Mark Poole is a writer and director of both drama and documentary. His most recent film Fearless about 92 year old playwright Julia Britton recently screened on ABC1. His career began when the feature film he wrote, A Single Life, won an AFI Award in 1987. Since then he has written more than 20 hours of broadcast television drama, won a directing award for the short film Basically Speaking at the St Kilda Film Festival, and was honoured with a major AWGIE, the Richard Lane Award in 2008.
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1. You will always encounter a proportion of both love and fear for a project you want to take on. What you need to do is overcome the fear just enough so that the inspiration and love for it is slightly stronger than the fear.
Fear will hold you back. As I type this, I know it’s held me back. Aside from making great things, I think all filmmakers probably need therapy, but also maybe the ability to be introspective. Confront fear and translate that into inspiration.
2. At the start of the film, plant a seed in the audience’s mind and steer their attention toward something that will trigger a memory for them later on.
You know I don’t believe there are any rules in writing, but I do think plant and payoff is the most important part of storytelling. If you can set up certain aspects at the beginning, you can help your characters’ arc, and hang a light on things for the audience to connect to later.
3. Dig deep to try and discover if the story or characters apply to your own life experience in some way and use what you learned from those experiences.
Writing and directing comes from a personal place. You don’t have to have been in the same situation as the characters, but try to find where they are in terms of emotional states.
Have you felt scared, excited, turned on, happy, etc? How did you react then? Add some naturalism.
4. While you’re making the film, give it all the love, attention, and intelligence it needs, but once it’s out in the world, let it be.
We’ve seen many directors mess with their work over time. I think the best thing you can do is find a finished version and let your art stand. There’s always the temptation to change or alter things. Let it hang, see how it matures.
Then make something new. You have a lot to offer.
5. Tell your friends to be brutal with their feedback. You have to pull your muscles to hear that bad feedback. Because feedback is brutal. But feedback is also help, and it’s the only way to learn.
Man, it can be so hard to hear the real notes from people. So hard.
But I promise you, when your story gets better, when your writing goes further, when your films premiere somewhere, it will all be worth it. Listen. Take it in. Let it make you better.
6. Have someone do psyche work with you. Let them help you facilitate a discussion between yourself and your character.
I have found this to be really helpful. Work with a friend or a mentor and talk out every aspect of a character. You can even use an actor friend to play one of them. That’s really fun because you can ask them questions and truly round out your story and the way to sink into these people.
7. Shun the world you don’t like and create your own.
Life is very hard. Hollywood is full of rejection. Writing and directing can take you far away from your troubles and give you the opportunity to examine things you never would get to see otherwise. Time travel. Fall in love. Go somewhere special.
8. Write, in disguise, about yourself and the people around you by changing the details.
We all know a few characters. Put them in your work. Make them authentic. Combine people you know or just keep digging into them. Change names and details, but don’t fear using friends and family as a jumping-off point for something more.
9. Make your audience think back to how they missed something in your film that’s been in front of their noses the whole time.
This is the thing about planting early, you can surprise the audience later. Really find people interested in how things are panning off by rewarding them. If you add layers to your storytelling, this will really show up.
10. If your mind goes blank on set, just remember all you need to do is put the camera up, put some people in front of it, and trust that you’ve done enough preparation that you know what you’re doing.
Intuition is your best friend. It can carry you through a long career. The truth is, you’re always going to be hustling for work. But when you get lost or down, follow your gut.
Set up a camera and shoot something. Find your inspiration.
Comedy “How to Please a Woman,” starring “Veep” and “Bridget Jones Diary” actor Sally Phillips, has generated brisk business for Beta Cinema. Brainstorm Media has taken all rights for the U.S. and will release the film theatrically on July 22, and pay TV operator Sky has secured all rights for the U.K.
Beta Cinema also sold all rights for Canada (Mongrel Media), Poland (Monolith Films), former Yugoslavia (Discovery), Czech Republic (Bohemia Motion Pictures) and Hungary (ADS).
Madman will put the film out in Australia and New Zealand on a wide release on May 19 and May 26, respectively.
Phillips stars as 50-year-old Gina, who feels she has become “invisible to everyone.” Establishing a house-cleaning service, staffed by good-looking male cleaners who provide cleaning with benefits, the film follows her as she learns how to ask for what she wants and encourages other women to do the same.
“We fell in love with this movie as we feel most people will when they see it,” said Michelle Shwarzstein, head of distribution at Brainstorm Media. “This film manages to tackle an often taboo subject in the funniest and most heartfelt way. People will walk away smiling.”
Paul Wiegard, co-founder and CEO of Madman Entertainment, stated: “Australian and New Zealand exhibitors are backing this feel-good, relatable comedy about female sexuality and vulnerability. More than 300 screens have already confirmed. The film offers a fun girls’ night out, the themes of empowerment and pleasure connecting with the primary audience.”
