J55 Motion Picture and Sound Recording Activities

Mad Max cleans up on Hollywood’s night of nights

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 1-Mar-16

George Miller’s "Mad Max: Fury Road" dominated the 2016 Academy Awards, winning in six of the 10 categories in which it was nominated. The film won Oscars for film editing, costume design, sound editing, sound mixing, production design, and best make-up and hair styling. "Mad Max: Fury Road" had a budget of $US150m and boasts gross box-office takings of $US377.6m.

CORPORATES
VILLAGE ROADSHOW LIMITED – ASX VRL, WARNER BROS, RAT PAC-DUNE ENTERTAINMENT, KENNEDY MILLER MITCHELL PRODUCTIONS PTY LTD, FOX STUDIOS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Roadshow, Foxtel in battle against piracy

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 19-Feb-16

Australian-listed Village Roadshow and a group of Hollywood studios want local ISPs to block access to a file-sharing website called SolarMovie. They will pursue action in the Federal Court under the Copyright Amendment (online infringement) Act. Pay-TV group Foxtel is also relying on the statute in a bid to block access to websites that allow people to download pirated copies of its TV shows.

CORPORATES
VILLAGE ROADSHOW LIMITED – ASX VRL, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, DISNEY STUDIOS, 21ST CENTURY FOX INCORPORATED, WARNER BROS, PARAMOUNT STUDIOS, UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT, SINGTEL OPTUS PTY LTD, TPG TELECOM LIMITED – ASX TPM, DODO INTERNET PTY LTD, PRESTO ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, SCREEN PRODUCERS AUSTRALIA, COMMUNICATIONS ALLIANCE LIMITED

Oscars nominations 2016: Mad Max takes 10 nominations

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Original article by Michael Bodey
The Australian – Page: Online : 15-Jan-16

George Miller’s "Mad Max: Fury Road" will compete with "The Revenant" and six other films for the title of best picture at the 2016 Academy Awards. The Mad Max film has been nominated in 10 award categories, including best director, although it has not been nominated in any acting categories. However, Australia’s Cate Blanchett has been nominated for the best actress award. "The Revenant" will be vying for 12 Oscars, including Leonardo DiCaprio as best actor.

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ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND SCIENCES

Call for tax breaks to put us on the big screen

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Original article by Leo Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 17 : 5-Jan-16

Australia’s uncompetitive tax rebate system for the film industry has prompted expatriate producer Andrew Banks to shot feature film "Submergence" in Germany, Spain and Kenya. Banks says the film could have been made in Australia if the tax incentives for local productions were more attractive. He notes that the tax breaks for the film industry are significantly higher in countries such as the UK, New Zealand and Canada.

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LILA 9TH PRODUCTIONS, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DRAMATIC ARTS, THE OLD TOTE THEATRE COMPANY, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, RATPAC ENTERTAINMENT

Avatar’s 3D pricing denies the Force a box-office record

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Original article by Michael Bodey
The Australian – Page: 17 : 5-Jan-16

The Australian box office takings of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens have topped $A69m, eclipsing "Titanic" as the second-highest grossing film on record. However, "Avatar" is likely to remain the highest-grossing film in Australia, as it benefited from the higher cost of tickets for 3D cinemas when it was released in 2009. Globally, the new Star Wars film is currently the six-highest grossing film of all time, with box office takings of $US1.51bn.

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PIXAR

Star Wars box office sales in hyperdrive, headed for $100m

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Original article by Primrose Riordan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 21-Dec-15

Village Roadshow CEO Kirk Edwards says "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" could overtake "Avatar" as the highest-grossing film on record in Australia. The new Star Wars film’s local box-office takings exceeded $A25m on the weekend of 19-20 December 2015, and Edwards expects it to gross at least $A100m overall. It is estimated that the film’s global ticket sales have exceeded $US250m ($A348m) to date.

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VILLAGE ROADSHOW LIMITED – ASX VRL, RENTRAK CORPORATION, WALT DISNEY COMPANY

Latest Star Wars movie to break Australia’s box office records

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Original article by Dominic White, Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 17-Dec-15

Hoyts Cinemas CEO Damian Keogh says the new "Star Wars" film could potentially be the highest-grossing film in Australia of all time. More than $A15m worth of tickets for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" were sold prior to its cinema debut, and Keogh says the film’s total box office takings could exceed $A100m. "Avatar" holds the Australian box office record, with its takings exceeding $A115m.

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HOYTS CINEMAS LIMITED, VILLAGE ROADSHOW LIMITED – ASX VRL, WALT DISNEY COMPANY, LUCASFILM

Mad Max scoops the pool at awards

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Original article by Michael Bodey
The Australian – Page: 3 : 10-Dec-15

The Australian Academy of Cinema & Television Arts Awards were presented on 9 December 2015. "Mad Max: Fury Road" took out eight awards in the feature films category, including film of the year and best director. "The Dressmaker" won four awards, including best actress and the People’s Choice Award. A mini-series on the life of entertainer Peter Allen won seven awards in the television category.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY OF CINEMA AND TELEVISION ARTS, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Alarm bells for Aussie drama

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Original article by Michael Bodey
The Australian – Page: 29 : 2-Nov-15

Australia’s free-to-air commercial networks are increasingly relying on New Zealand dramas to meet local-content quotas. Screen Producers Australia CEO Matt Deaner and Screen Australia CEO Graeme Mason argue that the rules should be changed so NZ content does not qualify as first-run Australian drama. They have also called for the TV producer offset to be increased to 40 per cent.

CORPORATES
SCREEN PRODUCERS AUSTRALIA, SCREEN AUSTRALIA, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS)

$100m boon in TV tax offset hike

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Original article by Dominic White
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 20-Oct-15

The Australian TV industry wants the tax offset for television production to be raised from 20 per cent to 40 per cent. PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates in a report prepared for the Australian Subscription Television & Radio Association and Screen Producers Australia that a 40 per cent tax offset would generate a net economic gain of $A103 million.

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PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN SUBSCRIPTION TELEVISION AND RADIO ASSOCIATION (ASTRA) INCORPORATED, SCREEN PRODUCERS AUSTRALIA