Mixed reception on Budget changes from Industry
Industry group Ausfilm greets Budget news on the Post, Digital and Visual Effects (PDV) Offsets with mixed feelings.
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under News
In its Budget last night the Federal Government announced that the Post, Digital and Visual Effects (PDV) Offsets will raise from 15 to 30%; but the Location Offset remains at 15%.
Industry group Ausfilm, which had been lobbying for a Location Offset of 30%, greeted the news with mixed feelings.
CEO Debra Richards said, “With a 30%PDV Offset, Australia’s post-production companies will be able to attract multi-million dollar contracts on big-budget international projects, which in turn helps to build Australia’s filmmaking infrastructure and expertise.
“Whilst this is a win for the industry, Ausfilm is disappointed that the Location Offset was not increased at the same time to 30 per cent,” Richards said.
“Large budget international productions that are filmed in Australia, provide vast economic and employment benefits to the country. At 15%, the Location Offset is no longer competitive due to the high Australian dollar and competition from higher incentives offered by other national governments and US state governments.”
Offshore productions generally do not consider filming in Australia when the dollar is more than US80c and it is currently soaring at $1.08.
Source: Encore, IF Magazine
3 Responses
I’m no expert (!), but while the location offset could help spread some income around the regions, the PDV seems more pragmatic, and higher up the food chain…?
Presumably the PDV offset helps the local industry, and would be less exposed to currency fluctuations — it’s a lot cheaper to shift bits, than semis full of equipment.
Are lot countries, with amazing locations, vying for productions offering very sweet deals? Do we want to race to the bottom for locations, vs building a skilled workforce that draws productions in its own rights?
…it will take longer for competing countries to build their own industries.
OTOH location shoots can also lead to local PDV works, so it’s not a b/w issue.
You would think location shooting would be one of the biggest attractions?
Also, no one will really notice if a film has had digital effects in Aus, versus if it was shot on location here.
wasn’t the location offset increased to 16.5 percent? not that the small increase is going to do anything