Guild collaboration & content quotas:
The ADG and the other screen guilds now co-exist within a far more effective and collegiate network than I can remember. This newfound working alliance between the guilds was forged around the time when the formulation of Australian content quota models occurred (2022-23), which were in principle designed to provide this Labour government with a model to negotiate with Australian and US streaming companies. The aim of the negotiations was for those platforms to invest a designated percentage of their profits derived from Australian subscriptions on the production of Australian content and for that content to be easily discoverable by Australian audiences on those platforms. During this intense and complex collaborative process, the Australian screen guild and union leadership representing directors, writers, designers, editors, sound professionals, producers, composers, cinematographers, actors and crew, worked together towards a mutually-agreed-upon screen content quota model. The board members and Executive Directors of the Australian screen guilds who contributed to this work should be recognised and applauded for an amazing collaborative effort, led by Claire Pullen (AWG) and Matt Deaner (SPA).
However, dark clouds have been gathering over screen content quotas since that time.
In late 2023 and over the course of 2024, a succession of back-channel dialogues with government and industry revealed push-back from the streamers and free-to-air players, perhaps emboldened by expectations of a Trump victory in late 2024 and a Trump-led trade deal with Australia that would follow. That trade deal is now brewing, and it most likely will not include Australian screen quotas from US companies under the banner of that deal. If that is the case, the question of quotas may be kicked down the road till after the Australian election. Thereafter, the question will be whether the chances of success on quotas will be supported or compromised by the election of a Liberal government.
Irrespective of these political changes at our doorstep, the dye has been cast for an effective, collegiate guild network that will rise to the challenge on Australian content quotas or the development of alternative mechanisms that can assure that we have Australian content on Australian screens.
ADG / AWG:
As a result of complex and somewhat confounding reasons, the ADG and the AWG were anything but bosom buddies in the decade prior to 2022. Since then, however, the oft-spoken ADG policy surrounding collaborationbetween writers and directors is now a focal point of business and friendship between our guilds, reflecting our shared roles in authorship and leadership in screen storytelling.
The ADG and the AWG now engage in regular communications and have forged real alliances on mutually beneficial projects. For obvious reasons, both guilds now put our heads together over issues such as: the serious threats posed by generative AI; power sharing in relation to authorship and leadership roles; copyrightas a source of legal, ethical and financial dues to writers and directors; and contracts.
Kudos are due to Executive directors Claire Pullen (AWG) and Sophie Harper (ADG) and AWG board member and AWGACS Chair Sam Meikle, for their readiness to discuss and problem solve outside of guild silos. Also, a huge vote of appreciation to the CEO of Screen Australia, Deirdre Brennan, who has assiduously engaged with the ADG, the AWG and other screen guilds about the sustainability of our industry and recognition of creative authorship and leadership for directors and writers, with a willingness and a commitment that was absent from the previous Screen Australia leadership.
ADG Conference and Awards:
ADG conferences and Awards nights are undoubtedly our most popular events for members.
The inaugural ADG Deep Dive conference kicked off last year and was a special highlight for members. The Deep Dive concept is a curatorial shift away from a traditional, more generalized ADG conference where we explore a specific topic in depth from several angles. It will continue in 2025/26 with a Deep Dive into AI that recognises and analyses both the threats and creativity posed by generative AI. It will be a must for directors facing the rapid transformation of the director’s traditional role and anticipated future skillsets.
The ADG Awards have a long history of innovation and surprise. Nevertheless, behind the fun there is a complex and careful process of peer judging that strikes a notable chord of contrast to those screen awards that acquiesce to the messaging of targeted social media campaigns and the practices of vote stacking. It’s a process that takes time and which generates a considerable workload, months prior to the event. But the effort is worth it.
From the choregraphed wildness of The Grand Electric in Sydney (2023) to the stately pomp and glory of the Astor cinema in Melbourne (2024), the ADG Awards are a cherished moment for Australian directors and industry friends to critique and celebrate directors’ work and it’s a hugely popular spot on the Australian screen industry calendar.
ADG Industry Programmes:
The ADG/Screen Australia Credit Maker programme for directors needs to be reassessed and reinvented. Although originally described as a “high calibre initiative that will support 4 early mid-career women and non-binary directors, to attain a career defining credit on a scripted production”, it has turned out to be a goal that is too onerous for producers to enlist deserving directors because production finance has often been strictly predicated on approval lists based on experience and reputation. A more effective Credit Maker-style programme for directors should be redesigned with expert input from experienced producers of TV and streamed drama series who can knowledgably frame the parameters of the programme so that deserving directors will be approved and brought over the line without compromising the greenlighting of production finance.
ADG’s Financial Survival and Sustainability:
Going back decades, the ADG’s perennial challenge has been financial survival and sustainability. This ongoing problem should not continue and must be faced head-on.
The ADG has a similar slate of essential projects and core functions as does the Australian Writers Guild (AWG), but the ADG operates on a fraction of the AWG’s budget and salaried workforce. Moreover, the ADG, unlike several other Australian screen guilds, has no real-estate assets or sinking fund to draw upon.
Even given the hours of unpaid work from board members and other volunteers, the ADG struggles to service and complete its critical projects, that include directors’ contracts; industrial support; industry programs; ADG industry representation; awards and conferences.
With inflationary costs biting even harder by mid-2024, the ADG took the extraordinary step to inform key members and industry partners that insolvency wasn’t far off if changes were not made.
Reaching milestones in terms of sponsorships and philanthropy will only ever be part of the solution. More critical changes are needed for financial security and sustainability.
At the very least, two potential changes must be explored ASAP:
1. Administrative re-amalgamation of ADG and ASDACS
A decade ago, the ADG separated financially, administratively and constitutionally from ASDACS, the screen directors’ collecting agency. This separation has shackled the ADG to being constantly dependent on grants from the ASDACS ‘cultural fund’ so that ADG can deliver its core projects to its members.
As a side note, ASDACS currently owns its own real estate and has a reasonable sinking fund derived from the back-end remuneration that it collects on behalf of screen directors, many of whom are also ADG members.
A well-designed re-amalgamation of ADG and ASDACS could streamline workloads and costs and make both organisations more financially secure going forward, in the same way that the Australian Writers Guild (AWG) is joined administratively to the writer’s collecting agency (AWGACS).
N.B. Formal discussions and an exchange of financial statements between ADG and ASDACS are now well-advanced for emergency funds to be granted the ADG in late February / early March and there is also a formal commitment tabled for discussions between the two boards about ways in which ADG and ASDACS can operate and communicate differently to improve both organizations’ financial resilience.
2. Production Levy
The nexus of creative leadership and authorship in screen production lies with directors, writers and producers. A mandated production levy from Australian productions shared by the ADG and the AWG does not currently exist but would certainly be justified. SPA derives significant revenue from a production levy, whereas directors and writers do not. The production levy for Screen Producers Australia (SPA) is calculated at 0.25% of the below the line production budget, excluding indirect costs, which means that for every $100,000 spent on a production, a producer would pay $250 to the SPA; this amount is considered to be mandatory for SPA members and is part of the Qualifying Australian Production Expenditure (QAPE) for the Producer Offset.
That’s all from me, as ADG President. I look forward to continuing my relationship with all of you in my back seat ADG role.
Bye for now
Rowan Woods
