HIstorical data
Business trends
Income and expenditure

Income and expenditure for businesses in the film and video production and post-production services industry, 1993/94, 1996/97, 1999/00, 2002/03 and 2006/07

The 2,492 businesses in the Australian film and video production and post-production services industry generated an overall income of $2,028.1 million in 2006/07, up 22.3 per cent from $1,658.2 million in 2002/03, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics Service Industry Survey.

The increase was due to growth in income from production and the provision of post-production services or PDV (post, digital and visual effects). Income from the provision of production services to other businesses, such as producers’ and directors’ fees, decreased.

Income earned from overseas businesses accounted for around 26 per cent ($527.3 million) of total production and post-production services income in 2006/07: $321.6 million from production, $119.8 million from post-production and $85.9 million from production services. This not only includes work on foreign production but also foreign sales and pre-sales, royalties, overseas private investors, and overseas public investment contributions. See Sources of income for more details.

Expenditure by film and video production and post-production services businesses totalled $1,857.4 million in 2006/07, up from $1,551.8 million in 2002/03. The most significant item of expenditure – labour costs – comprised a third of total expenses in 2006/07.

A total of $356.1 million (19.2 per cent of expenses) was paid to other businesses for production services in 2006/07, up 58.1 per cent from $225.3 million in 2002/03. Payments to other businesses for post-production services increased in 2006/07 to $104.1 million (5.6 per cent of expenses) from $91.6 million in 2002/03.

In 2006/07, the film and video production and post-production industry recorded an operating profit before tax of $173.9 million, giving a profit margin of 8.8 per cent, up from $106.4 million or 6.6 per cent in 2002/03. By comparison, the average profit margin across all industries in the Australian economy was approximately 10.8 per cent in 2005/06, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Profitability in the production and post-production industry has increased since the ABS began surveying it in 1993/94 (in that year a loss of $98.1 million was reported). Between 2002/03 and 2006/07, for example, operating profit rose by 63.4 per cent. A significant contributor has been the growth of the PDV sector since 1996/97. See Focus on PDV > Operating profit.

Historical comparisons are problematic, however, because 2006/07 and top-line 2002/03 figures include significant non-employing businesses whereas previous years do not.