Thorsten Ritter, exec VP acquisitions, sales and marketing at Beta Cinema, stated: “We acquired ‘How to Please a Woman’ very early at script stage as it resonated with us as a truthful, enlightening and smart comedy for a mature audience. I am very pleased to see all of what we envisaged from the script and the filmmakers behind it worked out so beautifully.”
Erik Thomson (“The Black Balloon,” “The Furnace”), Alexander England (“Alien: Covenant”), and Caroline Brazier (“Three Summers,” “Rake”) round out the cast of this Australian production, written and directed by Renée Webster.
It is produced by Tania Chambers and Judi Levine of Feisty Dame Productions and Such Much Films, supported by Screenwest, Lotterywest and Screen Australia.
At the Cannes Film Market, Beta Cinema will host a market screening for “How to Please a Woman” on May 19, 11:30 a.m. at Olympia 3.
Recent highlights for Beta Cinema include Berlinale 2022 Special Gala entry “The Forger,” featuring Louis Hofmann from the Netflix series “Dark,” and David Hayman and Udo Kier starrer “My Neighbor Adolf.”
Turning well-built male removalists into well-built domestic cleaners, WA-made film How to Please a Woman is designed to open up some important conversations around sex, intimacy… and housework, discovers Ara Jansen.
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that any woman in possession of a home must want someone to clean it. Someone that isn’t her. That’s part of the premise of a wonderfully warm movie, filmed in Fremantle, that hits cinemas this month. How to Please a Woman stars Sally Phillips, Erik Thomson, Alexander England, Ryan Johnson, Josh Thomson and Cameron Daddo, alongside WA-born actors Caroline Brazier, Tasma Walton and Hayley McElhinney.
Sally Phillips is Gina, a mature woman who starts a business which turns well-built male removalists into well-built house cleaners. The response from her ocean-swimming community helps make her new venture an instant hit. As business booms, her clients demand something more – sex – but more importantly, pleasure. Gina and her foodie manager (Erik Thomson) launch an enterprise that’s all about getting intimacy right between people.
Writer/director of ‘How To Please A Woman’, Renee Webster. Photo: David Dare Parker
As Gina faces the highs and lows of running a business, she’s also forced to stand up for herself and her own pleasure, and take control.
Exploring the vulnerable world of what women really want – and how hard it can be to get it right – the film is a precarious, often hilarious, heartwarming and revealing journey.
How to Please a Woman was shot over five weeks in the middle of last year in Fremantle and at Leighton Beach. Some of the film’s most delightfully insightful scenes happen in the concrete women’s change rooms at the beach after sunrise swims in the Indian Ocean with Gina’s women friends. Through years of changeroom semi-naked chat, they have grown into a fun and eclectic cohort who share intimate secrets and laughs.
“I never sexualized our view of women in the changerooms,” says director and screenplay writer Renée Webster.
“The atmosphere in those scenes is terrific, even when we were dealing with sex, intimacy and pleasure. All these women standing around with their clothes off and talking about things – you could feel them standing in their own power.”
Caroline Brazier – who plays Sandra – says she would find herself tearing up during those scenes because of the wonderful energy in the space.
Caroline Brazier as Sandra with Alex England as Tom, in ‘How To Please A Woman’. Photo: David Dare Parker
“All these gorgeous women who were extras offering up their naked bodies of all different shapes and sizes; in that moment they all looked so beautiful,” says Brazier. “We really have bought into this lie that our culture needs us to believe that our bodies are terrible if they are not a particular way. They were exquisite and that made for a very profound moment.”
Webster says that in these scenes, and indeed across the movie, tone was incredibly important in order to balance the humanity in the story with the comedy.
“My intention was to create a powerful comedy where you take away something from it. The way for the audience to find their way is to make sure you are being honest and authentic and might speak to people’s own lives.”
Webster takes a slightly more subtle path with Gina’s character, who could have easily been a loud, brash character who barrels along all guns blazing. Instead, in casting Sally Phillips, she delivers a quietly determined woman who is finally discovering her own power and tells her new male crew that “obviously, the cleaning must be effective and there must be a minimum of one orgasm”.
Producer Tania Chambers says it was wonderful to see a realistic woman’s orgasm on screen, one that seems normal and possible rather than porn-inspired.
“We wanted to have grown-ups that are intentional and communicating with each other. We wanted to reflect these values and healthy sexuality.
“Over the last five or so years with internet streaming and women accessing porn and going to sex shops and the proliferation of sex-positive websites, there’s a different language that’s occurring.”
