Screen Australia widget to help discoverability of local storytelling
Search tool in development will help audiences find Aussie film & TV both on the small and big screen.
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Screen Australia is developing a tool to help people find local content both on television and in cinemas.
Speaking last week at the Australian International Documentary Conference, Screen Australia’s Director of Content Grainne Brunsdon, said the initiative was yet to be formally announced, but would help audiences locate Australian content.
“Discoverability of Australian content has been a long running issue. We know things are out there but how do you find them? Where do you find them?” she asked.
“We’ve been working with a company to put something on the website, which is just in testing phase at the moment where we will have a widget on probably about 3000 titles. It will say ‘Watch me now’ or something and when you click on it, if it’s shown theatrically, it will take you through to which cinemas, session times and you can go straight through and buy tickets. If it’s at home it will take you through to the Netflix or Stan link or the whatever streamer.
“Essentially, it’s something that scrapes the internet for all those listings. All of the platforms that are available in Australia will be captured by that as a way of trying to help with discoverability. We’re going to trial it for a year.”
Producers will also be able to add titles. The tool hopes to be useful for audiences overseas looking for Australian film and television.
“Even if you live, let’s say in Germany or something, it’ll show you where you can watch it locally too… so that in the back end, we can look at where stories are traveling to and see what that tells us.”
A launch date is yet to be revealed.
TV Tonight recently launched a powerful new Review Filters tool which searches over 1400 reviews via genre, platform and format.
3 Responses
a good initiative, for sure, but doesn’t justwatch.com/au already do this?
To some extent. It tends to focus on scripted + international. Less in local docos / factual / entertainment in FTA and it won’t tell you what cinema for movies.
Is there a definitive criteria to what Screen Australia deems to be ‘Australian Content’?
It could mean anything, from the fact that it was produced substantially within Australia, or that the cast or crew were largely Australian citizens, or that the content has Australian themes, or, perhaps most cynically, that for whatever reason, the production was subsidised with taxpayers’ money.
For instance, would any Marvel movie (shot in Australia, with Aussie cast/crew, and a sizable government subsidy) but with zero Australian themes, be deemed ‘Australian Content’?