Patterns of Production and Policy: The Australian Film Industry in the 1990s

The Current Climate for Film Production in Australia It could be said that currently the Australian film industry is enjoying a degree of maturity and success that compares favourably with other non-Hollywood film locus’s of film production such as France, India, Canada and the UK. Internationally, the film industry is dominated by the Hollywood players, particularly in the US domestic market, but also throughout the world. One example of the Australian industry’s current accomplishment is the critical and commercial success of Shine (1995), a film which won a host of both national and international awards including an Academy Award for Best Actor, Geoffrey Rush. The film, which cost just over A$6 million to produce, has grossed over A$64 million Australian dollars (April 1997 figure) at the international box office. It was the subject of a fierce dispute to acquire US distribution rights at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival, and is now regarded internationally as a model of accomplishment.