New Platform Papers No 3, June 2022: Currency House, Sydney. Edited by Julian Meyrick.
Media Contact: Martin Portus, Phone 0401 360 806, mportus2@tpg.com.au
www.currencyhouse.org.au
Reviewed by Frank McKone
"The
simple act of watching film and television equates to very big business
for some……My argument is about something much more important than
financial value. It is about how only Australian film and television
delivers local cultural value to local audiences, about why less drama
is available, why it is harder to find, why there is uncertainty about
its future and why some of it feels a lot less Australian……and there is
evidence everywhere of economic value taking priority over cultural
value––a folly, given cultural significance is the predominant reason
the industry gets public funding."
So Sandy George’s central question is How can more and better film and TV with (on-screen) Australianness at its heart be made and seen?
It’s not for her just a practical and economic problem, despite her
longstanding experience in “the business that sits behind film and
television” where “the menu [is] offered to audiences and how each dish
on that menu appears on the plate.”
“Stop pretending everything is OK,” she yells. “Depending on economics to deliver cultural value is arse about.”
Determined so furiously to have the right thing done, who is this Antigone yelling at?
Not
the recently dead king, her father, Oedipus (Scott Morrison); but his
incestuous brother-in-law Creon (Anthony Albanese) who’s just taken
over. But surely it will all turn out OK if she marries Creon’s son,
her cousin Haemon (Tony Burke), won’t it?
I feel a Baz Luhrmann coming on. He’s done Elvis
a treat, so I hear. Will my pitch make it on Netflix? Will it be made
in a Melbourne, Sydney or Gold Coast studio by all our expert Aussie
techs, with American money? Will that mean it can be called an
Australian production and attract the Producer’s 40% Offset? Will
Screen Australia buy-in?
Before reading New Platform Paper No 3,
this was all Greek to me. Now I know much more about FTA TV and SVODs
and the way the viewing world is changing, for screens at home and in
cinemas, as the younger generation is not just watching video-on-demand
but creating work on TikTok and other platforms, ready for streaming
services to distribute.
Now available at www.currencyhouse.org.au
the Paper is essential reading for anyone seeking to create work or
perform in any version of the drama world. Sandy George is an insider
with self-awareness in the production process across the sector,
providing real-life examples which explain why we must be concerned
about maintaining our culture, how it may evolve, and how Australianness
is being and will be perceived – by ourselves and by people around the
world.
Importantly, she is not just crying out like Antigone.
Nor will she suggest such direct action, as Antigone did in burying her
brother, which inevitably led to her death. She writes, with
statistical backup, of Australians’ love for Australian content and our
recognition of what makes the grade as having Australianness.
George
has many practical action suggestions on different aspects of
government arrangements and funding, for the new Federal Government,
State Governments, and even at local levels – which I trust Tony Burke
as both the previous Shadow Arts and now the fully-fledged Arts Minister
will take to heart.
She writes, for example: We need to
cultivate that love and encourage it to be shared. The enthusiastic can
be given resources to run book-club-style events that would elevate
attention at the time of a production’s release. If done right, the
impact could be phenomenal. Fostering a community of supporters would
help keep some local cinemas open on the back of Australian films, and
could even lead to the establishment of a lottery that funds production
initiatives designed to involve the public.
https://www.tonyburke.com.au/speechestranscripts/2022/5/17/speech-labors-arts-policy-launch-the-espy-melbourne-16-may-2022
To have the Minister open his Arts Policy Launch, in St Kilda, Melbourne, in this way, is enormously encouraging:
“Very few drivers realise they are accelerating past the oldest living thing in Melbourne.
The
Bunurong Corroboree Tree, or 'Ngargee' Tree. An ancient red gum
thought to be between 300 and 500 years old. With leaves still soaking
in energy and roots deep, deep into the land of the Kulin nation.
That the tree belongs in place and on country - matters.
That it lives - matters.
That it grows - matters.
It
has stood guard over every change, every ceremony, every battle, every
conversation of pain or love, that has occurred beneath its boughs, and
within its sight. It has stayed, flourished, and grown.
Stories
can be universal. Emotions, and ideas can ricochet around the globe. But
everything starts with place. Every story, work of art, movement,
harmony or discord starts in a place.
And that’s why I want to talk today about cultural policy.
Because creativity that comes from this land isn’t important simply based on whether the rest of the world takes notice.
It isn’t important simply because of its commercial value, although the economic contribution of our creatives is immense.
To
Australians, our creativity should matter simply because it’s ours. It
happens here. Its roots drive deep into our home. Our stories matter
because they are ours. And I am determined to shine a spotlight on our
artwork, have our poetry spoken, our literature read, to fill the stalls
and dress circles of our theatres, see the names of Australian
creatives as the credits roll on screen, and crank up the volume to 11
for our music.”
Perhaps a modern Creon’s son will form a true
relationship with Oedipus’s daughter, and change the ending of
Sophocles’ play of present and future doom. I, the old blind prophet
Teiresias, need no longer warn of horrific omens from the gods, but hope
for a perfect marriage for Sandy George and Tony Burke. With Prime
Minister Albanese's blessing.
 |
| Sandy George Photo supplied |
© Frank McKone, Canberra
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