Los Angeles (80); and

/ / Europe - The Screen Australia Cannes

Film Festival co-production seminar and

networking events. In addition, stock was

requested and distributed by the CEOs of

the NSW Film and Television Office and

Film Victoria (230).

This brochure will continue to be used in

sales meetings in the US and the UK in the

next financial year.

Ausfilm Website

Ausfilm’s website promotes Australia’s

capabilities and all factsheets can be

downloaded directly. In addition, the website

provides details on the productions filmed

(or posted) in Australia, and provides a link

for ordering Ausfilm magazine.

5.4

Outlook

At the end of the period Ausfilm was in the

advanced planning stage for a marketing

campaign to promote Australia’s PDV Offset

and its Post, Digital and Visual effects

production (PDV) capabilities. A promotional

book promoting Australia’s PDV Offset and

Ausfilm’s PDV members is being developed.

The high quality book will be direct mailed to

300 key contacts in the US post-production

and visual effects market, 100 in the UK market

and 100 in the Australian market. The PDV

book will contain a DVD that will promote the

work of Ausfilm’s 13 PDV members. Publicity

and client newsletters will be undertaken as

part of this campaign. The campaign will be

launched in late September 2010.

5.0

Marketing

5.5

Media and Publicity

Print articles, editorial and broadcast interviews

that occurred during the reporting period are

reported in Figure 9 to the right.

5.6

Website / Subscriber news

In October 2008, Ausfilm moved its web

hosting from Griffin Media to Websend in

Melbourne because Griffin were ceasing

operations. Owing to specific operational

requirements, Ausfilm subsequently moved its

website and CRM to a new server and host,

Loaded Technologies, in June, 2009.

Figure 9. Media and Publicity

Date Media outlet Ausfilm rep interviewed

July 2008 Desk Top magazine – Ausfilm’s Australia –

“Let Us Tempt You” campaign featured.

7/11/08 Screen Daily, Sandy George Co-production in UK Caroline Pitcher

9/10/08 Screen Hub, Alex Prior Coproduction in UK Caroline Pitcher

9/10/08 Sunday Age Melbourne, Peter Munro Tourism

& Australia the Film

N/A

Caroline Pitcher

1/8/08 Encore magazine – Grinding to a Halt, Tracey Vieira Tracey Vieira

1/9/08 Encore magazine – Australia in vogue for Olympians

and Tourism alike, Tracey Vieira

1/10/08 Encore magazine – Ledgers Legacy For Young Actors,

Tracey Vieira

1/11/08 Encore magazine – Every Crisis Has A Brighter Side, Tracey Vieira Tracey Vieira

29/11/08 The Australian – Spy who didn’t love us, Michael Bodey Caroline Pitcher

1/12/08 The Australian – Australia fare advances film industry,

Michael Bodey

1/12/08 Encore magazine - Time to say G’Day Again,

Tracey Vieira

1/1/09 Encore magazine – Actors Strike Might Define

New Media, Tracey Vieira

8/1/09 Screen International – Ausfilm to Promote Oz

technical talent at US event, Sandy George

30/1/09 Variety – “Australia” incentive stirs Down Under,

Michaela Boland

1/2/09 Encore magazine - Filmmakers Become Ambassadors

by Tracey Vieira

1/3/09 Australians In Film March Newsletter photograph

features Ausfilm staff.