She says this has led to a lot more sex-positive discussions but also a better understanding of how sex really is, as opposed to what many types of unrealistic porn offers. How to Please a Woman adds to this conversation by pointing to communication as being an important part of the process, as the character of Anthony finds out when he gets a few lessons.
Sally Phillips as Gina, in ‘How To Please A Woman’. Photo: David Dare Parker
How to Please a Woman is a female story told from a female perspective, and that female focus resonated behind the scenes too. Of the key film crew, three-quarters are women. Both producers, the line producer and departmental heads for production design, wardrobe, hair and make-up are women. The camera department, grip and gaffers also include women.
Tania Chambers says in general there’s a move to help more women up the ranks in film production and an encouragement for more women to be involved in all facets of film-making.
“To have a number of women working as grips and gaffers in this film was great,” says Chambers. “Someone told me during filming that if there’s more than one woman in a particular area, they feel like they can stand by each other and not feel like they are alone against the world.”
It’s pretty normal to have areas like make-up and wardrobe dominated by women. Less so when it comes to grips and some of the more physical jobs.
“That’s changing and it’s exciting,” says Webster. “I think it’s also practical when you are dealing with intimacy scenes. A room full of men feels really different to a room full of women and men. I find that really enabling and great for the creative process.”
One of the first scenes they shot was Alexander England taking off his clothes. He plays Tom, the first character you also see in the trailer. Webster says she purposefully shifted the mix of the room to be men and women to create the right energy. After the scene the actor told her it was a much better experience.
Hayley McElhinney as Hayley, Tasma Walton as Monique, Sally Phillips as Gina and Caroline Brazier as Sandra, in ‘How To Please A Woman’. Photo: David Dare Parker
The story behind How to Please a Woman came from two women Webster discovered who ran a business offering sexual services to women. She had read about them and wondered who their clients were.
“What I found was unexpected. Yes, there were women with heaps of money and power, but a lot of the women who used the service wanted to find some sexual agency and didn’t know how to get it and be safe, and were not prepared to give up sex.”
The stories that Webster heard around this business were what inspired the film and informed her writing of the screenplay.
The script also allowed her to make a few pointed comments about women and housework.
“For many people housework is something you don’t want to think about but it’s still a big part of your life. I have a lot of working professional mum friends who still have to do the housework. The reality and universality of that was such a touchstone because it’s a part of everyday reality.”
The group of four close female friends in the movie are post-40, maybe closer to 50, as are most of Gina’s clients. Rather than portray them as old, older or getting old, Webster has imbued them with an infectious sense of energy and positivity. There’s a feeling of take-charge and her female characters are not ready to settle for no sex – or average sex.
“I always had in my mind that this would be fun,” says Webster. Perth is her hometown so she felt particularly drawn to the filming locations and says the synchronicity of shooting her first feature film here and on the beach where she grew up was “really powerful”.
“I have a strong feeling it’s a great time to share this story,” she says. As well as giving people joy in the watching, she hopes it will provoke discussion around intimacy issues.
“This film was made not just to entertain. I would love it if it opened up new conversations in our lives and allowed some space for them. For both men and women.”
Neon has taken the North American rights to Kitty Green’s The Royal Hotel, due to star Julia Garner, Jessica Henwick and Hugo Weaving.
Expected to begin production in the coming months, the See-Saw Films feature follows Hanna (Garner) and Liv (Henwick), best friends backpacking in Australia.
After they run out of money, Liv, looking for an adventure, convinces Hanna to take a temporary live-in job in a pub called ‘The Royal Hotel’ in a remote Outback mining town. Bar Owner Billy (Weaving) and a host of locals give the girls a riotous introduction to Down Under drinking culture but things turn nasty when their jokes and behaviour cross the line. Soon Hanna and Liv find themselves trapped in an unnerving situation that grows rapidly out of their control.
The Royal Hotel is produced by Emile Sherman, Iain Canning and Liz Watts for See-Saw Films, with Scarlett Pictures’ Kath Shelper. Simon Gillis will executive produce.
Neon has previously distributed See-Saw Films feature Ammonite, from Francis Lee. The deal forThe Royal Hotel was negotiated by Jeff Deutchman and Mason Speta on behalf of Neon, Simon Gillis on behalf of Cross City Films, See-Saw’s in-house sales arm, alongside UTA Independent Film Group on behalf of the filmmakers.
In a joint statement, See-Saw’s joint-MDs Sherman and Canning said: “We are very happy to be working with Neon again on the release of The Royal Hotel. Neon have an undeniable history of supporting both emerging and established filmmakers, and putting together innovative and provocative campaigns. We know that they are the right home to bring this film to US theatres.”
