Screen Queensland has been helping support the production sector through the COVID-19 impact and is ready to come out the other side and resume working to grow the industry.

“Being originally from Queensland, this was a great opportunity to move back to my home state after a long time away,” Munnich told Mediaweek. “I have a varied and long career in film and television both in the UK and Australia covering distribution, acquisition and development and it felt like a good way to bring all my commercial discipline to a state agency that has a very good reputation.”

Munnich said Screen Queensland works to support the creation of film, television and games in the state. “We are there to support and grow the business both locally and internationally. We support local creators to begin their careers and maintain those careers in Queensland. We attract international productions we know bring a lot of investment into the state and create many, many jobs for local cast and crew. We are also attracting productions from around Australia into Queensland because we have two amazing facilities – Village Roadshow and Screen Queensland studios – and we have locations that are world beaters.

“My job is to make sure all of that runs smoothly, that we grow the state as a destination for production and that we encourage creatives wherever they are in the state to produce their best work and give them the opportunity to stay in Queensland and work in the industry.”

While attracting major movie projects to the state – Aquaman, Thor: Ragnarok and Pirates of the Caribbean and others – makes lot of headlines, Munnich noted there are plenty of other initiatives taking place.

Director Hayley MacFarlane on the set of feature film Swimming for Gold

The restrictions imposed because of COVID-19 have presented immediate problems for Queensland producers, crew and cast. It also meant that production suspension would impact development and the creatives who were waiting for those productions.

“We released we need to react quickly to support the industry where we could. That is why we announced the $3.3m support package in early April, to support areas we could while production was halted.”

The organisation didn’t waste any time allocating those funds with Munnich noting most of it has been distributed. “It is all committed, going to a number of initiatives, and we tried to make sure we got it out the door quickly. The allocations were designed to ensure that when production starts again that people have been able to advance their projects during the shutdown as much as possible.”

Regarding a sector restart, Munnich and Screen Queensland has been working with producers who have been on hiatus. Those projects include Harrow season 3 (Hoodlum), The Bureau of Magical Things season 2 (Jonathan M. Shiff) and Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis feature film. “We have worked with the Queensland Government and Queensland Health to enable people to start production again. There will be an announcement quite soon about the first production to roll in Queensland.” As to which projects will return when production is permitted again, Munnich said: “I am confident everything will be back. A lot of those people didn’t qualify for JobKeeper due to the nature of their work so it is really critical that crew and cast can get back to work.”

Harrow, season two, featuring Ioan Gruffudd and crew

Once production starts in the state again, Screen Queensland can also get back to its 2020 to-do list. “We have had some real momentum about international productions wanting to come to Queensland and we have the reputation of being able to host those big productions. When the industry restarts we are really keen to demonstrate that Queensland and Australia is a safe destination for international producers. We are having conversations every week with US and some UK producers who are looking to Australia to bring productions here later in 2020 or 2021.

“When international producers saw how Australia and Queensland managed the public health issue of COVID-19 they saw it as a safe destination.”

Although there is competition between the various state film and TV bodies to secure productions for their states, Munnich said she speaks with the other state bodies regularly as to how the give the country the best chance to get rolling again. “There are huge amounts of co-operation. Of course we compete with each other because we try to attract productions to our own states and we all feel our states are best.”

Screen Queensland in action

• In the 2018–19 financial year Screen Queensland invested in 32 film and television screen productions and games, which generated an estimated $262 million in direct Queensland Production Expenditure (QPE) and more than 2,600 employment opportunities for Queenslanders.

• More than 340 film and video production and post-production businesses and digital game businesses operate in Queensland, employing up to 3017 people.

• In 2016–17, Queensland’s screen industry contributed an estimated $981 million to the Queensland economy. In this same period, it is estimated the Queensland screen industry supported 7180 full-time equivalent positions across the sector from content creation to final audience consumption.

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Top Photos:Screen Queensland CEO Kylie Munnich (Photo: Jade Ellis)

The new series will premiere on National Geographic from Thursday June 11 2020 at 8.30pm AEST. 

Nature’s Fury will examine how Australasia’s weather is evolving and mutating by reviewing some of the worst natural disasters over the past decade.

Nature’s Fury will also examine why events that were previously considered “once in a generation” have now become so commonplace.

Brendan Dahill, general manager for Essential Media said: “We are delighted to be working with both National Geographic and Beyond International to create a series that could not be more timely nor relevant right now – considering the extreme weather conditions we have witnessed here in Australia in the past 12 months – from drought, to bush fires and catastrophic flooding.”

