J55 Motion Picture and Sound Recording Activities

Private equity raids the Village

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Original article by Ben Wilmot, Bridget Carter
The Australian – Page: 15 & 21 : 20-Dec-19

Pacific Equity Partners has made a conditional, non-binding and indicative takeover offer for cinemas and theme parks group Village Roadshow. The offer of $3.90 per share values Village at about $1bn, or $761.2m when its debt is excluded. Shares in Village closed $0.69 higher at $3.89 on 19 December, in response to the private equity firm’s scheme of arrangement proposal.

CORPORATES
VILLAGE ROADSHOW LIMITED – ASX VRL, PACIFIC EQUITY PARTNERS PTY LTD, VILLAGE ROADSHOW CORPORATION LIMITED, MORNINGSTAR PTY LTD

The Nightingale on song at AACTAs

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Original article by Philippa Hawker, Kieran Gair
The Australian – Page: 3 : 5-Dec-19

‘The Nightingale’ won four Australian Academy of Cinema & Television Arts awards on 4 December. They included the categories of best film, best director and best screenplay; the film previously received two awards in the first stage of the AACTAs presentation earlier in the week. Meanwhile, ‘Total Control’ has won the award for best TV drama series, while ‘Lambs of God’ was named the best telefeature or mini-series.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY OF CINEMA AND TELEVISION ARTS

Free TV miffed by government’s iceberg of policy in a sea of nothing

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 15-Apr-19

Free TV Australia CEO Bridget Fair has criticised the federal government’s failure to relax the content requirements of traditional broadcasters after nearly six years in office. She was responding to its decision to allow streaming video companies to access tax offsets for content that is filmed in Australia. Traditional broadcasters remain subject to quotas for content such as children’s programs and adult dramas. Fair contends that such quotas do not reflect changes in viewing habits.

CORPORATES
FREE TV AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, AMAZON PRIME VIDEO, TEN ALL-ACCESS

Lachlan could reunite Murdoch family empire

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 30 : 25-Mar-19

Lachlan Murdoch has taken over as CEO of Fox Corporation, while he remains co-chairman of News Corporation. There is speculation that he may seek to re-combine the two Murdoch family businesses, but any action on this front would be unlikely to occur for at least another two years. Like his father Rupert, Lachlan Murdoch is regarded as being passionate about publishing; he began his involvement with News Corp at the age of 16 when he cleaned printing presses in Queensland.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FOX CORPORATION, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, WALT DISNEY COMPANY, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED

Film, TV aim to build on record year

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 30-Oct-18

Australia’s film and TV industry spend a record $718m on local productions in 2017-18, which is seven per cent higher than previously. Spending on feature films rose from $287m to $321m, although spending on TV dramas fell from $321m to $295m. However, Screen Australia’s COO Michael Brealey notes that expenditure on drama remained above its five-year average. Local film and TV production is forecast to remain strong in 2018-19, while Screen Australia expects the federal government’s location incentive program to boost the number of international productions.

CORPORATES
SCREEN AUSTRALIA, VILLAGE ROADSHOW LIMITED – ASX VRL, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED

How local producers survived the Netflix streaming tsunami

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Original article by Justin Burke
The Australian – Page: 24 & 26 : 8-Oct-18

The growth of subscription video-on-demand services in Australia has prompted local TV production companies to embrace co-productions. Fremantle Australia CEO Chris Oliver-Taylor says such deals will ensure that the local market remains viable. The ABC in particular has embraced SVOD co-productions, and it now makes a number of shows in partnership with Netflix. Meanwhile, Netflix will launch its first original Australian production in late 2018. Data from Roy Morgan shows that 10 million Australians now have access to Netflix at home, an increase of 30 per cent in the last 12 months.

CORPORATES
FREMANTLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, ROY MORGAN LIMITED, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), CORDELL JIGSAW ZAPRUDER

Streaming a boon to music exports

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 12-Sep-18

The Australian Recording Industry Association has reported that music sales rose by six per cent to $195.6 million in the first half of 2018 when compared to the previous corresponding period. Streaming revenue accounted for 67 per cent of ARIA’s sales for the first half of 2018, compared to just 38 per cent of its sales for 2016. ARIA CEO Dan Rosen says music is something that Australia is really good at, and that streaming has helped to expose local acts to overseas markets.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN RECORDING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED

Disney’s Fox bid wins US approval

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Original article by Edmund Lee, Cecilia Kang
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 29-Jun-18

Walt Disney’s proposed $US71bn deal to acquire the bulk of 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets has been cleared by the US Justice Department, only six months after it was initially proposed. However, the Justice Department has ruled that ESPN owner Disney must divest Fox’s regional sports to satisfy competition concerns. Jefferies media analyst John Janedis says the Fox board will probably be obliged to see if rival suitor Comcast makes a revised bid, but he notes that any such offer would take at least six months to receive approval from the DoJ.

CORPORATES
21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED, WALT DISNEY COMPANY, UNITED STATES. DEPT OF JUSTICE, ESPN INCORPORATED, JEFFERIES AND COMPANY, HULU LLC, AT&T CORPORATION, TIME WARNER INCORPORATED, CNN, UNITED STATES. EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, SKY PLC, STAR INDIA, MARVEL ENTERPRISES, LUCASFILM, PIXAR, FOX NEWS CHANNEL

Bawdy jokes and crude behaviour aside, no evidence of misconduct

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Original article by Matthew Westwood
The Australian – Page: 7 : 1-Feb-18

An independent investigation by Pax People has cleared actor Craig McLachlan of inappropriate conduct on the set of "The Doctor Blake Mysteries". The inquiry was commissioned by production company December Media in the wake of allegations of sexual harassment and workplace bullying on the set of the period drama. Pax People’s report concluded that the workplace culture on the set of the show often featured humour that could be regarded as offensive, but it found no evidence of serious misconduct. McLachlan has denied all allegations against him.

CORPORATES
PAX PEOPLE, DECEMBER MEDIA, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, THE GORDON FROST ORGANISATION PTY LTD

Producers cut Hollywood deal

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Original article by Michael Bodey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 19-Jan-18

Australian film and TV production company See-Saw Films has secured a production deal with New Regency. The "first look" deal with the Hollywood studio will allow See-Saw to make films with much bigger budgets than at present, and enable its films to reach a larger audience worldwide. See-Saw was among the major winners at the recent Australian Academy of Cinema & Television Arts awards, for productions such as "Lion" and "Top of The Lake: China Girl".

CORPORATES
SEE-SAW FILMS PTY LTD, NEW REGENCY PICTURES, AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY OF CINEMA AND TELEVISION ARTS, REGENCY ENTERPRISES, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED, WALT DISNEY COMPANY