The Royal Hotel marks Green’s first feature to shoot in Australia. The Melbourne-born filmmaker’s previous work includes The Assistant, which also starred Garner, and documentaries Casting JonBenet and Ukraine is not a Brothel.
Transmission Films will distribute The Royal Hotel in Australia. Screen Australia has provided major production investment in association with the South Australian Film Corporation. Further finance comes via Screen NSW.
HanWay and Cross City Films are handling international sales.
Network 10 has commissioned eight-part drama Paper Dolls, which is set in 2000 and follows a manufactured girl group born out of one of the first reality TV shows.
The Helium produced series, created by Ainslie Clouston, appears to be loosely inspired by Bardot – who emerged from Seven’s 1999 program Popstars, the precursor to Australian Idol.
Belinda Chapple, one of the original members of Bardot with Sophie Monk, Sally Polihronas, Katie Underwood and Chantelle Barry, serves as co-executive producer.
Paper Dolls follows five hopeful women desperate to escape their ordinary reality and with aspirations of pop stardom. However, after stepping into the spotlight as band Indigo, they find their dream of fame is compromised by what it takes to achieve it.
Desperate to escape their ordinary reality and with aspirations of pop-stardom, five hopeful women step into the spotlight only to find that their dream of fame is compromised by what it takes to achieve it.
The girls’ connection with each other evolves from competition to confidants, but their secrets threaten to tear the band apart, especially the machinations of one extra ambitious member who re-enters the music industry for a specific reason – to implode the group and seek vengeance on the record label that wronged her.
Helium founder and chief creative officer Mark Fennessy produces. Clouston, whose recent credits include Darby and Joan, Amazing Grace and Playing for Keeps, has written the series, developed with Claire Phillips.
Fennessy said: “Paper Dolls is a deeply fascinating, female-driven drama with a female-led creative team. This dramatic and compelling series is defined by its unique mix of fun and edge – equal parts gritty and aspirational, whilst shining a light on some of this generation’s freshest and most creative voices.”
Paper Dolls is one of a number of projects that the recently-launched Helium is working on with Network 10 parent Paramount ANZ.
Production is soon to begin on its Paramount+ drama Last King of the Cross, the story of Sydney nightclub mogel John Ibrahim, starring Lincoln Younes and Ian McShane.
With Invisible Republic and Hype Republic, Helium is also producing upcoming Paramount+ feature 6 Festivals, written and directed by Macario de Souza. It is also set within the music world, following three best friends who bucket list six festivals in six months after one of them is diagnosed with brain cancer. It features cameos from acts such as G Flip, Dune Rats, Alison Wonderland, Bliss n Eso, Peking Duk, PNAU, Example, Hooligan Hefs, The Amity Affliction, JessB, B Wise and Running Touch.
Paramount ANZ EVP and chief content officer Beverley McGarvey said: “We are thrilled to have commissioned another premium, entertaining, and distinctive Australian drama from Helium. Paper Dolls is set to be a captivating and engaging series. With a sensational cast and an experienced creative team, this story will enthral audiences.”
Production on Paper Dolls will begin in Sydney later this year, with the series to premiere on 10 in 2023.
Like many a busy producer, Nicky Bentham gets a number of unsolicited emails.
The London-based Australian, who runs Neon Films, rarely has the time or capacity to respond to all of them. However, one landed in her inbox a few years ago that managed to grab her attention.
It was an idea for a film detailing the true story of Kempton Bunton, a taxi driver from Newcastle upon Tyne who in 1961 at 60 years old, stole Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London.
Kempton then proceeded to send ransom notes, stating he would return the portrait on the condition the government invested more care for the elderly – he had long campaigned for pensioners to receive free television licences.
The pitch for the film came from Kempton’s grandson himself, Christopher Bunton. It was a story that was somewhat forgotten by history – in part because Kempton so embarrassed the establishment of the time – but now the family wanted it out there.
“It was a very short paragraph. Considering how hard it is to write an effective synopsis, it was really well-written,” Bentham tells IF.
“It really caught my eye because it was such an absurd, crackpot story of an art heist that I’d never heard of.”
From its email beginnings, Kempton’s story has been brought to life via The Duke, in which he is played by Jim Broadbent, with Helen Mirren starring alongside as his long-suffering wife, Dorothy.
Currently in ANZ cinemas via Transmission Films, the comedy drama is the last project of the late director Roger Michell (Notting Hill).
Roger Michell, Nicky Bentham and Jim Broadbent on the set of ‘The Duke’.
After connecting with Christopher, Bentham spent several years developing the screenplay and assembling the team around the film, including Michell.
Christopher had already written a script himself, but Bentham then engaged Richard Bean and Clive Coleman to take it further. They seemed the perfect duo; Bean a writer from the north of England, and Coleman a comedy writer who was previously a barrister and BBC legal correspondent.
