Amount and proportion of spending in Australia by Australian, co-production and foreign TV drama productions, 1994/95–2008/09

Since the mid-1990s, local productions have generally accounted for more than 60 per cent of TV drama spending in Australia.

Local TV drama productions tend to spend almost all their budget here, while for co-productions and foreign features the proportion is lower. For example, co-produced TV dramas shot between 2004/05 and 2008/09 spent an average of 52 per cent of their total production budgets in Australia, and foreign programs 67 per cent, compared to 97 per cent for Australian productions. Amounts spent overseas by Australian productions relate mainly to animated programs for children.

Co-produced TV drama had record years in 1998/99 (seven titles spent $103 million in Australia) and 1999/00 (seven titles spent $113 million). Several high-budget titles went into production in those two years, including two series each of the official co-productions Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Lost World and Beastmaster (both Australia/Canada), and two series of the unofficial co-production Farscape (Australia/US). Since 2000/01, co-produced TV dramas have spent approximately $273 million in Australia, an average of 64 per cent of their budgets.

Foreign TV drama has generally accounted for less than 20 per cent of all TV drama spending in Australia, but with the high-budget production The Pacific in 2007/08 it reached 34 per cent.

Source: Screen Australia.

Notes:
Figures may not total exactly due to rounding.
1. Productions under Australian creative control.
2. Official co-productions and other productions involving shared creative control, i.e. with a mix of Australians in key creative positions.
3. Productions under foreign creative control with a substantial amount shot in Australia.