Let’s start by clearing up some misconceptions about Australia. First, most Australians don’t drink Fosters; their most popular beer is Victoria Bitter (VB). Second, claiming to be a Steve Irwin—a.k.a. the Crocodile Hunter—fan will not win you points with most Aussies.
But if you think of Australia as a market that has become a key global player in commercial and film production, then you are quite accurate. There are many reasons for this development, from the world-class creative talent and technical expertise to the stunning locations, federal and state tax incentives, and favorable exchange rate. At press time, $1 U.S. was equal to $1.28 Australian.
In the major market of Sydney, a significant portion of Australia’s production community is housed at FOX Studios Australia, whose eight soundstages have hosted many U.S. productions this past year, including Star Wars: Episode III, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, and dozens of commercials. In early 2003, when the aforementioned features were in production, an estimated 95 percent of the work at FOX Studios Australia was for U.S. productions.
FOX Studios Australia opened in Sydney in May ’98 to provide world-class production facilities and a technical infrastructure. In fact, the lot houses more than 60 independent service providers, a potent creative community that includes postproduction, visual effects, audio post, a scoring stage, casting, Web design, a travel agency, and personal training and equipment rental. An adjacent retail complex includes shops, cafés and restaurants.
Among the residents at the lot is Animal Logic, a commercial and feature visual effects and postproduction facility that also maintains an office in Los Angeles. Animal Logic has many U.S. commercial clients, and is also responsible for feature effects work in such films as Moulin Rouge and The Matrix sequels. Its commercial credits are also impressive. Last month at the New York Festivals, Animal Logic collected a Gold Worldmedal for special effects in Visa’s "Monster Chase" via Clemenger BBDO, Sydney. Bruce Hunt of bicoastal/ international @radical.media directed the ad. (Another Visa spot, Visa’s "Unexplained," directed by Richard Gibson of Luscious International, Sydney, and Clemenger BBDO, also scored a Gold Worldmedal at the festival.)
At press time, Animal Logic was working on spots including a Chanel No. 5 worldwide television and cinema campaign that was conceived, produced and directed by Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge, Romeo + Juliet) via his Bazmark, Sydney. Animal Logic artists are working closely with Luhrmann to create CG environments, which will be blended with live action to create a styled landscape. The ad features Nicole Kidman in her first campaign as the new face of Chanel.
The company also maintains a busy R&D division. "R&D that goes into our feature film work is of great benefit to our commercial division," notes Los Angeles-based executive producer Maury Strong. In the longform arena, the company is currently working on Happy Feet, its first 3-D animated feature, for Warner Bros.
Lower north shore
The heart of Sydney’s commercial production community is located on the Lower North Shore. This artistic section of the city houses most agencies, production companies, and post, visual effects and design houses. (Although in recent years, some agencies have also moved across the Harbour Bridge to Sydney’s Downtown.)
On the Lower North Shore, companies such as visual effects/post house Digital Pictures (which also maintains a location in Melbourne) and commercial production company Filmgraphics report that most of their commercial work is for Australia, but about 25 to 30 percent of that work comes from overseas locations including the United States, Japan, Singapore and the U.K.
Anna Fawcett, executive producer at Filmgraphics, believes that Australia is attractive to the U.S. market because "we have a good talent pool, and [the U.S. producers] can buy out the talent. Paying residuals in the States can be cost prohibitive for clients, especially with a big cast. Our dollar is not as competitive as it was, but still, when it is snowing in America and Canada, the sun is shining in Australia."
Fawcett notes that work from Japan now comes to Australia more often than the U.S. because "the States has become too expensive for [Japan], and Asian countries have always come here. Our big competition is South Africa," she adds.
These days, Sydney-based companies such as Animal Logic view China as the largest opportunity for growth. "China is a really interesting market for commercial and features," relates Bruce Carter, creative director at Animal Logic. "The government seems to be opening its resources to make it easier to shoot there. It’s an emerging giant. The main Asian agencies [in key cities like Tokyo] are extending their business into China. And there are more inquiries for work to be shot there."
"The market in China is rapidly expanding," agrees Mark Smale, group executive producer at Ambience, which offers—among other services—visual effects, design and 3-D animation, and is also located on the Lower North Shore. "[The Chinese] are looking for offshore experienced postproduction and directors. They still have small budgets, but the Chinese work is rapidly growing in volume and in the average size of each job."
Ambience, which also maintains a presence in New York, is finding branded entertainment to be a growth area, particularly in the United States. "We think the market in the U.S. has changed quite a bit with the fragmentation of television and TiVo, and the effectiveness of the thirty-second spot being questioned by advertisers," says Matthew Street, group managing director at the company. "They are looking for new ways to present their brand messages."
"Since we have one foot in the commercial world and one in entertainment, and directors and [DPs] sometimes cross over, we have a range of productions using knowledge of brand needs and entertainment," says Smale, who declines to name Ambience’s clients, but reports that the company, which develops TV series, is currently working on an animated series based on a character owned by a major advertiser, as well as a project for a car company that will include a branded cinema short and a computer console game.
Still, the bulk of the work at production companies such as Filmgraphics is local spotwork, including the recent "Sorted" for Yellow Pages, directed by David Denneen via Young & Rubicam, Melbourne; and Ford’s "Chauffeur," directed by Mat Humphrey via J. Walter Thompson, Sydney. (Denneen directs stateside via Form, Los Angeles, while Humphrey directs via bicoastal Reactor Films.)
Technical Trends
Australia began its DTV transition in ’00, and the mandate includes HDTV terrestrial broadcasting. Cable, however, seems to be offering the first major implementations. For production, Australia relies primarily on the 1080/50i HD format. For transmission, Australia uses the popular DVB standard, which has also been adopted in Europe and other parts of the world. The U.S., which adopted ATSC, stands virtually alone on this transmission standard.
Despite the DTV transition, there is still only a small amount of demand for HD from the ad agencies, and HD is used more regularly for cinema commercials, according to those who spoke with SHOOT.
The aforementioned Digital Pictures is pioneering the digital intermediate (DI) process in Australia. It has already used the DI process on three not-yet-released features, as well as some cinema spots and trailers, reports Jackie Lee, business manager at Digital Pictures.
The company’s arsenal of technology includes Quantel’s iQ, da Vinci 2k, Thomson’s Grass Valley Spirit Datacine, Sony’s Vialta, Cintel’s C-Reality, Avid’s DS HD and Discreet’s HD Inferno and Smoke.Another technical trend, which is assisting the rise in offshore work, is a growing telecommunications infrastructure. Animal Logic, for example, uses its proprietary Creative Review Tool, Beam.TV and Telestream’s Clipmail. Going hand in hand with that infrastructure may be more emphasis on digital asset management (DAM). Australian companies are paying attention to this space, and last summer, the Global Society on Asset Management (G-SAM) launched its Australia chapter during the SMPTE Australia confab at Sydney’s Darling Harbour.
"Governments are funding initiatives to put in as wide pipes as possible from country to country, from which all industries can benefit," explains Carter. "We can take it as a tool to do business overseas."