The team had a treasure trove of material to draw from; Kempton was a prolific unproduced playwright, and had also written an unpublished memoir. There were also case files in the National Archives, press clippings and court transcripts, as well as Kempton’s family.
“It became really clear to me that there was all of this really rich material and stranger-than-fiction facts to it. But at the heart of the story was a family drama – that’s where the real the real story lay,” Bentham says.
Michell was the first director Bentham sent the script to, because he could do scale, humour but also “intimate, moving human moments”.
Initially he said no, but they later wrangled him on board, along with Broadbent – they shared an agent, and had previously worked together on Le Week-End.
They were the “perfect package” for the film, particularly as Broadbent was who they always had in mind for Kempton – he even bears a striking resemblance to the real man.
In terms of Kempton’s wife Dorothy, Bentham wanted a “fierce and phenomenal” actress in the role, she being the glue and backbone of the family and who put up with Kempton’s schemes.
However, the team were unsure if Mirren would be keen for such a role.
“We’re so used to seeing her in a crown and looking incredible, which she does very naturally – would this really appeal; the role of a housewife and domestic cleaner? But we knew she’d bring something amazing to the role. We thought, ‘Well, let’s just send it to her, it’ll probably be a quick pass, and then we’ll have to think again.’ But she really fell in love with the writing, really understood the character and was just so excited to do something different.”
The Duke was shot in November 2019 and premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2020, though its theatrical release has then been delayed by the pandemic. Ironically, many of the themes of the film have become more prescient with COVID-19, particularly around caring for the elderly and isolated.
Bentham is warmed that people seem to be responding to the film’s message of kindness and community; that a society can only be judged on how it treats its most vulnerable.
“Obviously the film hasn’t changed, but I think the way that it resonates has,” she says.
“Also the fact that people are getting to see it in cinemas, where we’d always hoped that they would. It is about that community experience.”
Despite older audiences being the slowest to return to cinemagoing, The Duke has proved a relative hit in its native UK, opening to £992,261 and so far tallying £4.8 million ($8.4 million), pushed by a strong marketing campaign from Pathé.
While it has been hard to sit on the film for a long time, Bentham says people seem to “really want to come together and laugh”, and recognise the place of independent cinema among the tentpoles.
“I’m delighted we can offer that experience.
“I missed that, that communal experience, especially with comedy. It’s so much fun to to laugh with people. That’s what life’s all about.”
However, the release of the film has been bittersweet for Bentham, in that Michell, who died last September, has not been around to see it.
“It’s unbearably sad that he’s not here to see how much the film is delighting audiences. As much as he was quite a singular filmmaker – in that he was never making choices just to be a crowd pleaser, he was always following his own instinct and his own interests – he was making them for the people to enjoy. He would have he would have absolutely loved to hear the roaring laughter in the packed houses.”
Bentham has worked in the UK for the last two decades, or almost her entire career, having moved over after studying Media Arts and Production at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS).
Nicky Bentham.
However, she is not the only Australian whoworked The Duke; one of the EPs is the Sydney-based Peter Scarf, who she has known all her life.
“He was the first person that I called when I came across the project and was bidding for the rights.”
After landing in the UK with no industry connections, Bentham worked her way up the ladder from the bottom, juggling a “proper cliché” job in a video store with working as a runner, before eventually moving up the production department.
Her break as a producer came on Chris Atkins’ BAFTA-nominated Talking Liberties, with the financing structure she used catching the eye of Liberty Films, leading to her producing Duncan Jones’ Moon.
While Liberty Films then wanted to move into Hollywood features, Bentham decided to go into a different direction and in 2008 started developing her own projects under her banner Neon Films Her other projects include documentary Who Killed The Klf?, a co-production with Fulwell 73 due for release later this year, Andrea Riseborough and Damian Lewis-starrer The Silent Storm and children’s dance film You Can Tutu.
Neon’s focus is predominantly on film, though Bentham is also currently developing a number of TV projects. She is interested in bringing stories from the margins – or stories that have been overlooked or forgotten – to the mainstream, imbuing them with a contemporary gaze.
“I’m always looking for a distinctive angle on something; a story that we think we know or we understand and and how we can see things differently.”
While firmly based in the UK, where she is an active member of BAFTA, WFTV and co-chair of PACT’s Film Policy Group, Bentham is currently working on a project with Robyn Kershaw, and is “desperate” to make a project out of Australia.
“I’m talking to a number of people, but because I am truly independent, I’m pretty picky about projects. They have to really strike a chord. I have been looking for the right Australian project for some time, and I’m very keen to do either a co-production or a full Australian project.”
Of her career, Bentham says it’s “been a long, old bumpy road”.