Mikael Borglund, CEO & managing director of Beyond International said: “We are really proud to have worked on this series with Essential Media. As well as co-producing the show, we are also launching it to international buyers for distribution worldwide. Having experienced some of the worst natural disasters in our country’s history, I’m sure this series will provoke further interest from international viewers as well as those here in Australia.”

Nicole Keeffe, content & program manager National Geographic Australia & New Zealand, said: “This series showcasing how amazing yet devastating the Australian environment can be is something that all viewers of National Geographic can relate to. Essential Media has a great history of telling Australian stories so we are looking forward to bringing Nature’s Fury to our viewers.”

Produced by Southern Pictures, the series follows the celebrated film and television personality Miriam Margolyes on a two-month, 10,000 kilometre road trip as she digs deep under the skin of modern Australian life to reveal the complex reality of her recently adopted homeland. On this journey of a lifetime British born Margolyes explores the Australian dream, mateship and the idea of ‘the lucky country’.

ABC Commercial’s head of content sales & distribution Jessica Ellis said “Miriam brings such disarming candor and perception to this incredibly entertaining series. If anyone can get to the heart of the nation and bring together audiences of all ages it’s Miriam with her incredibly smart, inquisitive, naughty and honest personality.” Ellis added, “We’re thrilled to be working with the BBC to bring this wonderful series to UK audiences.”

Southern Pictures executive producer Laurie Critchley said: “Miriam is able to shine a light on things that other people miss. While she can have a kind of bull-in-a-china-shop energy, it’s always coupled with her incredible powers of empathy, insight, humour and an open mind. Miriam is upfront about being a new Australian with a lot to learn — and we were amazed how she connected with everyone she met. I’m extremely proud that our series will be part of the BBC’s line-up for 2020. Miriam and Australia are an irresistible combination.”

Miriam Margolyes: Almost Australian is a Southern Pictures Production with principal production investment from Screen Australia in association with the ABC. Financed with support from Screen NSW and Screen Territory. Series created by Southern Pictures, directed by Liz Allen and produced by Ross Wilson. Executive Produced by Laurie Critchley and Aline Jacques.

The 2020 winner’s list reflects this year’s most frequent submissions to www.thebuzzsaw.co.uk, now in its 10th year.

The top 15 list is based on frequency of submissions from editors and correspondents, principally in Australia, the UK and the US.

The Buzzsaw is compiled and maintained by PR strategist Hamish Thompson who has worked with more than 150 businesses worldwide to promote better communication.

Paste a press release or speech into the Buzzsaw and the document is checked against a database of thousands of buzzwords and clichés. The document is returned with all matches struck through in red.

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood

The Buzzsaw is used by thousands of organisations worldwide.

The 2020 Buzzsaw Hall of Shame (Comments below are supplied by judges)

•‘Curated’. Judge’s comment: “A word that has been brutalised by Hipster culture.  Google practically anything – potatoes, burgers, you name it – and there’ll be a curated list somewhere in the world. To make it worse, lists are often ‘carefully curated’, which is tautologous.”
• ‘Content’. Judge’s comment: “Second only to the vacuum of space as the emptiest thing in the universe.  It’s like calling literature or journalism ‘words’.  It’s the high watermark in the commoditisation of writing.”
• ‘Disambiguate’. Judge’s comment: “A word that rather cleverly obscures the thing it seeks to clarify. Like spraying mud on windows to clean them.”
• ‘Human Capital’. Judge’s comment: “The latest in the personnel department’s march towards balance sheet.”
• ‘The new normal’. Judge’s comment: “Unfortunately it is catching on. I get hundreds of emails a week that reference this phrase.”
• ‘In the time of Covid’. Judge’s comment: “Gabriel Garcia Marquez it ain’t.”
• ‘Reach out’. Judge’s comment: “My standard response is ‘back off’.”
• ‘Circle back’. Judge’s comment: “Sigh. Incoming Halley’s Comet press release.”
• ‘Ideation’. Judge’s comment: “A bold attempt to make a bad idea sound better than it is by diverting our attention.”
• ‘Bake’. Judge’s comment: “Please stop using this as a noun.  It is a loaf or a cake.  It is not a bake.”
• ‘Fake news’. Judge’s comment: “An oxymoron of such heft that only a moron could coin it. Unfortunately it has caught on.”
• ‘Mainstream media’. Judge’s comment: “A tedious blamefest, thinly disguising a lack of ability to debate properly.”
•n‘We remain cautious’. Judge’s comment: “On a quarterly basis, listed companies invite their advisors to visit them and help them draft their financial results statement, including the outlook statement. These three opaque words are the most overused and expensive a company will ever buy.”
• ‘Going forward…’. Judge’s comment: “I long for the day someone writes ‘going backward’.”
• ‘Solutions’. Long-time Hall of Shame member, best exemplified by the sticker company that describes itself as ‘a global leader in adhesive labelling solutions’.