1/3/09 Encore magazine – Everyone Needs a Little Incentive,

Tracey Vieira

18/3/09 Screen Hub – Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark possible for Australia,

Alex Prior

26/3/09 Sydney Morning Herald – Movies are Threatened by

Tax Rule says Director, Garry Maddox

1/4/09 Encore magazine – Blockbusters with an Aussie Touch,

Tracey Vieira

3/4/09 Variety – Knowing flap muddles Oz tax credit,

Michaela Boland

6/5/09 Variety - Australian Entertainment Rebounds,

Michaela Boland

1/5/09 Encore magazine – Global Incentives Team Work,

Tracey Vieira

1/6/09 Encore magazine – The Year Victoria Went Wild,

Tracey Vieira

Caroline Pitcher

Tracey Vieira

Caroline Pitcher

(not quoted)

Tracey Vieira

Vivien Flitton

Michelle Sandoval

Tracey Vieira

Ausfilm

Caroline Pitcher

Tracey Vieira

Caroline Pitcher

Tracey Vieira

6.0

Information Services

6.0

Information Services

6.1

Customer Relationship

Management System (CRM)

During the reporting period, Ausfilm’s client

database underwent significant review and

updating – including the deletion of contacts

which are no longer relevant – as part of the

changeover to Sugar CRM, Ausfilm’s new

Customer Relationship Management system.

Implemented in February 2009, Sugar allows

both Ausfilm offices to work in real time on

one single database. The merged database

contains some 5,954 international and

domestic contacts.

6.2

Content Management System (CMS)

During the reporting period Ausfilm ceased

using Interspire – an e-marketing tool to send

e-marketing to its clients – and implemented

the e-marketing function in its Sugar CRM.

Two Ausfilm staff received training on this

software. The benefit of using the Sugar CRM

e-marketing function is that it can identify

which email contacts within the database

received email campaigns and provide

analysis on which stories each contact read

in every email campaign. Ausfilm staff can, for

example, follow up with key clients who may

have demonstrated interested in a specific

story on production incentives. Electronic

communications with global clients included

client e-blasts for Trackdown Orchestral

Scoring Stage, TPH, Stage and Screen and

ARRI Australia, various e-invites in the US and

UK as well as a May client newsletter sent to

4,253 email contacts globally.

6.3

New Subscription Feature

During the reporting period Ausfilm

implemented an e-newsletter subscription

feature on its website to attract interest from

filmmakers seeking information on Australia.

Visitors can choose to receive quarterly email

updates from Ausfilm on Australian screen

production industry news and/or on Australia’s

production incentives updates. All contact

details received through this portal and

transferred directly into Ausfilm’s Sugar CRM

database as potential sales leads.

7.0

Collaboration and Advocacy

7.0

Collaboration and Advocacy

7.1

Screen Australia

Ausfilm’s CEO and Chair met Screen

Australia’s newly-appointed CEO to discuss

opportunities for collaboration. Ausfilm has

regular contact with the relevant arms of

Screen Australia, particularly with Marketing,

Co-productions and the Producer Offset.

Evidence of the collaboration can be seen from

Alex Sangston’s (Head of Co-productions and

Producer Offset, Screen Australia) attendance

at Ausfilm’s UK mission and presence on the

panel to promote co-production opportunities.

Ausfilm involves Screen Australia and the

State Screen Agencies at an early stage

in the development and updating of its

factsheets, especially those referring to

programs administered by Screen Australia.

Equally, Ausfilm involves DEWHA closely

when preparing information materials on the

programs administered by the Commonwealth

Government.

Ausfilm provided feedback on Screen

Australia’s marketing guidelines as part of

Screen Australia’s industry consultation.

Ausfilm also prepared a submission to Screen

Australia on the possibility of establishing a

talent website that would enable international

clients to view information on Australian talent.

Ausfilm considers the service essential to

satisfy a demand that is not being met.

7.2

Ministerial support and liaison

During the year Ausfilm raised a number of

issues with the Minister for the Arts, DEWHA,

regarding co-operation from the Department

of Defence in accessing sites and in relation to

the construction of a Horizon Tank in Australia.

Minister Garrett demonstrated his support

for Ausfilm by writing the foreword for the

inaugural Ausfilm magazine and accepting an

invitation to participate in Ausfilm’s LA mission

in October 2009 (subject to scheduling and

approval processes).

