Screen Queensland

it's a show called AustraAsian.

We just, um, I don't know if you saw, we actually announced it earlier that we got funded by the Australian government and Screen Queensland.

So, so Screen Australia, Screen Queensland.

And the first episode came out last year that was fully funded by Screen Queensland.

Thank you, Screen Queensland.

And then after, I guess, the popularity of that, Screen Australia decided to green light the rest of the series, which is really only five episodes, but no, four more episodes, but still four more 20 minute episodes.

That's like together.

Yeah, the headline of the EDM from Screen Producers Australia read, Queensland Screened Funding Under Threat.

And the second EDM that followed this offered a bit more detail, saying that Screen Queensland's funding from the Queensland government may be slashed over the next few years.

As a matter of urgency, they convened a member meeting to discuss the implications such cuts could have for the sector and what steps SPAR members can take to advocate against potential reductions.

And then over the weekend, the Minister for the Arts in Queensland, John Paul Langbrook, announced that the Queensland government had committed $50 million over the next two years to screen Queensland.

Now that sounds like a big headline, right? Sounds like they're not making cuts, except when you look at what they actually allocated last year.

So last financial year, Avon, the Queensland government allocated $42 million to screen industry attraction and development.

We do.

We had Screen Australia and Screen Queensland, and they give notes and thoughts, and we take them on board, and we consider them as part of our process.

But there was so much freedom in the way that we wanted to go about it creatively, but also in the marketing of it, and it was great to have their support and be able to lean into their expertise and their investment in us and the project, but also be able to try things out and experiment, especially when it came to the way that we ended up marketing the series.

I suppose, you know, in a more traditional sense, you would create a show, and you'd have a commissioner on board, and they are responsible for marketing the series.