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Overview Scope Festivals and Awards  |  First Nations creatives  |  Format  |  Length  |  Year  |  Genre  |  Sales contact


OVERVIEW

WHAT IS THE SCREEN GUIDE?

The Screen Guide is an online database of Australian* and co-production^ titles amd games, including where possible - the cast, key creative crew, production company and sales agent information.

These titles are not solely funded by Screen Australia. We try to include all titles that are produced nationally. Many titles have been added through our own research or at the request of the content creators. (If your Australian* or co-production^ title isn’t listed and you’d like it to be, please submit your production here).

We aim to keep the Screen Guide as up-to-date and accurate as possible through information provided by the content creator, or another equally reliable resource. If we are unable to validate the information, it will not be published.

You’ll find a full list of our publishing parameters for a production below under SCOPE.

ACCESS TO TITLES

While we try to keep a record of every title made in Australia, Screen Australia does not have a sales library and cannot provide copies of productions. We cannot guarantee that all titles listed are commercially available.

Alternatively, you can find more tips on how to search for a copy of a production on our website here.

SCOPE

WHAT WE PUBLISH

The Screen Guide includes Australian drama and documentary projects as follows:

  • *Australians productions - Projects under Australian creative control (i.e. where the elements are predominantly Australian and the project was originated and developed by Australians). Includes projects with these characteristics which are 100 per cent foreign financed.
  • ^Co-productions - Co-productions where creative control is shared between Australian and foreign partners, and where there is a mix of Australian and foreign elements in the creative positions. This includes projects made under the Official Co-production Program, i.e. pursuant to an agreement between the Australian Government and a similar authority or government of another country.
  • Feature films since 1970
  • Telemovies since 1970
  • TV mini-series since 1980
  • TV series and serials since 1988
  • Documentaries since 1980
  • Selected interactive titles since 2009
  • Completed short films between 1988 and 2008 and then...
  • Completed shorts after 2008 which:
  • received government agency funding (federal and/or state)
  • screened or won an award at major film festivals and/or award events with an international focus, either domestic or foreign, as listed below
  • won an award at selected domestic film festivals and award events, as listed below
  • have been submitted by the filmmakers for inclusion in the database.

WHAT WE DON’T PUBLISH

  • Foreign films shot or undertaking PDV-only activity in Australia
  • Titles which Screen Australia has been unable to verify data with a first-hand source
  • Titles in development
  • Shorts that are not yet completed.

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FESTIVALS AND AWARDS

Since 1 July 2008, Screen Australia has tracked screenings and awards for features, TV drama, documentaries and shorts at the following major film festivals and award events with an international focus, either occurring domestically or globally:

Festivals

  • Adelaide Film Festival, Australia
  • AFI Docs
  • Annecy International Animated Film Festival, France
  • Berlin International Film Festival, Germany
  • Brisbane Film Festival, Australia
  • Busan International Film Festival, Korea
  • Cannes Film Festival, France
  • CinefestOZ (as of 2017)
  • Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, France
  • Cork International Film Festival
  • Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival, China
  • Hong Kong International Film Festival, China
  • Hot Docs, Canada
  • International Animation Festival Hiroshima, Japan
  • International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • International Film Festival Rotterdam, Netherlands
  • International Rome Film Festival, Italy
  • Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Czech Republic
  • Locarno International Film Festival, Switzerland
  • London Film Festival, UK
  • Melbourne International Film Festival, Australia
  • Revelation Perth International Film Festival, Australia
  • San Sebastian International Film Festival, Spain
  • Sheffield International Documentary Festival, UK
  • Sitges International Fantasy and Horror Film Festival, Spain
  • South by Southwest (SXSW), US
  • Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film, Germany
  • Sundance Film Festival, US
  • Sydney Film Festival, Australia
  • Telluride Film Festival, US
  • Tokyo International Film Festival, Japan
  • Toronto International Film Festival, Canada
  • Tribeca Film Festival, US
  • Valladolid International Film Festival, Spain
  • Venice International Film Festival, Italy
  • Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, Japan

Awards

  • Academy Awards®, US
  • Digital Emmy® Awards, US
  • Emmy® Awards, US

Domestic film festivals and award events

Since 1 July 2008, Screen Australia has tracked screenings and awards for features, TV drama, and documentaries but awards only for short films at the following domestic film festivals and award events:

Festivals

  • Flickerfest
  • Tropfest
  • Melbourne International Animation Festival
  • St Kilda Film Festival

Awards

  • Asia Pacific Screen Awards (as of 2017)
  • Australian Directors Guild
  • Australian Writers’ Guild
  • Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards (formerly Australian Film Institute Awards)
  • TV Week Logie Awards

Please note that legacy data for screenings and awards exists for records prior to 1 July 2008. These records may contain screening and/or award information for film festivals and award events that Screen Australia no longer tracks.

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FIRST NATIONS CREATIVES

  • First Nations Australian: This person has publically identified themselves as First Nations Australian.
  • Directors of Photography (DOP): DOPs are tracked comprehensively for First Nations Australians only.

FORMAT

  • Documentary: Screen Australia’s definition of documentary is in line with that of the Australian Content Standard, ie “a program that is a creative treatment of actuality other than a news or current affairs, sports coverage, magazine, infotainment, or light entertainment program”. See Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) website. Includes one-off titles and series.
  • Feature: A film made for cinema release which is 60 minutes or longer. Can be drama or documentary, but the Find a Film database classifies feature-length documentaries under ‘Documentary’.
  • Short: A film which is 59 minutes or shorter, excluding documentaries or telemovies. Includes short features, defined as 45-55 minutes in length.
  • TV drama: A 'drama program' according to the Australian Content Standard guidelines (see ACMA website). Includes series/serials, mini-series and telemovies (see below), for both adults and children.
  • Interactive: Includes games, websites, apps and other interactive projects. Incorporated since 2009, with scope generally limited to projects funded by Screen Australia.

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LENGTH

Programs made for TV (either drama or documentary) are categorised as follows:

  • Series: Comprises a potentially unlimited number of episodes, each being a self- contained plot which can be screened in any order.
  • Serials: Comprises a potentially unlimited number of episodes and contains a number of interweaving and overlapping plots continuing from one episode to the next.
  • Mini-series: A limited series of drama which is less than 13 hours in total length, and which is either made to be broadcast in several sequential parts featuring a major continuous plot for which there is an expectation of an ending resolving the major plot tensions, or an anthology of drama works for television made to be broadcast under one generic title. Individual episodes must be 55 minutes or longer unless the material is for children in which case it must be 25 minutes or longer.
  • Telemovies: Drama made for television. Usually the producer’s intention prior to release is the main indicator. Telemovies can be 52 minutes (commercial TV hour) or longer.

Note: In categorising titles as either mini-series or series, Screen Australia has followed the definitions used for Division 10BA of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936. This occasionally means that a mini-series which might be classified as a series according to industry definitions has been defined as a mini-series in order to retain parity with data from other government agencies.

YEAR

Refers to the year the title was completed (or was anticipated to complete, in the case of projects listed as being in pre-production, production or post-production).

GENRE

Generally nominated by the producer. Up to three genre categories can be selected from a pre-determined list.

SALES CONTACT

Sales contacts generally handle sales of the title to distributors or other parts of the distribution chain, either locally or internationally.

If you’re looking for a title for personal or non-industry use, check out our Find a Copy FAQ.

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