Week 4 Blog Post BCM289

Do Governments still have an integral role in supporting the creative industries? 

This week was one of my favorite topics as we looked into co-production and films that had been completely government funded. AND YES we looked at the movie Bait and YES i still love it! 

Screen Australia offers funding and resources to support the development, production and marketing of Australian screen content, and further development of Australian talent media businesses. 

When it comes to Australian movies there are guidelines that are in place to ensure that the film industry continues to promote Australia to international audiences in a positive light. 

When we discussed this in class we talked about the common features that we would see in AUstralian movies and television. We talked about the Australian surf culture that Home and Away depicts in the show and the incorporation of the outback that’s shown in the movie, The Dry.

Co-production is a successful option when it comes to producing a movie. Co-production can happen between Australia and one of its 12 parner countries that have obtained approval as an “official” co-produced work by each country’s “competent Authority”. In 2014, Screen Australia introduced its International Co-Production Program Guidelines, which highlights the goals and purpose of co-productions. It’s a system in place to build relationships and encourage film production between the Australian film industry and partnering countries. 

By co-producing, it helps to standardise how productions can be jointly developed, financed, produced and then distributed in each country, while abiding by the laws and regulations of each country. With the South Korean Film industry booming, it’s the perfect time for Australia to collaborate.

We looked at the South Korean Film industry and used it as inspiration into a direction we could follow. South Koreans saw 4.25 films a year. That’s the highest average in the world, according to their own evaluation report of the state of the industry in 2013. Where did this success come from, in just over 10 years? (P. Byrns, 2016). Screen Australia’s figures for 2015 show that “films under Australian or shared creative control” accounted for 7.2 per cent of the total Australian box office. If we take advantage of co-production or not it’s important to note that we make sure that we have requirements in place, whether its broadcasting systems or subsidy systems, we always make sure “that we’re still able to tell our own stories” (Dalton).

The government does play an integral role in supporting the creative industry and by creating co-production it can now be the way forward for the Australian screen industry to succeed on a global scale! It is a highly beneficial system that allows filmmakers to engage in more themes and genres. 

• http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1157891

The Power of the Dog (Aust/NZ, post production, 2021 Netflix):
https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/the-screen-guide/t/the-power-ofthe-dog-2021/38093/
• Nude Tuesday (Aust/NZ, due 2021):
https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/the-screen-guide/t/nude-tuesday2021/37098/

• http://www.convictcreations.com/research/australianstereotypes.html
• https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/funding-and-support/co-production-program/partner-countries
• https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/
• https://www.arts.gov.au/what-we-do/screen/australian-international-co-production-program

Blog Post Week 3

What can Eurovision teach us about the spread of ideologies across borders? 

When I think of EuroVision my mind wanders to 2 things. Firstly, the collaboration of the world’s best performers coming together to enjoy the universal joy of singing. I then wonder straight to politics and the ideological battles of Europe. In my last blog post I talked about reality TV formats but when I look at Eurovision I see neither reality nor scripted television. But what we do know is it works. The last Eurovision had an average of 4.3 million viewers watching the grand final, which goes a long way in ideology warfare. “Eurovision is Europe’s biggest election apart from which aspirations of dictator

and drag queens have been projected and upon which battles between Catholics and comedians since its inception in 1956” (Vuletic, D., 2018). The annual Eurovision Song contest has always reflected political changes in postwar Europe alongside cultural economic, social and technological development. 

To many, Eurovision is a song contest, but if you look carefully, it can be seen as a clear indicator of international relations between participating countries. (Borić and Radović Kapor, 2017). Countries use this competition to send political messages if they can get past the lyric checkers, such as in Georgia’s 2009 anti-Putin entry “We Don’t Wanna Put In”, which was disqualified for its inappropriate political message.