“It’s been just over 20 years since I’ve been here [in the UK]. I’ve worked non-stop in that time, had two kids and started a non-profit called Raising Films, which has an Australian chapter as well. It’s been unbelievably hard work and really hectic. But I feel like now I’m kind of just hitting my stride, and maybe all of that hard work and those tricky decisions are finally paying off.”
Stuart Menzies, Emma Fitzsimons, Ben Grant, and Felicity Harrison at Screen Forever on Wednesday.
Dealmaking with streamers was once again on the agenda at Screen Forever on Wednesday, as a selection of prominent Australian producers recounted their experiences of negotiating with various platforms.
For the second consecutive year, Werner Film Productions’ Stuart Menzies, Matchbox Pictures’ Felicity Harrison, and Princess Pictures’ Emma Fitzsimons sat together on a panel exploring the many considerations for producers, with the trio this time joined by Goalpost Pictures’ Ben Grant.
While details from a variety of different deals were laid bare, none of the services were mentioned by name due to the live nature of the projects concerned.
At the beginning of the session, Screen Producers Australia moderator Owen Johnston recapped the conclusions made from the previous panel, most notably that the traditional TV model of financing and rights was breaking down with the rise of the streamers, who often finance projects entirely and want to take all rights – reducing the ‘long tail’ or opportunity for producers to exploit IP through secondary windows.
The industry was thus in a period of transition, with deals becoming “more complex” and questions arising about the long-term sustainability of some production companies.
Speaking on the panel, Harrison detailed how Matchbox had recently signed a co-production agreement with an international streamer, allowing both to co-own the IP. That involved a license fee, and being paid a flat rate premium, rather than a percentage of budget. She said it was important for producers to do their homework prior to entering negotiations in order to get an idea of what outcome would suit them best.
With regards to negotiating a flat rate, Harrison said producers needed to work out what the right price was to make sure they were making money.
“I think the interesting part of a co-production model, because there’s that split ownership, we retain some rights. We can take a distribution fee and then from the revenue that’s split from those rights, we share that then with the streaming partner. So there is that ability to maximise,” she said, noting Matchbox was able to retain almost all rights except SVOD, with a holdback for run of series plus four years.
Werner Film Productions has recently signed two streaming deals: one was a co-production agreement, where a distributor had put money against a second window with a three year holdback, and on the other, the SVOD service “owned everything”.
Menzies said his experience had demonstrated it was a mistake to view any of the large streaming organisations as “homogenous”.
“It’s opaque where these other doors are, let alone how to knock on them,” he said.
“But in this instance, there was a co-production door. We went in through that, and there was a whole bunch of things that allowed us to do. There are a whole lot different rules in that as well, but it allowed us to retain the IP.”
Grant, who admitted to being a relatively new participant to streaming rights negotiations, said discussions should not be simplified into what is possible with single source funding as opposed to multi-source funding.
“It’s about access to the long tail that traditionally equity has provided us, and that we’re trying to reimagine that going forward,” he said.
“I don’t really think equity is the issue – it’s actually what it would bring. You could still have those things without equity. It’s just a commercial negotiation.”
According to the panel, an ongoing point of difference when working to streamers comes with residual payments to cast members.
Under the Australian Television Repeats And Residuals Agreement 2004 (ATTRA), last updated in 2016, a license period of three years applies to the use of broadcast and digital work from performers.
However, Fitzsimons said the streamers she had dealt with had consistently asked for a longer period.
“We find ourselves negotiating a lot of specific deals with MEAA to try and work out what we do after the three years,” she said.
“Generally, I have been finding MEAA’s quite happy to switch to a SAG-style residual after that three-year period.
“It’s complicated, but hopefully a model is emerging. I wonder if that could then be used as a template for a more complete solution that everybody could access rather than having to individually negotiate every single time, which is exhausting.”
Her comments were backed up by Menzies, who said while opening up the agreement for change “could take years”, it wasn’t a bridge too far.
“I don’t think any of us pretends ATTRA is fit for purpose under any of these sorts of deals – it’s just not.
“All of us have had to do bespoke deals with MEAA and it must be exhausting for them as well.
“There was a 2016 amendment, which allowed for domestic SVOD – essentially the Stan amendment – and I think there has now got to be something like that done.”
Of more immediate concern for Menzies in relation to future negotiations between streamers and producers was a “massive” increase in crew costs which could lead to the Australian industry being priced out of the competitive market.
“Why are the streamers going to come here with those blow in shows when we’re having 30 per cent year-on-year price rises?” he said.
“We’re getting seriously expensive on the world stage. I think we’re unsustainable.”
Adding to the comments, Harrison said it was also worth keeping an eye on how the activities of SVOD services were shaping deals of more traditional broadcasters.
