Robin Laurence James is CEO of the Pacific Film and Television Commission, a company established and owned by the Queensland (Australia) government.
Following graduation from the University of Queensland and postgraduate studies at the University of Canberra, James has for the most part pursued a career in the film industry in Australia. At age 25 he joined the Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) as a producer working principally in television production for ABC Children’s/Education but also in News/Current Affairs in Canberra and as a broadcaster for Radio National.
Producing more than 100 hours of national television throughout Australia and Asia, including China, James developed an ongoing interest in Australian-Asia relationships and has received an Australia-Japan Foundation Award together with appointment to government advisory bodies including Malaysia’s E-Village project. In 2001, he was awarded the Centenary of Federation Medal by the Australian Government for services to the film industry.
James is committed to progressing the interests of the film and TV industries and is a board member of AusFILM, a member of the Bond University (Queensland) Film Advisory Committee and chair of the Open Learning Institute of Technical and Further Education (TAFE), also located in Australia. Last month, he was elected president of the Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI), succeeding New York’s Pat Swinney Kaufman.
James thus becomes the first non-U.S.-based president of the AFCI, a non-profit educational association whose membership represents more than 300 film commissions worldwide.
SHOOT talked with James about his new role as the leader of the AFCI, his agenda and production in Australia.
SHOOT
: In November you became the newly-elected president of the AFCI. What is at the top of your agenda for the organization?JAMES: The AFCI is doing some very good things in terms of developing production policy, including developing a graduate course for film commissioners to give them a formal qualification for the first time. That will be offered in conjunction with universities in the U.S. and internationally. I’m very keen to see this initiative progress.
The curriculum is being developed in consultation with more experienced film commissions. And working with faculties from certain universities, the AFCI is already looking for implementation in 2007.
One of the challenges for film commissions around the world is developing accepted standards and benchmarks. Standards can vary significantly from country to country [i.e. more established film commissions are more skilled in providing services compared to new and smaller film commissions]. We’ve been listening to the industry and our members in developing our international benchmark for performance. But we are also developing formal qualifications that [if met by a candidate] will result in being termed a certified film commissioner. It would include an exam.
It won’t be mandatory, but it will be something that governments who normally employ film commissioners will be made aware of [through dialogue with the AFCI to assist in their hiring efforts]. Another area of interest to me is developing independent production in regions, counties, states and countries throughout the world….To some extent film commissions already capture the work that they can attract to their region. I guess what I’ll be encouraging are programs to help local filmmakers to develop and finance location production, to essentially make the pie bigger. A lot of film commissions already do that. We’ve been encouraging the sharing of their skills and capabilities.
SHOOT
: Would you reflect on your role as the first non-U.S. based president of the AFCI?JAMES: I guess it’s significant that I’m the first non-U.S. president. I think it is encouraging for the worldwide membership of the AFCI.
I guess at the end of the day what I hope to bring to the table is my background as a TV producer [i.e. at the Australian Broadcasting Company] and also my background working closely with governments to advance the film industry. I worked closly in assisting the government to develop film industry policy, both on the state and federal level.
SHOOT
: What is the current state of production in Australia?JAMES: The production in Australia tends to be cyclical. We had a downturn in 2005 but a very significant upturn to 2006. In Queensland, we have 10 major productions underway at the moment, including features and major television series. Probably the biggest is Fool’s Gold for Warner Bros. [directed by Andy Tennant whose credits include Sweet Home Alabama and Fools Rush In] which follows a married couple on a treasure hunt. [The film stars Kate Hudson, Matthew McConaughey and Donald Sutherland]. And, we have three locally developed independent feature films with budgets ranging from $4.5 to $20.5 million (Australian) dollars (roughly $3.5 to $16 million USD).
[Outside Queensland], Universal has a big feature called Where The Wild Things Are in production in Melbourne. [directed by Spike Jonze whose credits include Being John Malkovich and Adaptation, and who is represented for commercials via bicoastal/international MJZ]. The film [lensed by DP Lance Acord, who directs spots via Park Pictures, New York] is an adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s children’s story of the same title…It is currently scheduled for an ’08 release.
SHOOT
: Australia tends to attract a good deal of production and postproduction work out of Asia. What impact has that market had on the commercial industry as of late, particularly as Beijing, China, is slated to host the 2008 Summer Olympic Games (Aug. 8-24, 2008).JAMES: There’s a lot of commercial work here, normally out of Asia–particularly out of Japan and Korea–as well Australia.
We do a lot of postproduction with China. For a lot of major feature films such as Miramax Films’ Hero and Sony Pictures Classics’ House of Flying Daggers [both of which were produced in China], the postproduction was done in Australia.
SHOOT
: Do you have any recent data to quantify production spending in Australia?JAMES: The spending in Australia is usually $250-300 million (Australian) dollars (roughly $192-$230 million USD) annually for television and features from foreign production. Within Australia, commercial production and television production annually is around the same figure. It’s also cyclical in our view so its difficult to determine what drives the changes. For production, it depends on which locations are in vogue.
SHOOT
: Would you like to add any closing thoughts, particularly about your new AFCI role?JAMES: The most important point about my presidency is I want to be president for all the members of the AFCI, not just my region. That’s my intent. I want to see a larger production slate internationally; and film commissions, with their links to government and funding agencies, have a part to play in that.