7.3

DEWHA

Ausfilm continued to maintain close contact

with DEWHA, and with key personnel. Towards

the end of the reporting period, DEWHA’s Greg

Jericho left his position on the last day of the

reporting period and will be replaced by Penny

Gault for the next reporting period.

During the reporting period, Ausfilm also

successfully negotiated a new funding deed

for 2009-10. The deed’s funding was very

closely aligned to Ausfilm’s business plan.

7.4

States meetings

Ausfilm held regular meetings with the four

State Partners (the State Screen Agencies

of Victoria, NSW, Queensland and South

Australia) in order to better co-ordinate

missions and marketing activities.

7.5

Outlook

Ausfilm will target the effectiveness of the ASPI

with a planned study into the economic impact

of securing foreign productions to Australia

and an investigation into the effectiveness of

the Location and PDV Offsets in attracting

productions to Australia.

8.0

Governance

8.0

Governance

8.1

Staff

There have been some significant changes in

Ausfilm staffing during the reporting period.

Brondalie Martin left her role as Operations

and Marketing Co-ordinator in June of the

previous reporting period and was replaced in

September 2008 by Marty Jamieson.

Jodea Bloomfield left her role as Vice-President

(Content Attraction) in October 2008. The role

was restructured, and recruitment took place

during the last quarter of 2008 for the role of

Client Liaison Executive. Michelle Sandoval,

formerly at Dreamworks Animation, was

appointed in December 2008 and commenced

in January 2009.

Nick Coyle left his role as Policy and Corporate

Services Executive in June 2009 and was

replaced that same month by Alastair

McKinnon, formerly at Screen Australia.

Caroline Pitcher announced she would not be

renewing her contract as CEO beyond its two

year term and a recruitment process began to

find a new CEO to commence early in the next

financial year.

Rachelle Gibson-Cummins continued as

Marketing and Development Executive, Annie

Lucas continued as Administration Coordinator

3 days per week whilst in LA Tracey Vieira

continued as Film Commissioner and Vivien

Flitton as Director of Operations.

Director of Operations

Vivien Flitton

LA Film Commissioner

Tracey Vieira

8.2

Accounting

Client Liason Executive

Michelle Sandoval

Ausfilm’s accounting system was supervised

by Moneypenny Services’ Kate Meyer. Ausfilm

also employs a freelance book-keeper one

day per week, who enters information into

the bookkeeping system, pays invoices, and

registers income received. Ausfilm uses MYOB

accounting package.

Cost and income reports are generated

and examined by the Executive Committee,

which meets monthly. Kate Meyer attends the

Executive Committee meetings in her capacity

as accountant.

Financial protocols are in place to ensure that

Ausfilm enters into financial obligations only

after due care. Major expenditures must be

authorised by a Deputy Chair or Chair.

Ausfilm Board

Ausfilm Executive

Committee

Chief Executive

Caroline Pitcherr

Marketing and

Development Executive

Rachelle Gibson

Marketing and Operations

Coordinator

Marty Jamieson

8.3

DEWHA: reports and deed

Ausfilm is required to report twice-yearly

to its major funder, DEWHA and to inform

DEWHA about its progress in meeting the key

performance indicators (KPIs) which are agreed

between the two parties.

Ausfilm submitted its interim report in January,

which was acquitted by DEWHA, permitting

the second tranche of Ausfilm’s funding to

be paid.

Ausfilm confirmed its KPIs with DEWHA during

the reporting period, and will submit its final

report for 2008-09 with its audited accounts

for 2008-09.

Policy and Corporate

Services Executive

Alastair McKinnon

Admin Coordinator

Annie Lucas

8.0

Governance

8.4

Committees

Ausfilm is governed and assisted by a

number of Committees. For full details of

their membership, please see Appendix 1.

Executive Committee

The Executive Committee meets monthly,

on the first Wednesday of every month. It is

chaired by Ausfilm’s Chair, and also comprises

the two Deputy Chairs and a representative

from one State Screen Agency Partner.