Dishonourable mentions:

• ‘Prepone’: Judge’s comment: “A word that seems to mean that something has been brought forward, potentially resulting in a missed flight, etc.”
• ‘Best’: Judge’s comment: “As a sign-off on an email, this feels really ill-judged.  If you can’t be bothered to say ‘best wishes’ or ‘best regards’, it’s not a great start, is it?”
• ‘Preneur’: Judge’s comment: “Rule of thumb: if someone describes themselves as an entrepreneur, they probably aren’t.  Worse still ‘cakepreneur’, ‘burgerpreneur’, etc.  Fun game: try putting ANY word in front of preneur and googling it. Chances are, there is one.”
• ‘Awesome’: Judge’s comment: “Not since the devaluation of the Zimbabwean dollar, has something devalued as much as the word ‘awesome’.  To be full of awe in the presence of a tea towel or poached egg is setting a very low bar.”

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Top Photo by Andrea Piacquadio

Seven News 1,170,000/1,147,000
Nine News 1,111,000/1,040,000
A Current Affair 807,000
ABC News 800,000
The Project 363,000/572,000
7.30 530,000
10 News 409,000/271,000
Sunrise 271,000
The Drum 227,000
Today 208,000
News Breakfast 196,000
SBS World News 181,000

Seven: Big Brother has backed up well for its second episode on Seven after the format was out of the marketplace for several years. Seven ranked #1 network and channel all people and in key demos in every metro market. For the Big Brother timeslot (it ran later than MasterChef) Seven is also reporting all people and demo leadership.
The program has supercharged Seven’s timeslot by +55% week-on-week. The VPM audience is up significantly too with ep 1 now with a VPM of 126,000 while ep 2 so far has 38,000.
The series saw four new housemates sneak in at 1am and they crept through the house to find their beds. They managed the complete the task which gave all housemates a reward of a Sunday roast. A nomination challenge took place in the backyard which was transformed into a winter wonderland. Garth was the winner and got to nominate three for eviction. Allan received 12 votes and became the second out this season.

Big Brother 2020 launch week

Monday Big Brother Arrival 853,000
Monday Big Brother 866,000
Monday Big Brother Eviction 930,000
Tuesday Big Brother 817,000
Tuesday Big Brother Eviction 842,000

Home and Away Tuesday was on 666,000 after 669,000 on Monday.
US crime drama Criminal Minds then did 303,000 after 271,000 for its return to the schedule last week.

Nine: A Current Affair held above 800,000 with the Tuesday episode on 807,000 after starting its week on 818,000.
The programming move that might have helped both MasterChef and Big Brother this week is Nine’s decision to schedule Kath & Kim repeats at 7.30pm. The classic comedy still has a lot of fans, but not too many that are ready to watch at 7.30pm. Nine got a sample of what a primetime repeat would do on a weeknight recently with Hamish and Andy’s Perfect Holiday repeated last month with under 400,000 watching. The launch of Kath & Kim has started a little better with 389,000 watching the first episode. A second episode at 8pm dropped to 307,000.
The 2000 movie from Working Dog, The Dish, followed with 287,000.

10: MasterChef bid farewell to its first top 10 contender Sarah last night. A pressure test challenge asked four to try and create a jungle curry from Chin Chin’s Benjamin Cooper. The catch was they didn’t get the recipe! The episode pushed MasterChef just over 1m after it made that mark once last week once and got close on two other nights. The show ranked #1 all people and in key demos for the night.
How To Stay Married climbed to 407,000 after 353,000 a week ago.

ABC: Foreign Correspondent did 413,000, down from 497,000 a week ago.
The first of the three-part Australia’s Ocean Odyssey was narrated by Marta Dusseldorp and made by Nick Robinson’s Wild Pacific Media and launched with 402,000.
Road to Now then followed at 9.30pm with 222,000.

 SBS: The channel had one of its best weeknights of the year with share over 6% thanks to back-to-back Australian factual programs.
At 7.30pm Lisa Curry travelled to Northern Ireland on Who Do You Think You Are? with 334,000 watching.
The launch of Filthy Rich and Homeless from Blackfella Films followed with 286,000 watching Dr Andrew Rochford and his co-stars giving up their lifestyle to spend 10 days of being homeless. The change had an immediate impact on all taking part as they faced a first night on the street in driving rain.