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I grew up during the golden era of Australian film and television. An actor's child. It's a big
part of why I wanted a career in this industry.
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There was a feeling then, not nostalgia, a genuine cultural atmosphere, that we were making things
that mattered. That Australian stories belonged on screens everywhere, not just here.
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So when I came across veteran actor David Field being asked whether we've lost our filmmaking
identity, I stopped. What followed was one of the most honest summations of where we are right now
that I've heard from anyone in this industry.
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"WE'VE LOST THAT. AND I THINK THAT'S A REAL SHAME."
David Field · Veteran Actor
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Field talked about the culture of filmmaking we once had, 25 to 30 films a year that gave young actors a genuine gateway. The pipeline that launched the Cate Blanchetts, the Heath Ledgers, the Russells, Geoffreys and Nicoles. He talked about the hundreds of millions that now flow to international productions on Australian soil, money that could have made 50 to 60 Australian films instead.
He's right. The question is: what are we going to do about it?
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It wasn't luck that produced that era. It was a deliberate decision to invest in a culture of filmmaking. Directors like Beresford, Weir and Schepisi working alongside producers who had a genuine pathway to getting projects made. Actors with enough local work to actually develop their craft before the world came calling.
E Street. Cop Shop. Neighbours. Home and Away. These shows didn't just make stars, they made careers. And those careers became our greatest cultural exports.
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Kylie · Jason · Guy Pearce · Margot Robbie
Toni Collette · Ben Mendelsohn
Muriel's Wedding · Strictly Ballroom · Priscilla · The Castle
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Stories so distinctly, unapologetically Australian that the world leaned in precisely because of that. Not despite it. They had opportunity because Australia created opportunity. That's what a functioning local screen industry actually does.
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The talent hasn't gone anywhere. Australia is still producing writers, directors, actors and producers of extraordinary quality. The creativity is not the problem. The ambition is not the problem. The lack of opportunity is the problem.
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<20%
of Australian productions ever finish financing and reach completion
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There is proof that when Australian storytelling gets the conditions it needs, it thrives. Boy Swallows Universe stopped the country. Talk to Me sparked a bidding war at Sundance and was acquired by A24. The Dry put Eric Bana back on screens in a story that couldn't be more Australian, and the world came to it.
The people I talk to across this industry are not defeated. But they are tired. There's a particular exhaustion that comes from having great ideas and no clear path to realising them. Passion doesn't pay a crew. And optimism doesn't close the financing gap.
And yet, the moment the conversation turns to the actual work, to the project someone is trying to get off the ground, the story they're convinced must be told, the energy shifts completely. That fire is still there. In everyone I talk to, without exception.
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So let me say something plainly: we are leaving an entire economy on the table.
The digital screen economy is not a lesser cousin to traditional film and television. It sits alongside it and on smaller independent productions frequently exceeds it in artistic control and return on investment. Right now it is producing some of the most-watched Australian content in the world. And most have continued to treat it with barely concealed disdain.
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$120K INVESTED. $300K RETURNED. SIX MONTHS. NO DISTRIBUTOR. NO BROADCASTER. NO GATEKEEPERS.
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If a first-time filmmaker with no industry infrastructure can achieve that, imagine what this country could do with the depth of talent we actually have.
A filmmaking culture isn't built from individual hits. It's built from accumulation, crews developing skills across project after project, directors finding their voice over a body of work, actors deepening their craft through sustained employment. That continuity is what turns isolated productions into an actual industry.
So what does doing it again actually look like? It means closing the financing gaps that leave 80% of Australian productions stranded. It means redistributing the Producer Offset to better serve independent and digital productions. It means creating genuine tax incentives for private investors so that government bodies are not the sole gatekeepers of what gets made. It means building funding channels that recognise YouTube, streaming and platform-native content as legitimate screen industry output. And it means accepting, once and for all, that the power of a story is not diminished by the size of the screen it's watched on.
We have to be willing to say specifically what needs to change, and then hold the industry and our policymakers to it.
The talent is ready.
The stories are ready.
The audience is ready.
Now we need the system to catch up.
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