The historic, joint actors and writers strike in Hollywood has put the spotlight on the unfair labor dynamics at the heart of the movies and TV that we all love. If you look a little closer at their demands, you’ll realise… the situation that American creatives are desperately trying to avoid is the reality that Australian creatives already work in everyday. It really is that bad – here’s why.
Hollywood’s demands vs Australia’s reality
In the US, actors and writers are demanding that the major studios and streaming platforms (represented by the producers guild, Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP)) give them a better deal on three main topics:
- Better pay, including a better deal on residual payments
- Better conditions, especially around ‘mini-room’s (an issue for writers rather than actors)
- Protection against the use of AI to replace writers and actors
Here is how those concerns stack up against what Australian TV & film creatives are already dealing with:
RESIDUALS: In America, writers and actors get paid for the work in two ways – the initial payment for doing the job itself, and then residuals (like royalties) every time their movie or TV episode is shown again. Streaming services pay smaller residuals than cable networks… to US productions. But currently streaming services pay no residuals or royalties to Australian screenwriters. Zero. In Australia, streaming platforms only have to pay the upfront fee to the creatives who make the work.
Executive director of the Australian Writers Guild (AWG) told The Guardian: “These agreements are essentially about having an ongoing relationship with your own work, but in Australia, once a streaming service pays for a work, that’s it. Here in Australia, the streamers do not offer contracts unless you fully assign them all the rights.”
The Media, Entertainment Alliance of Australia (MEAA) is the union covering Australian actors and filmmakers. They did negotiate residual rights for actors in 2015, but as payment terms can vary according to each production’s contracts it’s a payment that is easily avoided by the streamers. On top of this, most productions in Australia are actually for foreign projects (more on that in a moment) are not covered by MEAA – so these conditions don’t apply.
WORKING CONDITIONS: One of the key demands for American writers is to stop the practice of ‘mini-rooms’. As Vox explains, mini rooms are when “fewer writers than usual (two or three, instead of the usual seven or eight) are hired to write a number of episodes of a show before it’s even picked up for production… [They] are paid less than they would be in a regular writers room, and the jobs of writing and production, which are often combined, are separated. The mini-room model makes writers as disposable as possible, and ensures they’re not even around (and thus getting paid) when production begins.”
In Australia, the mini-room model is already normal. Rebecca Shaw, a Sydney-based screenwriter and podcaster, told us: “The ‘mini rooms’ Americans are fighting so hard against are what we already have here. It means a much much shorter time to do a big amount of work… We are squeezed for everything we have, and not paid enough to do it.”
AI: To be honest, Australia’s TV and film industry is so structurally far behind we’re not even at the point of having a serious discussion about the impact of AI here. But if streaming platforms and major foreign studios are allowed to use this technology to endlessly capitalise off the pre-existing (underpaid) work of writers and actors in the U.S., their dominance in the Australian market will be a disaster for our industry too. It’s the one area that we’re not worse off, but not exactly doing better.
@allyssaablon01 Replying to @DariasGlasses if they dont PAY THOSE MF WRITERS!!!😤 #writersstrike #wga #writersguildofamerica #writerstrike #australia #australianmedia #aussietv #paythewriters #supportwga ♬ original sound – Allyssa Ablon
The role of government and foreign studios
There is one big complicating factor that makes our entertainment industry so dire for Australian creatives: the involvement of government. Every film project must be approved (even if only informally) by the relevant branch of Screen Australia, which is the federal government body that funds screen projects. The result is the government essentially having a hand in every single production.
Of course, some of the measures implemented can be seen as beneficial to the industry. Actor Peter Thurnwald, who you might know from Stan’s Bump and Netflix’s XO Kitty, told us “Australia is one of the only countries that has a Producer Offset. If they didn’t have that, then producers who produce film and TV wouldn’t be able to make a living.” The producer offset is a way to recoup some of the costs, and is reserved for projects that have ‘specific Australian content’.
However, many small filmmakers have accused Screen Australia of being inconsistent and unfair in awarding the producer offset. Others say that a government body being so heavily involved in the industry restricts artistic expression and pushes out certain types of filmmakers.
Even though Screen Australia advocates is required to support local content, the wider federal and state governments have been encouraging Hollywood studios to come to Australia to film. Entertainment and pop culture journalist Albert Santos explains this creates an impossible challenge for the local industry. “The government is so eager to offer tax breaks to productions coming from overseas to film here, but that puts Australian workers on contracts outside of both the Australian Union and the US Union.”
One example is the the Location Offset, which gives foreign productions a refund on their expenditure in Australia (recently increased from 16.5% to 30%.) It’s marketed as a good thing for the industry, as it creates more (temporary) jobs in Australia. The government also loves the idea of cinematic tourism – “there are people who still want to look around the locations in and around Sydney that were used for the Matrix,” Albert says. However, the current system allows these foreign productions to set up Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) to avoid functioning under Australian law. That means no protection for the Australian workers who are not covered by SAG-AFTRA or another foreign union, but are still mostly working on foreign products as these are the only ones that have funding. “[The government] is not willing to offer that same sense of expedited service to stories within Australia. Which is painful, and it just goes to show where the priorities lie with.”
