Written by David Lewis on May 15, 2009. Posted in Incentive News

Screen Australia Get the Picture update

Screen Australia's latest 'Get The Picture' email update shows a number of interesting figures for the Australian industry. The following is taken from the update:

In 2008, the Australian cinema box office was AUD945.4 million, the highest annual gross on record, up 5.6% on the previous year. Despite this growth in value, estimated admissions fell 1.2% to 84.6 million ticket sales;

In 2008, films from the US accounted for 52% of cinema releases in Australia. This is the fourth consecutive year below 60% and the second fall in a row. In contrast, the number of films from Asia has risen substantially since 2003;

Baz Luhrmann's Australia was the top-grossing Australian film in 2008, and the sixth highest-grossing film overall on a list headed by The Dark Knight and Mamma Mia! By March 2009, it had earned AUD36.8 million in the local market, making it the second highest-grossing Australian film on record. Australian-produced features earned 3.8% of the total Australian box office in 2008 - below the 10-year average of 4.4%;

In 2008, Australia had 1,980 screens and 493 theatres, compared to 829 screens and 713 theatres in 1980. There were 54 digital projectors, double the number in 2006;

Despite a fall in the value of wholesale video distribution in 2008, the value of retail sales continues to rise, totalling AUS1,306.6 million. Since 2005, the annual average growth in this sector has been 11%.

More information, and detailed breakdowns for the above, are available on the Screen Australia website.