“Some have a not
unreasonable fear of being metaphorically keel hauled should they speak out in
opposition to Screen Australia policy.” Sharon Connolly.
The keel hauling Sharon refers to is
not merely metaphorical. I have been banned by Screen Australia for four years (May
2012 – May 2016) for being publicly critical of Screen Australia. I have asked
questions that the Screen Australia board considers to be impertinent and made less
than complimentary observations that cast doubt on the competence and integrity
of Screen Australia personnel.
My worst crime, perhaps, is asking
how appropriate it is for members of the Screen Australia Board to award large
sums of development and production monies to themselves and/or production
companies they have a close professional relationship with.
Given that I have no intention of
ceasing with my criticisms, my asking of questions and making of
less-than-complimentary observations of Screen Australia, my ban must, of
necessity be a lifetime ban.
C’est la vie!
I am now in the United States,
rewriting screenplays that were once Australian stories such that they are now
rooted in other cultures. Whether I will be successful or not in getting my
films produced outside Australia remains to be seen but even if I am not, it is
a pleasure to be in a working environment in which it is the quality of my
screenplays that counts and not whether I am a friend of or have offended
members of the Screen Australia board with my questions and observations.
My problems with Screen Australia began close to three years ago
when I asked Martha Coleman in a public forum if she accepted any
responsibility at all for the poor quality screenplays developed on her watch.
Martha’s answer was ‘no.’
A few days ago, when I re-visited the videotaped interchange
between myself and Martha (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nECoIAVZwV8)
I discovered that it has been edited
out of existence!
Screen Australia had no power to
edit what was on my blog, however:
“Although
Martha is captain of the Good Ship ‘Script Development’ in the Screen Australia
fleet, it is not her responsibility as Head of Development, if the screenplays
she develops are no good! This abrogation of responsibility is symptomatic of
the major structural problem that lies at the heart of Screen Australia: No-one
is responsible for any of its many failings.
Martha
has had ample opportunity to demonstrate that she knows the difference between
a good and a bad (or underdeveloped) screenplay. She clearly doesn’t. It is
time to give someone else a go.”
My full blog entry is to be
found at:
http://jamesricketson.blogspot.com/2011/11/who-is-responsible-for-2nd-rate.html
The more questions I asked, the more
observations such as these I made, the more my relationship with Screen
Australia deteriorated until I was finally banned entirely by Ruth Harley –
with the blessing of the Screen Australia board! The board refused to provide
me with any evidence in support of the proposition that I had ‘intimidated’ or
‘placed at risk’ members of Screen Australia staff. Fellow filmmakers Rachel
Perkins, Rosemary Blight, Claudia Karvan and Richard Keddie all demonstrated
their lack of commitment to transparency and accountability – refusing to meet
with me, talk with me or acknowledge receipt of letters I sent them.
Martha Coleman segued straight from
Screen Australia to Rosemary Blight’s Goalpost Pictures but to ask how much
development money Martha approved for Goalpost before she joined the company,
earned me a further two year ban. In the words of Glen Boreham, Chair of the
Screen Australia board:
“That your deliberate, repeated and inappropriate
personal attacks on Screen Australia staff through letters and internet
publications appear intended to humiliate and damage the reputation of Screen
Australia staff in a way that is unacceptable to Screen Australia.”
I wonder how much of the $ 1 million
set aside for Screen Australia’s new “Enterprise People” scheme will go to Rosemary
Blight’s Goalpost Pictures? Will anyone within the ‘industry’ who is dependent
on Screen Australia (or who may be at some point in the future) even dare to
ask this question? Biting the hand that feeds you (or that you hope will feed
you one day) is not a great career move!
The Screen Australia ban on me has induced
me to start a new career as a non-Australian filmmaker. This not altogether a
bad thing. A new challenge. And the ban has not been without its lighter
moments – such as being arrested, twice, within the foyer of SA whilst doing
nothing other than sitting quietly, reading a book. The poor police were
bemused – both by Fiona Cameron’s call to the police to have me removed from
the building and by my refusal to leave until I had been provided with evidence
of my crimes.
On the occasion of my second arrest I
spent a weekend in jail – during which I met two interesting men and gained
some firsthand insight into what it is like to be locked up with no source of
entertainment other than commercial TV. Other than being an interesting life
experience who knows when it may become useful to me as a screenwriter!
I feel for all the young filmmakers
who must now try to find a way of making the films they feel passionate about
–knowing full well that in order to do so they probably have to align
themselves with the likes of Goalpost and to accept that the bulk of Australian
tax-dollars for Australian film will wind up propping up productions such as
THE GREAT GATSBY, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN and other such films that make zero
contribution (other than short-term employment for technicians and actors) to
the development of a vibrant Australian film culture.
I wonder if anyone who is reading
this has seen THE PIRATE MOVIE – made in 1982? Yes, it provided some short-term
employment for technicians and actors but so what! The film cost $6 million,
took only $1 million at the Australian box office and only $9 million world wide.
So, it failed to justify its existence in economic terms. And culturally?
In the same year, the following films
may or may not have made profit but they now form part of our film heritage:
“The Man from Snowy River” – George T
Miller
“Lonely Hearts” – Paul Cox
“Monkey Grip” – Ken Cameron
“Far East” – John Duigan
Are we going to give 10s of millions
of dollars to Baz for his next 3 D extravaganza (or PIRATES # 6) or will we
spend these Australian tax-payer dollars on films that will form part of our
cultural heritage? Alas, the answer seems all too clear.
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