Film Marketing In Australia Essay, Research Paper

It seems Australia’s film success is not

determined by its quality but by its box office returns. The national identity

of Australia has become nothing but a market strategy. The future of the

Australian film industry seems doubtful, as it cannot command the crowds

necessary to sustain high enough box office dollars, or market films sufficiently

to attract local audiences.

Sustaining a productive innovative

film industry seems dependent on the complex process of acquiring film

funding, and the prospect of future funding bodies.

Distributors and Exhibitors seem

to add to the difficulties of getting local audiences to see Australian

films as the major players seem to control who sees what, when and where.

Independent distributors are constantly

confronted by tough competition from these major distributors and exhibitors

who lean toward the American more lucrative product. The glamorous packaging

and blockbuster build up is attractive to local audiences and many Australian

films, despite receiving award nominations from the A.F.I., do not achieve

the acclaim they deserve from their own local audiences.

The cultural American domination

is reflected in the high box office returns on American product in cinemas

everywhere.

Australian filmmakers think that

marketing and selling of a picture is a dirty exercise and that someone

else should do it. Researching target markets and market testing are foreign

and not preferred by Australian filmmakers yet this may be necessary in

order to achieve cinema attendance.

Some actors in Australia make it

clear from the beginning that they don’t do publicity, however some actors

say there isn’t enough publicity for actors involved in film. This site

looks at publicity as a potentially cost effective option for the low budget

Australian filmmaker and how publicity is handled in the American film

industry.

This site explores the successful

marketing of Dating the Enemy and how sometimes the competition is just

too great, when a film like Kiss or Kill opens on the same night as Men

in Black.

The prospect of marketing Australian

film overseas before bringing films to local screens may attract Australian

audiences, as they do not support local film culture easily. However, growing

recognition of the Australian film industry in America seems to have spurred

interested parties to search for Australian specialist films to fill a

niche market in the U.S.