Day one of Screen Forever, and the afternoon turned very serious with the Zoomed appearance of the Honourable Paul Fletcher, Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts.
The government’s role over the last twelve months is seen in terms of Covid (naturally) and his ‘reform’ agenda, which the industry is still trying to digest. Fletcher emphasised the role of federal agencies in setting up the Covid protocols, and providing the ‘$50 million Temporary Interruption Fund administered by Screen Australia to fill the gap insurers would not. To date the scheme has allowed projects with combined production budgets of over $330 million to start or restart.’