For 2008-09, it was chaired by Martin Cayzer,

supported by Catherine McDonnell and Alaric

McAusland, with Sandra Sdraulig representing

the State Agencies.

The minutes from the Executive Committee are

circulated to the Board after they have been

approved by the Chair or Deputy Chair.

Marketing Committee

The Marketing Committee meets quarterly and

for 2008-09 was chaired by Alaric McAusland.

The Marketing Committee discusses issues

relating to Ausfilm’s international promotion of

Australia’s capabilities. For its membership in

2008-09, please see Appendix 1.

Policy Committee

The Policy Committee meets quarterly

and for 2008-09 was chaired by Catherine

McDonnell. The Policy Committee discusses

structural issues relating to Australia’s ability

to attract international production, such as tax

requirements. For its membership in 2008-09,

please see Appendix 1.

8.5

Board meetings

Four Board meetings were held in 2008-09:

one in Sydney, one in the Gold Coast, one in

Melbourne, and one in Canberra.

Figure 11. Ausfilm Board and Committee Members and Staff

Board members

Position Director Member Term begins Term ends

Chair Martin Cayzer Panavision 1/7/08 30/6/10

Deputy Chair Alaric McAusland Deluxe 1/7/06 30/6/09

Deputy Chair Catherine McDonnell Fox Studios

Australia

1/7/06 30/6/09

Elected Corporate

Member

Trish Graham Fuel 1/7/08 30/6/11

Elected Corporate

Member

Elected Corporate

Member

Elected Corporate

Member

Elected Corporate

Member

Elected Corporate

Member

State screen agencies

State Screen Agency

Board position

State Screen Agency

Board position

State Screen Agency

Board position

State Screen Agency

Board position

Greg McKibbin Kodak 1/7/08 30/6/11

Kate Meyer Moneypenny 1/7/07 30/6/10

Sue Greenshields Lemac 1/7/08 30/6/11

Ian Robertson Holding Redlich 1/7/06 30/6/09

Greg Smith Animal Logic 1/7/07 30/6/10

Robin James Pacific Film & Television Commission

Richard Harris South Australian Film Corporation

Sandra Sdraulig Film Victoria

Tania Chambers NSW FTO

8.0

Governance

Board observers

Federal Government

Board Observer

Federal Government

Board Observer

Federal Government

Board Observer

Associate State

Screen Agency Board

Observer

Associate State

Screen Agency Board

Observer

Associate State

Screen Agency Board

Observer

Lloyd Downey Austrade

John Odgers Austrade

Stephen Richards DEWHA

Ian Booth ScreenWest

Karena Slaninka Screen Tasmania

Penelope McDonald NT Film Office

Staff

Chief Executive Caroline Pitcher Sydney

Policy & Corporate

Services Executive

Alastair McKinnon Sydney

Administration

Coordinator

Marketing and

Development Executive

Marketing and

Operations Coordinator

Annie Lucas Sydney

Rachelle Gibson Sydney

Marty Jamieson Sydney

Film Commissioner Tracey Vieira Los Angeles

Client Liaison Executive Michelle Sandoval Los Angeles

Operations Director Vivien Flitton Los Angeles

Accountant (freelance) Kate Meyer Sydney

Book-keeper (freelance) Virginia Parsons Sydney

9.0

Appendix 1 – Committees

9.0

Appendix 1 – Committees

Figure 1. Audit committee:

Chair Greg Smith Animal Logic

Auditor Chris Coote Chris Coote & Co.

