Graeme
Mason
Chief
Executive Officer
Screen
Australia
Level 7, 45 Jones St
Ultimo 2007
16th Dec
Sept. 2016
Dear Graeme
You have not acknowledged receipt of my letter of 29th
Sept regarding my NEST OF VIPERS application. Likewise, the Screen Australia board has not
acknowledged receipt of my letter of 9th Nov in which I asked that
the board overturn the ban you have placed on my making FOI requests in order
to be provided with evidence of what once referred to as intimidating
correspondence that placed SA staff at risk and which is now referred to as
‘unreasonable’ correspondence.
Please find attached a copy of the letter I received
from the Office of the Ombudsman dated 2nd Dec. In it Kent Purvis explains why it is that the the
Ombudsman approves Screen Australia’s decision to terminate my career as an Australian
filmmaker.
Given Screen Australia’s propensity to play fast and
loose with the meaning of words (‘intimidation’ replaced with ‘unreasonable’!)
let me be very clear about my understanding of the meaning of the word
‘termination’. From a legal point of view it is important.
Kent Purvis writes:
“SA’s response indicated
that should you be successful in your application for funding, SA staff would be required to meet with
you on multiple occasions in order to engage in close analysis of the
script, feedback, and coaching. SA
believes that, given the frequent unreasonably behaviour you displayed over the past six years in
contacting SA, it is not appropriate to require its staff to deal with your funding
application.
SA, like all government
agencies, has a legal obligation to
provide a safe working environment for
its staff. If customers
behave in a manner that compromises this obligation, then it may be reasonable
to restrict the way it will do business with those customers.”
If Kent is representing Screen Australia’s position
accurately, you, as Chief Executive, and the Screen Australia board, believe
that for SA staff to meet with me, discuss a film or TV project with me, be in
the same room with me, would place them in an unsafe work environment!
Do Kent’s words accurately reflect Screen Australia’s
position as regards staff meeting with me?
If Kent Purvis’ letter accurately reflects Screen
Australia’s position, it follows that I
cannot meet and talk with members of Screen Australia’s staff about any of the
14 TV, feature film and documentary projects I am developing in my role as
producer, director and screenwriter! Is this so?
If so, does this prohibition apply to projects in
which I am part of a collaborative creative team? If I am a co-producer, one of
a collective of directors working on a TV series or one of a team of
screenwriters developing a TV series, are my collaborators allowed to talk with
members of Screen Australia staff is I am in the room?
The following comments to be found on the Screen
Australia website make clear the role played by SA in the administration of the
Producer Offset – without which no Australian film (documentary or drama) can
be produced.
“To qualify for the (Producer’s) Offset, a
project must be assessed and certified by Screen Australia.”
“Screen
Australia administers the Producer Offset.”
“We’re
here to help! Contact us, ideally during pre-production. This will help clarify
any issues, particularly related to tracking expenditure, and make the eventual
application process smoother.”
Is it fair, accurate, for me to state the following as
a fact?
In order for any filmmaker
to qualify for the Producer Offset s/he must communicate with, meet with,
members of Screen Australia’s staff.
If so, it follows, given that my communicating with
members of Screen Australia staff is forbidden (such communication would place
them in an unsafe working environment!) that I am unable to apply for the
Producer’s Offset; that my fellow filmmakers can likewise not apply for the
Producer’s Offset if my name appears on an application and if my presence in
discussions with Screen Australia staff is essential?
If this is not the case, could you please clarify just
how it is that a banned filmmaker such as myself and those with whom I am
collaborating) can take advantage of the Producer’s Offset?
If I/we cannot, Screen Australia’s fatwa has not only
terminated my career as an Australian filmmaker but provided a significant
obstacle in the way of fellow filmmakers with whom I am collaborating. It has
also provided filmmakers with whom I wish to collaborate and who wish to
collaborate with me with a disincentive to do so. I cannot understate how
damaging this is to myself in both economic and creative terms. And all as a
result of a 3rd ban placed by yourself and the Screen Australia
board in May this year, based on the proposition that I am ‘unreasonable’ –
without any evidence of my ‘unreasonableness’ being provided to me.
Please acknowledge receipt of this letter, Graeme, and
answer the questions contained in it.
best wishes
James Ricketson
cc Senator Mitch Fifield, Minister for the Arts
Mr Colin Neave, Commonwealth Ombudsman
Ms Louise Vardanega, Australian Government Solicitor
(acting)
The Screen Australia Board
The Australian Director’s Guild Board
Graeme
Mason did not acknowledge
receipt of this letter
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