Business of Creativity Project Overview

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In developing the survey proposal, CSB adopted two key principles. The first is that the focus of the survey should be the individual producer. While previous surveys have done a good job of mapping commercial activity and other industrial measures, to date, no survey has taken a qualitative measure of the personal factors driving this sector.

The second key principle is that the survey should include all screen content production activities, whether destined for consumption via television sets, cinema screens, computer screens or game consoles. Production categories thus include feature films, short features, television programs, TV commercials, interactive television, DVD and video production, Internet content, mobile phone content, and electronic games.

The survey asks: what are the constraints and opportunities facing Australian screen content producers, and what resources are needed to improve their success?

Areas of particular interest include: the educational background of producers, the relative time spent in producing as opposed to other activities, the motivations and values of producers, problems encountered by producers, and their personal measures of success.

The survey will also look at the various skills held by producers, and those which they personally value the most. Although screen content production firms are primarily creative organisations, administrative and management skills are important for ensuring the profitability of the business.

This represents an opportunity to gauge the industry’s own expectations of its future, including potential areas for growth and impediments. Answers to these questions will assist in anticipating change and in identifying policy issues and impending skills shortages.

The survey has the potential to become a longitudinal source of information about the Australian screen content production industry. It could be conducted, for example, at three- or five-year intervals.