Accountant Kate Meyer Moneypenny

Member Alaric McAusland Deluxe

State Screen Agency Tania Chambers NSW FTO

Figure 2. Executive committee

Chair Martin Cayzer Panavision

Deputy Chair Alaric McAusland Deluxe

Deputy Chair Catherine McDonnell Fox Studios Australia

State Screen Agency member Sandra Sdraulig Film Victoria

Reporting Kate Meyer (Accountant, Moneypenny) & Ausfilm Staff

Figure 3. Marketing committee

Chair Alaric McAusland Deluxe

Corporate Member (Board member) Trish Graham Fuel

Corporate Member James Bramley Fox Studios Australia

Corporate Member Julian Dimsey Iloura (Omnilab Media)

Corporate Member Nathan Wellington FSM

Corporate Member Geraldine Quinn ARRI Australia

Corporate Member Stephen Rutter Show Group

Corporate Observer Pamela Hammond Digital Pictures

Corporate Observer Kylie Ranger Stage & Screen

Corporate Observer Lynne Benzie Warner Roadshow Studios

State Screen Agency Kate Marks Film Victoria

State Screen Agency Jess Conoplia Pacific Film & Television Commission

State Screen Agency Kya Blondin NSW FTO

State Screen Agency Sue Stewart South Australia Film Corporation

9.0

Appendix 1 – Committees

Figure 4. Policy committee:

Chair Catherine McDonnell Fox Studios Australia

Corporate Member (Board member) Sue Greenshields Lemac

Corporate Member Sonia Borella Holding Redlich

Corporate Member Brinos Lambrinos BDO Kendalls

Corporate Member Brett Thornquest Moneypenny

Corporate Member Lewis Pullen Omnilab Media

Corporate Member Lynn Paetz Warner Roadshow

Corporate Observer (Board member) Greg Smith Animal Logic

Corporate Member Susan Horlin PricewaterhouseCoopers

State Screen Agency Jess Conoplia Pacific Film & Television Commission

State Screen Agency Sue Stewart South Australia Film Corporation

State Screen Agency Judith Bowtell NSW FTO

State Screen Agency Kate Marks Film Victoria

Figure 5. Ausfilm members

Post-Production/Digital/Visual Effects (PDV)

Animal Logic

Complete Post

Cutting Edge

FSM

Fuel

Omnilab Media

(incorporating Digital Pictures, Iloura, The Lab Sydney)

Rising Sun Pictures

Surreal World

Music & Sound Post Production

Stageone Sound (Deluxe)

Trackdown Scoring Stage

Equipment Suppliers & Rentals

Agrekko

ARRI Australia

Lemac Films (Australia) Pty Ltd

Panavision (incorporating Panalux)

Financial Services

BDO Kendalls

Ernst & Young

Moneypenny Services

PricewaterhouseCoopers

Threadgold Plummer Hood

Film Laboratories & Suppliers

Deluxe Sydney

(incorporating Deluxe Melbourne and Efilm Australia)

Kodak (Australasia) Pty Ltd

State Government Agencies

Film Victoria

Pacific Film and Television Commission

NSW Film and Television Office

South Australian Film Corporation

Northern Territory Film Office

Screen Tasmania

ScreenWest

Federal Government

Department of the Environment, Water,

Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA)

Studios & Facilities

Melbourne Central City Studios

Fox Studios Australia

Warner Roadshow Studios

Freight, Travel & Accommodation

Ausfilm Transport & Logistics

Showgroup

Stage and Screen Travel

Legal

Holding Redlich

10.0

Appendix 2 – Website Visitors

10.0

Appendix 2 – Website Visitors

Number of Visits & Page Views

Number of visits in Table 1 on page 40 in the

appendix records the amount of visitors to the

website for all visits not unique visitors. Page

Views records the amount of pages a unique

visitor views. Ausfilm has provided the statistics

for Page Views for the 07/08 and 08/09

reporting period. There has been a 13 percent

increase in the amount of pages viewed on the

Ausfilm website for 08/09 when compared to

07/08. More unique users are viewing more

pages on the Ausfilm website. No visits or

percentage changes are provided from January

to June for Number of Visits in Table 1 because

changes in the way Ausfilm now records this

information made comparison impossible for

that six month period.

