Creative industries not only work as entertainment to their countries’ citizens and internationally, and as profitable for the economy but also potentially act as employment opportunities (Pratt and Jeffcut, 2009), as almost travel campaigns (albeit sometimes not in the most favourable or realistic ways), and help with social/cultural preservation (Goto, 2017).
Government help and support in creative industries is vital. Without government support, I believe both creative and entertainment industries would almost fail to exist. Cultural and creative industries generated $111.7 billion in Australia in 2016-17, equating to 6.4% of the GDP. Furthermore, in 2016, 5.5% of working Australians (or around 593,830 people) were in creative employment. Without industries like these countries lose their individuality as well as parts of their culture and hundreds of thousands of people would lose their employment.
In the ‘golden age’ of Australian films, between the 70s and the 90s, government support for films was much easier to get and more abundant than it is these days, as the current government turns a blind eye to many of the creative industries, in favour for ‘more profitable (but really just more destructive) industries.
If our government in Australia showed more interest in our film industry, I believe there’s a good chance that the movies would be better received in our country, as the government’s beliefs often dictate the attitudes of its citizens. For some reason, TV shows have managed to avoid the detrimental effect of loss of interest from their native audience. Shows like Neighbours, Home and Away etc, have managed to capture interest and continually find new fans, while the film industry has seemed to go from weakness to weakness.
Understandably there’s still support out there for the creative and especially in screen industries in Australia. Screen Australia especially has many grants available but the support seems to kind of end there. If there were more, clearer streams of support for young Australians to get into creative industries, I think without a doubt that the industry in Australia would become larger and more successful than it already is. Furthermore, I think if they supported it, it would help people, especially Australians, from discounting their countries’ films, and we would have more great movies such as Candy (2006), The Proposition (2005), The Tracker (2002) and so on.
By creating a stronger industry in Australia, our most talented creative citizens would stop travelling overseas to work in more developed industries to feel more appreciated and to earn more money/help their careers grow. I think this applies to all creative industries as well and not just film. Musicians, artists, photographers and other creatives often travel overseas to make a more sustainable income and flow or work, which realistically with more support from the government could definitely be seen in Australia.
Source
Why Do Governments Financially Support the Creative Industries? By Zakuko Goto, 2017
Creativity, Innovation and the Cultural Economy: Snake oil for the 21st Century? By A. C. Pratt & Paul Jeffcutt, 2009
Hamish Stephen 