“I think we’re going to look at our commissioning partners at the ABC; they are going to want SVOD-style rights too. They are naturally going to need to grow iview because that’s what consumers are looking for,” she said.
“But at the moment how those rights are valued through our guild arrangements is different. That has to change as well.
“So I think whilst there is going to be a lot of change in the streaming deals as those businesses mature, we’re going to have a lot of change in traditional models too. And as Stuart says, crew rates are expensive, everything is expensive. Licence fees are not going up; they need to, otherwise partners are going to have to take more equity.
“It’s tough. There is a lot of opportunity because there are more choices, but everything is getting much more expensive.”
Australian screen production companies warn the local industry could be “wiped out” within two years if streaming giants such as Netflix and Disney+ are not forced by regulators to incorporate local content.
Tracey Vieira, the chief content officer of Hoodlum Entertainment, said Australia’s production industry was made up of small businesses desperate for a resolution about how streaming services would be regulated.
“I work for Hoodlum Entertainment which was founded 25 years ago,” she said. “They struggled at times and have fought for every part of that company and that could be wiped out within two years.”
Benedict Cumberbatch in Netflix release The Power of the Dog, which was filmed in New Zealand. Netflix
The proposal would give the federal communications minister the power to designate large services such as Netflix as “tier one services”. Tier one services would be required to report annually to the Australian Communications and Media Authority about their spending on, and provision of, Australian content, as well as the steps they are taking to make local content prominent and discoverable on their services.
If a tier one service was investing less than 5 per cent of its gross Australian revenue in new Australian commissions in any given year, the minister could designate the service as tier two, triggering a formal investment requirement backed by an enforcement regime.
Australian Directors Guild chief executive Alaric McAusland said streaming services brought huge opportunities, noting that AppleTV+ had just become the first streaming service to win best picture at the Academy Awards with CODA.
But the ongoing regulatory void in Australia was “disastrous”, he said.
“There’s huge opportunities but we’ve got to get the settings right,” Mr McAusland said.
“De-regulating the free-to-airs on the premise that audiences were migrating to streamers without then imparting regulation on them has left a huge gap.”
Mr McAusland pointed to the declining figures of local children’s content and drama following changes to the regulations that ensured free-to-air providers delivered a certain amount of content in these categories.
“There still remains no obligation by any broadcaster here to make, produce and show kids content,” he said.
“It’s going to take us a long time to recover.”
He argued the lack of regulation would see production companies fold.
“People are going to walk away from their businesses, it’s a disaster,” he said.
Ms Vieira argued the regulation needed to focus on commissions because acquisitions of content that had already been made “don’t pay for us to make that content”.
“We still need to find the money to make our content, I have real concern on behalf of the producers on the viability of our industry,” she said.
Ms Vieira said the production industry needed clear terms of trade and market oversight as “producers have very little power when we’re dealing with streamers”.
South Australian Film Corporation chief executive Kate Croser said any regulation of the industry needed to benefit the Australian independent production sector and deliver Australian stories to Australian screens.
“That’s because Australian independent producers are the bedrock of our industry,” she said.
Shuang Hu will star as a Chinese-Australian tea shop owner searching for love, family, and cultural connection in Amazon’s first original Australian feature, Five Blind Dates.
The Goalpost Pictures and Amazon Studios film is created and written by Hu and Nathan Ramos-Park, and will be directed by Shawn Seet.
Whilst visiting her family in Townsville for her sister Alice’s engagement festivities, tea shop owner Lia (Hu) finds herself at a comedically tumultuous family luncheon with her best friend Mason and is gifted an unwelcome prophecy that she will soon meet her suitor. Her family, unsure of Lia’s ability to discern a partner for herself, decides to set her up on five blind dates. Even though her true passion and current focus lies in saving her tea-shop—a legacy left to her from her grandmother—Lia reluctantly agrees to go on these dates.
Joining Hu is a yet to be announced ensemble cast.
In a joint statement, Hu and Ramos-Park said: “For Five Blind Dates to be the first Australian Amazon Original Feature is such an honour. The script has been a real labour of love for us both and we can’t wait for production to begin!”
Kylie du Fresne will produce, with Goalpost colleagues Ben Grant and Rosemary Blight executive producers. Production will begin in April and take place around Sydney and Townsville.
“As a melting pot of cultures, traditions and communities, Australia is fertile ground for local stories. With Five Blind Dates, Prime Video Australia’s first feature film, we are celebrating Chinese-Australian culture and its warm family dynamics to full and joyful effect,” said Amazon Studios head of originals Asia Pacific Erika North.