While these incentives contribute to economic growth and tourism, they overshadow opportunities for Australian projects. This turns into reduced funding and investment in Australian film and TV shows, with budget constraints affecting the overall quality and scale. And that limits who can work in the Australian industry at all. Rebecca says: “For me the biggest concerns are building a writing career that have stability and money. There are not enough opportunities, and if there are opportunities they are often underfunded.”
Even the most thorough diversity and inclusion initiatives can’t overcome the fact that if you can’t get your foot in the door on smaller, independent projects, you’ll never gain the experience needed for bigger sets. That’s why the group of storytellers – behind and in front of the camera – in Australia is so narrow.
“There were under 40 feature films made in Australia last year,” Peter says. “I really want to work in Australia. Right now I’m producing and directing, I’m writing, trying to get things going. But as for me actually working on a television series or something… There’s just there’s not enough, there’s not a lot of briefs that fit me. I haven’t worked in Australia since BUMP season one, which was in 2020. Which makes me ask myself ‘Does Australia really want me to work here?’ If they wanted me to work here I would be working here.”
The lack of opportunities, financial struggles, and shitty conditions is why so many talented Australian actors, writers and creatives are forced to look for work overseas in more supportive entertainment industries. The ‘brain drain’ paired with the dominance of international studios helped by the government is what makes Australia’s local industry The Bad Place compared to Hollywood.
Can local unions strike for better conditions in Australia?
This also weakens the position of Australia’s relevant unions. “MEAA had had their knees capped by legislation that allows productions to come to Australia, and work in their own sovereign way outside of the Australian system,” Albert says.
Striking and industrial action are tools used as leverage when you are already in negotiation – you have to be already discussing the issues and terms of employment for it to be effective. Unlike WGA and SAG-AFTRA, our unions are not currently negotiating with studios or streaming platforms, nor do they have the industry-wide power for a strike to work.
Mark Phillips, communications director of MEAA, told us: “While Australian industrial law means they are unable to take strike action in sympathy with their colleagues in the US, Australian actors and crew are sharing messages of solidarity and support and MEAA will be bringing workers together at sites around Australia to collectively do so.” Even though they are not able to strike in solidarity, Screen Producers Australia confirmed that cast and crew working on US-backed television series and films in Australia were expected to be stood down for the duration of the strike. No jobs, and no protection.
Peter says he and other actors are frustrated at how little influence the local unions have in the Australian industry. “I would love to see just more activity with smaller productions. To get a union moving, you need to be involved with the things that they care about. You can’t just say ‘We’re fighting for better pay’. What does that mean? Not just for someone like me, who is on a Netflix show and has been extremely fortunate and lucky to be there. I’m talking about the average working actor, who might not be booking shows constantly, or is really struggling to pay their bills. How are you helping them?”
Local guilds seem to focus more on government advocacy – which isn’t surprising, given how much more control the government has here compared to the U.S. The MEAA, Screen Producers Australia, the Australian Writers Guild and the Australian Directors Guild are currently pushing the ‘Make It Australian’ campaign – asking for 20% of the Australian revenues of global streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ to be reinvested in new Australian stories for local and international audiences.
Is there a solution?
The Hollywood strike has put a spotlight on all these issues, which is a start. “We are at a tipping point culturally,” Rebecca says. “I am not sure about the ripple effects, because we still don’t know what’s going to happen [in the U.S.]. I am not sure it will change anything in Australia on its own, as we are very much already in the place the Americans are trying to avoid… But if [the unions] win, maybe it will force everyone to look at our industry and inspire organising for change here too.”
Whether we like it or not, the government plays a major role in the Australian entertainment industry so getting a better deal for creatives will involve policy and legislation. A baseline starting point is to offer local projects the same attention and incentives currently given to foreign productions. Taking some of the financial pressure off leaves more revenue to be shared with those making the work.
The bottom line underscoring all of these issues is there just isn’t enough money in the local industry. As entertainment consumption becomes increasingly globalised, Australian audiences and creatives are used to generate huge profits for international companies that don’t build local industry. Content quotas and revenue reinvestment are essential to get money flowing back into our ecosystem. Again, the government will need to seriously back and enforce these initiatives if it doesn’t want Australia to become completely reliant on international studios.
As Albert puts it: “We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create something extraordinary. If Australia doesn’t seize this moment, when the entire industry is rewriting its rules and shaping the future of storytelling for decades to come, we may never get such a chance again.”
Smart people read more:
Australia is spending millions to lure Hollywood productions. But is it worth it? – Guardian Australia
Rejecting the Marvel-ization of Culture: How to Find Entertainment Outside the Mainstream
The Australian film industry is failing the country. It’s time something changed – Sydney Morning Herald
Comments are closed.