AustLit

'Public focus on screen business in Australia has been shaped by the information needs of the regulatory and content investment agencies that monitor and support screen content made under the creative control of Australians. This has meant that available data has concentrated on the types of content that have been deemed to require regulatory support – feature films, documentaries and television drama, with more recent interest in short-form content intended for streaming and online platforms and games. The expansion of the notion of screen business has led to a series of Screen Australia reports that focused the debate on value frameworks that included cultural, economic and audience values. These reports informed the 2017 Federal Government inquiry into the Australian Film and Television Industry – they do not, however, provide insights into how screen business is incorporated into localised regional economies and they tend to downplay the cultural contributions from the television and advertising sectors. By looking at screen business in four regional Australia cities we demonstrate how four modes of screen production, which include commercial and corporate content, is being made sustainably in the regions and that regional screen content production activities are an important part of the national screen production ecosystem.' (Publication abstract)

'This article explores the concept of value in relation to the Australian television crime drama series Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. Drawing on a range of approaches to the economic valuation of culture, it argues for a nuanced approach to capturing the total cultural and economic value of a television crime drama series. While this may include the quantifiable, direct monetary benefits to be derived at all stages of development, production, distribution and consumption, the case is made for consideration of the unquantifiable, indirect non-monetary benefits that may also accrue to creators, to audiences and to society in general, as are clearly evident in the case of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries.'

Source: Authors' abstract.