FREE TRADE AGREEMENT

[margaret]

OUT FUTURE IS NOT YET ASSURED.
THE FREE TRADE AGREEMENT (FTA) IS STILL BEING NEGOTIATED.

What has this to do with you, a member of the ASE?

The quota regulations which determine Australian content on 'free to air' television are possibly subject to change in the new Free Trade Agreement. What is definitely up for grabs is the content on Pay TV and all other forms of broadcasting, the internet and any other forms of tranmitting media which may be developed in the future.

President Bush's visit is over, and alarmingly 'cultural' trade is now being publicly debated in parliament and the media. To me this is alarming because until now the discussions have been mainly about agriculture. It sounds to me as if TV quotas are now on the negotiating table.

Some of us are old enough to remember life in Australia before australian television quotas. Coincidentally this was also before the revival of the australian film industry. Some of us remember when TVCs and Cinema commercials had to be produced in Australia. Many of us attended meetings and demonstrations and wrote letters to our representatives in Canberra demanding the right to hear Ozzie accents on television and on the big screen, something which we all now take for granted.

In 1972/3 federal government support for the film and televsion industries was introduced in the form of the AFDC (the predecessor of the AFC and the FFC), the AFTS (now the AFTRS) and the Experimental Film Fund (now defunct but sort of replaced by the AFC and the state funding bodies).

This just a potted history by a non-expert to put the FTA in some sort of context.

Don't assume your employment as a Screen Editor will continue without our federal government maintaining the existing television quotas, establishing quotas for Pay TV and planning quotas for the future.

Why?

Without Australian content quotas we would have a much diminished, maybe defunct, television production industry. Even those lucky enough to work exclusively in the feature film production sector will recognise that the survival of local feature production is dependant on the survival of local television production

What to Write?

You will find lots of very good material which you can edit for your letters, if you go to www.alliance.org.au www.spaa.org.au www.afc.gov.au www.asdafilm.org.au . The Spring 2003 issue of "Screen Director", the ASDA newsletter has 2 very well written pieces on the FTA: The President's Letter by Don Crombie and a letter to the editor from Michael Thornhill. If I have not persuaded you, check these out.

Who are your local representatives?

Go to www.aec.gov.au to find out.

Why bother?

MPs regard one letter from a constituent as being worth 400 votes.

.
We are proud of our history of democracy in Australia.
Exercise your democratic right NOW.
Write to your federal representatives for the survival of our industry.

Best regards

Sara Bennett, ASE President

[Matthew]

It may come as a surprise to some that cultural issues, and particularly film and television, are by NO means a lesser part of any free trade agreement, taking a back seat to agricultural issues - no matter what Honest Johnny says.

On the contrary, our film and television industry is the Glittering Diamond in the free trade talks. It is the big ticket item, and probably the hardest to win.

The American film and television industry generates almost 100% import profit to the USA. Its a HUGE money-spinner. Not only do American programs shown in the rest of the world generate pure profit for the USA, but they enable the pervasive infiltration of US culture into all other cultures, creating worldwide demand for US products and lifestyles that further lines the pockets north of Mexico.

Heard of the Blum-Burns accord? Enacted right after the Second World War, it assured unrestricted circulation of American films in Europe by requiring that theatres show at least 85 percent American films. At the time the French thought it was no big deal. But the treaty is still intact today, nearly sixty years later! Hollywood was able to establish a permanent dominance over the French market as a result of the collaboration between US policy makers and corporate interests, and the global negotiations on trade (under Gatt), where cinema was a key subject. And as far back as 1897, treaties such as the Dingley Bill disallowed French films from being shown in the U.S. at all.

This "McDonaldization of culture" has led to a genocide of images and a loss of cultural identity in order to appeal to masses everywhere.

This is why its crucial that we fight to retain our hard-won content quotas.

Go on, write that letter now.

[sarab]

Did you know that MASTER AND COMMANDER could not have been made without Australian government support?

Five of the key creatives are beneficiaries of federal and state government funding and of the television quota system.

Peter Weir's early career could not have happened but for government support in the form of partial funding of his features and the TV quota system which demanded Australian made drama.

Likewise Russell Crowe, Russell Boyd, Lee Smith and Christopher Gordon.

And YES, this is the same government support which our current government has put on the negotiating table at the US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) discussions.

It took a long time to nurture our industry but it wont take long to destroy it.|

WRITE TO YOUR FEDERAL REPRESENTATIVE NOW. They reckon 1 letter is equivalent to 400 votes. It may not yet be too late.

Just for the record.....

MASTER AND COMMANDER was invited to screen in London for the Royal Command Performance, it has received very positive reviews in the press and the public is flocking to it everywhere. It is not an insignificant film!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL.

Sara Bennett, ASE President.