“Shuang and Nathan have created an effervescent and lighthearted romantic comedy which we know will be enjoyed by millions of Prime members worldwide. We cannot wait to work with the incredibly talented Goalpost team to bring this heartwarming story to life.”
Five Blind Dates marks Amazon’s 16th Australian original since 2019, with others including the upcoming Deadloch, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, and Class of ’07.
Addressing Screen Forever today, North told Australian filmmakers that Amazon is “open for business”.
“If you have great ideas in mind; ideas which you might have always wanted to embark on but never could, this is the time. This is the time to reach out with your ideas. Amazon Studios has the ambition to become the home for talent in Australia; your favourite partner in the region.”
In terms of what is looking for in film, North said Amazon is interested in multiple genres but was about “movies with an event feel” and “ideas that bring people together”.
Hi Jennifer, can you tell us a bit about yourself and what your role as Head of Factual and Culture involves?
‘I’m an exec of 30 years experience. I’ve enjoyed a rewarding career at the ABC, where I’ve worked across all genres of production, scripted and unscripted, from producing to executive producing, and then into management roles. I left the ABC from the role of Head of Entertainment, previously having been Head of Factual/Documentaries. I was Head of Non-Scripted at Screentime, followed by Director of Content at Fremantle, and now back at the ABC as Head of Factual and Culture.
‘In this role, I’m responsible for commissioning over 100 hours of factual and documentary content each year, across Science, Natural History, History, Religion and Ethics, Arts and Contemporary. I also have responsibility for internal teams at Radio National, Catalyst, Compass, and Artworks.’
Why are documentaries important? What can they do that other genres can’t?
‘Documentaries are our stories. As the biggest commissioner of documentaries in Australia, ABC documentaries give a voice to those who may not otherwise be heard. Documentaries can ignite national conversations, foster understanding, and create real and meaningful change. They feature Australian voices, places, and stories. Most importantly they not only reflect our lives, they can educate, shape, and enrich our lives.
‘From documentaries like Firestarter: The Story of Bangarra, to The School That Tried To End Racism, Love on the Spectrum to Australia’sOcean Odyssey they are entertaining, diverse, and intelligent and they bring in large audiences to the ABC. What they can do, that other genres can’t, is provide a depth to a topic. Documentaries can explore an issue in a deeper way, analysing, reflecting, and often triggering change.’
Can you tell us about any upcoming productions on your slate that you’re excited about?
‘What I love about our slate for 2022 is the diversity of the content. But what they all have in common is real public value. It’s not solely entertainment – it’s public broadcasting at its best. We’ve got new spin-offs to much loved formats such as Old People’s Home for Teenagers and Back in Time for the Corner Shop. We have really innovative original formats like Tiny Oz, which marries arts and history. Tiny Oz celebrates the extraordinary miniature art movement where artists lovingly obsess over teensy details, as they re-create remarkable moments in our nation’s history. It’s original, innovative and the visual effects are extraordinary.
‘We have Space 22, hosted by Natalie Bassingthwaite – a brand-new social experiment where we see whether the power of art can make a difference to one’s mental well-being. And spoiler alert – of course it does … Many Australians are struggling with their mental health following the pandemic and this program provides positivity and hope. It’s got genuine warmth and heart.
‘And then we have high end Science documentaries like Carbon: The Unauthorised Biography, narrated by Sarah Snook and again incredible visual effects as well as event TV with Southern Ocean Live, hosted by Hamish McDonald and Dr Ann Jones from the largest Little Penguin colony in the world at Phillip Island.’
What are the pressures on filmmakers to capture an audience in this age of information overload?
‘Producers have definitely become more innovative in the way they tell their stories. The subjects and themes are equally important, but now it needs to be more than just a fascinating topic. If it isn’t served up in an accessible and interesting way commissioners won’t get hooked and nor will audiences. There are less thesis led documentaries, but having said that, the depth is still there, it’s just presented in new ways.
‘Most definitely, and thankfully, we’re seeing more diversity both on and off screen. We’re seeing big budget high production values in the science programming in particular, which is really bringing those stories to life for a broader audience.’
What do you predict some major documentary themes will be, say, five years from now?
‘One of the first things we ask of filmmakers when pitched documentaries is Why Now?, why is it important for this story to be told at this point in time. I don’t think anyone knows what the burning issues will be in five years but what I do hope is that in five years we’re seeing more ideas come in with other public broadcasters on board tackling big issues together – whether that’s climate change documentaries, natural history stories or other contemporary issues.’
Paul Dalgarno is a journalist and author of the novel Poly (2020), memoir And You May Find Yourself (2015) and forthcoming creative non-fiction Prudish Nation (2023). He joined ScreenHub as Managing Editor in 2022. Twitter: @pauldalgarno. Insta: @narrativefriction
