Simon Crean defines ‘documentary’ after Federal Court judgement against Screen Australia
The minister for the arts, Simon Crean has taken steps to better define the term ‘documentary’ for the purposes of the producer offset, a tax rebate to assist Australian productions.
The point of the definition is to distinguish the term documentary from ‘infotainment, lifestyle or magazine program.’
The move comes after a Federal Court case between Screen Australia and production company Essential Media and Entertainment was finalised in March over the agency’s previous definition.
Crean said in a statement: “Inserting a definition of the term ‘documentary’ will give producers greater confidence about the eligibility of their production and will support the success of the Producer Offset as a funding mechanism. It will also provide clear guidance for the program’s administrator Screen Australia and the Government in the operation of the Offset.”
Should a definition of Infotainment and Magazine also be determined and made available for comparative consideration by producers?
Ok – I just found this in the link in the article to Encore online on July 25, 2011:
From the ACMA documentary guidelines, a documentary is: “a creative treatment of actuality other than a news, current affairs, sports coverage, magazine, infotainment or light entertainment program.” Elsewhere in the guidelines it states, “To qualify on the ‘actuality’ test, the subject matter must be grounded in fact, or real life, this generally means that the context for the program exists independently of the program itself. That is, the documentary is a record of something that would have happened whether someone was there to film it or not.” However, the guidelines also acknowledge productions with a contrived premise like Super Size Me.
The guidelines differentiate documentary and infotainment by illustrating ‘infotainment’ as the majority of the following characteristics:
“The program will often be episodic in nature, comprising a series of distinct or loosely connected segments rather than an overall story arc.
The treatment of the material will be superficial and unquestioning. There is likely to be limited engagement with or analysis of the subject matter.
The primary purpose of the program may be to highlight goods or services available to the viewer, or to give the viewer advice on ‘how to’ undertake an activity.”