Eurovision can be used to send a political message but it is also a place to allow artists to grow internationally. Since Australia has been involved in Eurovision we have seen artists such as Jessica Mauboy, Guy Sebastian, Dami Im and Isaiah Firebrace. As popular and talented as these Australian Artists are, there are underlining choices that help define Australian national identity and signify the multicultural Australian whole (Carniel, 2016). Therefore, this is an ideology that Australia is trying to represent to the rest of the world, by showcasing the minority on the world stage. 

Another way Ideology is portrayed is through the bloc voting system, where culturally and politically aligned countries swap votes with each other. These voting blocs can be linked due to shared culture and values, while lack of voting among bloc members can be influenced by political and current events (Borić and Radović Kapor, 2017).

Cultural diplomacy can be a result of Eurovision as its a platform that allows countries to share ideas and opinions on an international stage. Songs are used as a tool to share stories and messages as much as they entertain. They can comment on past and future events and voting can be a sign of support from other countires. In this week’s tutorial we talked about soft power and how it can create change and push people to believe something without strong force. Eurovision does exactly that. 

Borić, Z. and Radović Kapor, A. (2017). The European Song Contest as a tool of cultural diplomacy. [online] Hrcak.srce.hr. Available at: https://hrcak.srce.hr/191313 [Accessed 20 Aug. 2018].

Jessica Carniel (2017) Welcome to Eurostralia: the strategic diversity of Australia at the Eurovision Song Contest, Continuum, 31:1, 13-23, DOI: 10.1080/10304312.2016.1262089

Vuletic, D., 2018. Postwar Europe and the Eurovision Song Contest. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Week 2 Blog Post BCM289

How and why do reality television formats cross borders? What does this tell us about the modern media environment? 

I know some people may not agree with me, but there’s nothing better than sitting back on the couch after a long day of work and watching the dramatic unfoldings of someone else’s life through the trashy cringey lens of Reality TV. This genre explores the portrayal of one or more unprofessional actors and their reaction to given stimuli and/or goals. As people we all have a curious nature towards others and what’s happening in their lives. Therefore, reality TV gives us that ability to watch people live their lives without being a CREEP or being NOSEY. Whether it’s becoming a chief, finding love, building a house or simply being a part of a social experiment, reality TV has created a format that has become entertaining for all who are interested. 

With television being one of our main sources of entertainment these days I’ve had more time than usual to view international television shows, in particular, Love Island UK and To Hot To Handle in Brazil. Viewing these two shows allowed me to understand the power that this format has and how much I could relate to a show from the other side of the world. If we look at cultural proximity, usually audiences will gravitate towards media relating to their own culture. However, incorporating Australian contestants and celebrities that are familiar to us enforces an audience to understand the context better and therefore removes a  sense of exclusion. 

How do they do this you may ask? With the help of deregulation policies, globalization and commercial persuasion, reality TV has become a sort of role model of modern day transnational capitalism because it works (Darling-Wolf, 2015). The evidence of the format’s success is demonstrated with 37 versions of the Bachelor and 66 versions of MasterChief . 

Another reason reality TV works and translates in such a successful manner is because of the appeal it has with television producers. Having a show that has limited script creates a cost and time effective performance. Translations of scripted formats such as Kath and Kim have a higher risk of failure. A show that works so perfectly in Australia but fails miserably in America resulting in a huge financial risk. Having a reality television program format that can cross borders rather than a finished program has allowed these shows to successfully work anywhere. 

The predicted success all comes down to its ability to combine “a local cast and local viewer participation with a customizable transnational format” As reality TV grows, international media production companies are looking more into producing global franchises rather than individual shows that can be easily translated into many different global contexts, due to the beneficial guaranteed commercial and financial success (Oren and Shafaf, 2013). 

Oren, T. and Shahaf, S. (2013). Global Television Formats. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.

Darling-Wolf,, F. (2015). Imagining the Global: Transnational Media and Popular Culture beyond East and West. European Journal of Communication, 30(3), pp.378-378.