DOCUMENTARY PRODUCTION

Overview | NDP | Domestic & International | Special Doco Program | Special Doco Initiatives

 

The National Documentary Program

The National Documentary Program (NDP) aims to provide a comprehensive and strategic slate of projects across a period of time, involving a diversity of practitioners, styles, formats and budgets.

These documentaries encompass a broad range of themes of national significance. Projects are documentaries of record, a heritage collection – not just available for 50 minutes of broadcast but for 50 years and beyond. They will be programs with a sense of cultural ambition and a budget scale that separates them from other Screen Australia domestic documentary investments.

Screen Australia does not require exclusive rights to projects produced under the NDP, but retains appropriate rights of approval, including approval of contractual arrangements, licence fees, distributors arrangements as well as non-exclusive rights for NDP product to be retained in a living collection and used for online learning as appropriate.

Eligible projects

The National Documentary Program is broadly framed around four content areas, which may vary from time to time:

• art and culture
  
• contemporary and social issues, including social history
  
• science and the environment
  
• national history and identity (including the Making History initiative with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
  

Screen Australia management, consulting experts as necessary, ensures the continuing relevance of areas of core content and ensures that the NDP delivers against the broad framework.

To apply for production funding under the NDP, applicants are required to have a broadcast presale. Standalone interactive projects such as websites are considered on a case-by-case basis.

Investment decisions

Applications are considered by Screen Australia executives, with industry specialists consulted as required. Screen Australia will advise applicants of the success or otherwise of their application, providing a brief statement of reasons.

Screen Australia will take the following considerations into account when deciding whether to invest in projects under this program:

• applicability to NDP core content areas, and diversity of projects and content within the NDP and Screen Australia documentary slate,
  
• capacity of the creative team including successful track record,
  
• budget and financing strategy, including broadcaster and licensing arrangements, and
  
• value to the heritage collection.

Level of funding

There is no cap on the maximum amount that Screen Australia can invest in a one-off program or series under the NDP.

However, limits apply to the level of direct funding as a proportion of the project’s budget; these limits are set out in Screen Australia’s Terms of Trade.

Screen Australia may invest in excess of these limits in projects whose budgets are  below the eligibility threshold for the Producer Offset.

Note that for all documentary projects approved after 1 March 2010, Screen Australia funding of $200,000 or under will be provided as a grant, rather than recoupable investment.

NDP operation

Screen Australia has meaningful consultation with the producer during the development and production of programs to ensure that the themes or core content remain in keeping with what was envisaged when Screen Australia committed to the project.

Funding and production processes for NDP projects operate as follows:

• Screen Australia ensures that programs are made in accordance with the Production Investment Agreement.
  
• Producers arrange for the financing of their programs and are the point of contact with broadcasters, sales agents, third party investors and co-producers.
  
• Distribution (sales of the programs both domestically and internationally), as well as marketing and promotion of the completed programs, are a matter for producers, subject to the consent of Screen Australia.

Terms of trade

Note that special terms apply to the NDP, including retention by Screen Australia of non exclusive rights in the program, out takes and other materials for use as library material for educational purposes and future productions by Australian filmmakers.