by Simon Sellars

‘The Making of a Tasmanian Film Industry’. Originally published in RealTime magazine #61, Jun-Jul 2004.

In RT58, I interviewed a group of Melbourne directors and producers about the environmental factors that influence their films. Besides the weather, the main aspect cited was Melbourne’s distance from Sydney: geographically and financially (most of the funding flies north), therefore aesthetically. The result: low-budget, gritty urban dramas. But what about Tasmania? Even further from Sydney, it’s much smaller and presumably has even less funding. What might their films be like? Actually, are there any films? News can travel slowly to the mainland: I wasn’t even sure they had an industry.

It indeed proved difficult to locate historical information on Tasmanian film, except for the obligatory Errol Flynn references (and he, as we all know, fled the state to make it). Just two features have been made in the Apple Isle, the first being Roger Schole’s The Tale of Ruby Rose (1987), a richly observed psychological drama set in the highlands. Next, Richard Flanagan’s The Sound of One Hand Clapping (1998) related the experiences of Slovenian immigrants in Tasmania (Flanagan once described his experience of making films as “savage and brutal…I love the process but not the politics”).

Up until a few years ago, making films in Tasmania was pretty much a pipedream, but now the Tasmanian screen industry is finally taking off. It’s forging an infrastructure with ways and means to get the work out there, even if the situation is as always for Australian filmmakers: there’s just not enough cash to go around (the state funding body has a budget of just $1 million).

Today, there’s the government organ Screen Tasmania, the Mobile Media Access Facility (funded by Screen Tasmania to provide accessible resources, training, contacts and so on) and Fearless Media, which represents the Australian Film Television and Radio School, while initiating a diverse program of short courses in film and broadcast production. There are professional Tasmanian production companies including Roar Film and Edward Street Films. And then there’s Blue Rocket, animation specialists who relocated to Hobart from Brisbane and have gone on to build an enviable reputation, producing series and interstitials for European markets, as well as successful longer projects.

Craig Kirkwood is well placed to comment on this rapid spurt of activity: now the CEO at Fearless, he was on Screen Tasmania’s first advisory board. He cites the Tasmanian Labor government that came to power five years ago, with their “huge cultural agenda”, as the catalyst; Jim Bacon and his team set up Screen Tasmania as well as the first international arts festival to be held in the state. Kirkwood highlights other factors, like “the sense of positive growth in Tassie: the population is finally rising rapidly, housing is booming, the arts are growing”. The result: “screen culture and industry is beginning to take on a sense of confidence”.

Early in 2004, Kirkwood inaugurated the Tasmanian Screen Network with the aim of “increasing communication between screen practitioners and developing a professional infrastructure for Tasmanian filmmakers and producers”. Its central tenet, he explains, is to maintain “an industry body which represents the screen sector in Tasmania independent of government and enterprise”.

But surely such representation is the effective role of Screen Tasmania, even though it’s primarily a funding body? “Screen Tas has acted as a de facto mouthpiece,” Kirkwood says, “but this is inappropriate really. If someone, like yourself, needs to know about Tasmania’s film culture it’s better to consult the industry rather than a government funding body. Not only that, but the industry needs to lobby and respond to actions that government take. Screen Tasmania is a funding body and while they play an important and strategic role, they should answer to, and respond to, industry needs rather than the other way around” (Kirkwood is quick to add that the TSN was set up with Screen Tasmania’s blessing).

Despite that sentiment, the government body does seem to be shaping the direction of Tasmanian film. In recent funding decisions, there has been a strong focus on documentary: grants, workshops and a co-production initiative with SBS are among the developments. Why might this be? Is it out of necessity (ie, limited funding equals lower budgets) or is it driven by the culture? Tasmanian society certainly seems to focus a lot on history, packaged most notably in tourism, and documentaries seem be the perfect form for attempting to unravel Tasmania’s long, turbulent past.

Kirkwood agrees that the “bleak history is quite remarkable. The extermination of the tiger, Port Arthur’s past and modern histories, and the virtual annihilation of Aborigines are just some of the stories that need to be told. But it’s also breathtakingly beautiful here and the natural environment is very much in people’s consciousness. Documentary seems a logical area to specialise in”.

Does Tasmania stand any chance of adding to its two feature films? “The rumour mill,” Kirkwood says, “has it that Richard Flanagan is working on a new production. Roger and Katherine Scholes have a feature called The Broken Hill, which came within a hair’s breadth of attracting funds, and Screen Tas has about a dozen feature scripts on the desk at any time, but of course they’re such a difficult thing to do”.

Kirkwood is optimistic about the future of the industry (he cites promising names including Paul Scott, Ella Kennedy and Miro Films), even while allowing that there’s a long way to go. For the moment, Tasmanian screen culture is building a unique and independent identity, and a reputation that’s certainly in sharp contrast to traditional mainland perceptions of the state. As Kirkwood notes, “I’m an ex-Sydneysider and I remember when Tasmania was considered a real backwater. Now it’s in danger of becoming fashionable”.

But either way, it doesn’t matter, because as he observes, “achieving success in the ‘provinces’, as Tim Winton would say, is always well-rewarded. After all, if you can make it here…”

..: LINKS
>> Screen Tasmania
>> Tasmanian Screen Network
>> Fearless Media