by Anthony Frajman

In 2021, Australian films had a record year at the Box Office, with ticket sales for local movies reaching their second highest level ever.

Much of that success was driven by Roadshow Films, which distributed two of the biggest local films of the year, The Dry, which ended on $20.7 million, and Penguin Bloom, $7.5 million.

We caught up with the Roadshow at Screen Forever to get his take on the prospects for local features and why Roadshow is committed to Australian films.

What did you learn from the success of The Dry and Penguin Bloom?

We’re always learning something from every release. I think what was most exciting about The Dry, certainly, was to watch it perform like a genuine tentpole, despite releasing it in the middle of a pandemic and the challenges that came with that, including occasionally running into cinema closures in different cities. It was really exciting to see the audience just treat it like a genuine blockbuster and to see it perform to those levels.

Releasing during the pandemic brought its own set of challenges in terms of decisions around when to release these films. Similarly with Penguin Bloom, it was a film that found a really broad audience. And, whenever an Australian film connects with an audience and finds its audience, it’s incredibly gratifying to see that happen, these films become part of our storytelling and particularly when they aggregate an audience, there’s probably no better feeling in terms of distribution.

What do you think were the main reasons for the success? Was it just the lack of the US films?

No, not at all. These films would’ve worked whenever they released. It was critical to find a corridor when they could have found an audience. But I firmly believe that these films, to some extent, worked in spite of the pandemic.

Certainly, for some portions of the release period, there was less competition, but there were also a ton of challenges in releasing during the pandemic. But there are plenty of examples of films that released during the corridor that didn’t work. It’s not purely because of the time they released, it’s largely because these were stories that Australian audiences truly wanted to see. They were great films that promised a degree of entertainment plus were really interesting to the audience.

In terms of those two films, they’re completely different films. Very different. One was based on a very well known, bestselling novel. The other was based on a true-life story also from a book that had a real following. So, they both had some very strong IP from which they originated, but very, very, different in terms of what they promised for audiences, but were very compelling, that audiences wanted to see at the cinema.

What are some of the major challenges you are facing as a distributor?

I think there are myriad challenges with every release. Every single release is brought with decisions from, ‘have we got a campaign that is not only portraying the film in a way that is really true to the film itself, but that is also going to be really appealing. Have we been able to put those elements together so that when we then begin to take those materials to market that they are very sticky, audiences retain them as opposed to, feeling like the film was never there?’

I think getting the campaign right, is always really important, as is finding the right release corridor that can work.

In terms of challenges, the reality is that we know as distributors that we are competing for attention, we’re not just competing against other movies that are on in the cinema, we’re competing against everything, we’re competing against live sport, we’re competing against online platforms, we’re competing against video games, we’re competing against going out for a meal.

There are so many things that our audience have so much to think about during their leisure time. The key challenge is, how do we rise to the top of that pile and how do we do it strategically? And how do we make sure that the film that we are getting behind is going to capture attention very quickly, because releasing films at the cinema is quite different to putting a film up on a platform where it might be able to find an audience over time, we have to have an immediate reaction.

There’s more than enough challenges and risk in taking these films to market. But if they connect, they can have a very strong life and a great return on investment.

How does that immediate reaction and audience experience differentiate with filmgoing? What does it offer?

Firstly, it’s still quite a different experience, sitting in a cinema. I think one of the magical things about sitting in a cinema is it’s a collective experience. It’s an experience that you share, and you feel the excitement of the audience around you. It’s a night out. And also, with very few exceptions, nobody can put the scale of a big wide screen cinema into their house. In the case of The Dry, Robert Connolly shot that film on 4K, he wanted to present it in the biggest arenas, the biggest cinema environments we would be able to find. And that experience is a very visceral one. I love watching movies on streaming. I watch an enormous amount of content and I absolutely love it, but the experience of going out, of being out, whether it’s with friends or family, or just with other people who want to experience something in a collective way, is still something that is very, very unique.

I think it’s not an either/or situation, there’s opportunities for both of these things to exist and flourish.

Roadshow has focused a lot on Australian films recently. Is that going to continue?

Yes, very much so. We’re an Australian company, we’ve always believed in the power of Australian stories and we’ve always believed in supporting Australian cinema because we think it’s good business and it’s proven to be very good business for us. And we believe it will continue to be really good business. We’ve got a number of Australian films that we’re going to be releasing over the next 12 months, from Leah Purcell’s The Drover’s Wife, the Legend of Molly Johnson, and Robert Connolly’s Blueback. We’ve also got George Miller’s 3000 Years of Longing. We’re about to start production on Better Man, Michael Gracie‘s new film, and we’ve got numerous others in development and numerous others slated, that we haven’t yet announced. It’s a core part of our release slate.

Are you happy with how the theatrical market has been going and its recovery?