Unique Users

Traffic to Ausfilm’s website by unique visitors

increased significantly from January 2009.

This can be attributed to the Make it in

Australia campaigns conducted in January

and April 2009. From March through to June

the unique visitors increased significantly

with May having the highest unique visitors

to Ausfilm’s website in history. This can also

be attributed to consistently directing users

to the Ausfilm website for all articles and

attachments for Ausfilm member and client

e-communications.

Hits

The definition of the hits statistics is the

number of elements a web page measures

when a user navigates to a page. If there are

five images, three text areas and two menu

sections and a banner, then when a user

visits this page it is recorded as ten hits. This

figure will only change significantly if there

are more page views or the site has been

rebuilt with more components per page. The

statistics in the Hits column are reduced for the

reporting period because there were content

and site map updates on the Ausfilm website

in October and November which included

the deletion of a number of pages that were

repetitive and provided little or no information

(menu list). Some outdated slide shows and

factsheets were also removed and the site was

refined for easier navigation. The decrease in

hits to the Ausfilm website during the reporting

period can be attributed to these refinements.

This is shown in Table 2 on page 40.

Bandwidth

Bandwidth measures the bytes for pages,

images and files downloaded by webbrowsing.

The bandwidth for this reporting

period decreased by 33 percent. This can

be credited to the website revisions during

the reporting period.

10.0

Appendix 2 – Website Visitors

Table 1

Unique visitors Number of visits Page Views

2007/08 2008/09 Change 2007/08 2008/09 Change 2007/08 2008/09 Change

July 5,859 5,271 -10% 20,099 9,959 -50% 42,326 38,953 -8%

August 5,674 3,764 -34% 13,872 6,930 -50% 36,182 37,039 2%

September 5,028 4,129 -18% 11,040 7,209 -35% 27,431 32,056 17%

October 5,354 3,322 -38% 11,636 5,617 -52% 32,984 29,370 -11%

November 5,319 1,353 -75% 10,942 1,965 -82% 29,472 20,607 -30%

December 4,498 3,101 -31% 9,897 5,063 -49% 28,127 39,786 41%

January 5,140 12,387 141% 11,474 - - 32,183 48,739 51%

February 5,187 9,604 85% 11,075 - - 35,765 35,614 0%

March 6,136 11,339 85% 13,807 - - 36,650 54,459 49%

April 7,818 10,232 31% 18,663 - - 45,151 42,880 -5%

May 6,622 13,666 106% 17,099 - - 43,902 64,186 46%

June 6,462 13,323 106% 12,857 - - 43,806 47,123 8%

Average 5,758 7,624 24% 13,538 27,478 - 36,165 40,901 13%

Total 69,097 91,491 24% 162,461 329,744 - 433,979 433,979 13%

Table 2

Hits Bandwidth(GB)

2007/08 2008/09 Change 2007/08 2008/09 Change

July 450,699 465,109 3% 6.6 8 21%

August 650,554 458,455 -30% 6 7.2 22%

September 396,420 612,117 54% 5.1 6.4 27%

October 590,967 347,977 27% 6.7 3.9 -42%

November 584,872 86,428 -85% 5.3 1.1 -79%

December 435,124 139,513 -68% 5.7 2.8 -52%

January 598,902 212,080 -65% 5.7 5.8 2%

February 663,380 155,199 -77% 6.7 2.7 -60%

March 541,008 214,101 -60% 6 3.8 -37%

April 618,511 191,261 -69% 7.8 3.2 -59%

May 482,031 277,835 -42% 8.7 5.2 -40%

June 539,249 204,361 -62% 9.6 3.4 -65%

Average 545,976 280,370 -49% 6.7 4.4 -34%

Total 6,551,717 3,364,436 -49% 80 53.5 -34%

11.0

Ausfilm Audited Accounts

Notes

T R A C K D O W N - AusFilm

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