It’s recovering slowly. It hasn’t recovered to pre-pandemic levels. As Australia has moved into the period of living with the pandemic, we’ve also seen a much more consistent way for the cinemas to operate. And then they’ve just emerged from two years of lockdowns and shutdowns. There’s now the opportunity for a more normalised release schedule and for a more normalised release pattern for cinemas. Now that we’re seeing that, I think there is the opportunity for recovery, but there’s still a long way to go. Older audiences have been the slowest to return in large numbers, and that’s going to take some time.

What are you looking for from feature producers?

For us, we’re always looking for stories and ideas that we think we are going to be able to take to a broad audience. The majority of the films that we tend to get behind are wide release films, that’s really our bread and butter. It’’ not exclusively that way, but that’s our bread and butter. We are also very interested in existing IP that can be taken out, whether it’s from a novel, or an idea that we know people are familiar with, because what we’re looking for is something that we are then going to be able to take to market and present to audiences. And they’re going to really be able to understand what it is we’re providing. But the most important thing is a story that we think can be created and can become a really compelling piece of cinema.

You’re also expanding to TV, is that going to continue?

Absolutely. We’ve partnered with the Edwards, John and Dan Edwards in Roadshow Rough Diamond. That’s been a very exciting and key development for us in terms of making television drama. We’re also working with Paul Clarke at Blink, that’s very much in the non-fiction space as opposed to fictional drama, but absolutely, television is a critical piece of the production puzzle, and it’s important that we are doing more and more in that space. Working with Roadshow Rough Diamond has been a key part of that.

You’ve recently announced Cate Blanchett’s new film, The New Boy, directed by Warwick Thornton. How did that film come about, and can you share anything about it?

I think Warwick Thornton is one of our most extraordinary filmmakers, and when the opportunity presented itself to work with Warwick, we were really excited about what that could be, and what he could create. And of course, having Cate Blanchett come back to Australia to do her first feature film here in some time, seemed like just a wonderful opportunity. We count ourselves very lucky that we’ve got the opportunity to be part of that. And we couldn’t be more excited about working on that one.

Are you looking to become more involved in films at an early stage as a partner?

We are looking to get involved in projects at early stage, we’re very comfortable with that. Over the last five years or so, we’ve developed a lot more projects ourselves. We recognise that we have a responsibility to do that if we want to have involvement in the sort of films that we’d like to distribute. We also have to be present and committed to development. We’ve made that a core part of what we do now and expect that to continue.

The 40% Producer Offset for features was recently revived and played a key part in a number of the Australian films from 2021. How critical was getting that back?

Absolutely critical. Every filmmaker knows this, it is incredibly difficult to get the funding to make a feature film. Every feature film is pretty much a miracle. Our government has provided incredibly generous incentives. It certainly seemed to me that the risk of compromising those works by filmmakers, as well as limiting the number of films was a very real possibility if that 40% had not been retained. Our government’s support is absolutely necessary, that is the reality. It comes down to: do we want to have our own stories on screen? Do we want Australian children to be able to see films during their school holidays? Do we want them to just see American films, or would we like them to see something that comes from their own culture? Do we want to tell more of our tales? And how do we do that? We’re incredibly lucky to have the 40% offset. We can never take it for granted. And it was really important that it was retained.

A number of films from last year may have struggled to get made without that offset in place.

I know for certain, some of them wouldn’t have been able to. It’s not even that some of them would’ve been made in different ways. No. Some of them would never have been made. Because it took incredible risk from investors, from distributors, to be able to get some of those films made. And the 40% was absolutely key. So, we were very grateful to have it. And the fact that we nearly saw it reduced has made me even more grateful for its existence.

Many Australian films in 2021 had a major star (The Dry, Penguin Bloom, High Ground). How critical is having a major star for Australian features?

It’s not the be-all and end-all, but it’s certainly very important. It certainly can help you to differentiate work. You can’t underestimate the importance of Eric Bana to The Dry. You can’t underestimate the importance of Naomi Watts to Penguin Bloom or the importance of the combination of Sam Neill and Michael Caton to Rams. They promise and guarantee a certain type of experience for audiences. So cast is really, really important. Cate Blanchett, coming back to do The New Boy, it’s unbelievably exciting that she’s going to be in a local cinematic production. She’s one of the greatest Australian actresses, actresses full stop, of all time. And she makes a limited number of films and she’s going to come back here and make a film, that is an event in itself. So, casting is important, but it’s also incredibly important to be able to ensure that we’ve got new voices coming through as well.

Are you optimistic about the outlook for Australian films?

Yes, I’m very optimistic about the outlook for Australian films. I think they have unique advantages. That’s not to say that there aren’t challenges and things to be aware of that make the environment competitive. It is hyper competitive, but I think there’s in aggregate less films coming through now from the studios, it’s creating windows for releasing films successfully, if those films have what it takes. So yes, I’m very bullish about the future of Australian cinema, but our films have to continue to be extraordinary for them to work in that theatrical environment.