FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS (FAQ)
Actors in Film and Television Productions
The Foreign Actor Certification Scheme
What is the Foreign Actor
Certification Scheme?
The Foreign Actor Certification Scheme and the
Guidelines on the entry into Australia of foreign
actors for the purpose of employment in film and
television productions (the Guidelines) were put in
place to ensure Australian performers have a chance
to be employed in lead roles in screen productions in
Australia. These roles provide critical opportunities
for Australian performers in a small and competitive
industry. Productions need to meet the provisions of
the Guidelines in order to apply for entertainment
visas (sub-class 420) for overseas performers they
seek to use.
When were the Guidelines
introduced and why?
The Guidelines and certification were introduced
in the 1980s following the establishment of the
so-called ‘film bank’ – the Australian Film Finance
Corporation (FFC) as the Federal Government’s
principal mechanism of providing finance to the film
and television sector.
The Guidelines were negotiated as a tripartite
agreement between the government, MEAA and
producers. Government investment in the film and
television and industries is provided primarily to
fulfil cultural policy objectives. The Guidelines were
therefore negotiated to ensure consistency with these
cultural objectives and form part of the Government’s
matrix of support. The Guidelines state:
These Guidelines are intended to achieve key
Government cultural objectives by ensuring that
Australian industry personnel are given a fair chance in
securing employment in film and television productions
shot in Australia, and that Australian voices are heard in
Australian productions.
The development of performers and a performance
community are an integral part of this policy.
The Guidelines ensure performers are provided
opportunities at all levels of productions and to gain
exposure and build their careers. It would otherwise
be very difficult to keep actors in the industry.
What is MEAA’s role under
the scheme?
MEAA must be consulted on visa applications. We
check that the rules are applied fairly including that
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a bona fide casting exercise was undertaken and
ensuring minimum employment standards are met.
We are not the final decision-maker but an important
layer of scrutiny.
Shouldn’t producers and directors
be able to pick and choose who they
like?
Performers respect the creative vision of the director
and production team. However, where a production is
seeking to use public funds to support a production,
the rules are there to ensure Australian performers
are engaged in most cases as the first choice. If
the production can generate the appropriate level
of foreign investment for a particular overseas
performer, Australian performers do not oppose their
engagement.
Why are lead roles so important?
Lead roles are critical to every performer’s career.
They are a key stepping stone and can make a career.
Lead roles in Proof, Two Hands and Shine were launch
pads for Hugo Weaving, Heath Ledger and Geoffrey
Rush and Animal Kingdom was career-changing for
Jacki Weaver. With such a small industry, every single
opportunity is valuable. Without them, Australian
performers will be confined to support roles and bit
parts and likely leave the industry.
More importantly, the lead cast of a film go directly
to ensuring that a production has a recognisable
Australian on-screen presence. The cast is the crucial
cultural identifier for any production – even more so
than the director, producer and crew. Research shows
the lead cast is critical for viewers identifying a film as
Australian.
Australian actors appear in
Hollywood films, why can’t
American actors do the same here?
Some Australian performers do appear in
international productions with great success. Chris
Hemsworth in Thor, Geoffrey Rush in Pirates of
the Caribbean, Rachael Taylor in Grey’s Anatomy
and Charlie’s Angels, Rose Byrne in Damages, Ryan
Kwanten in True Blood and the list goes on…
But most actors only make it internationally because
they have appeared in an Australian production first,
whether Home and Away or Shine or Two Hands.
The rules have created a star system in Australia
FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS (FAQ)
Actors in Film and Television Productions
The Foreign Actor Certification Scheme
that has assisted, supported and nurtured Australian
performers . Many internationally successful
performers are now able to come back to Australia
to work on local productions and assist in the
development of a sustainable local screen industry.
Hollywood productions that employ Australian actors
are made without Government funding and, have no
cultural remit attached. They are financed solely by the
private sector like some offshore productions filmed
in Australia. They are produced by studios for purely
financial reasons and actors are engaged on the basis
of who will deliver the greatest financial return.
Why have foreign finance
thresholds?
A foreign finance threshold is in place for productions
funded partially or principally by the Australian
taxpayer – those film and television production funded
by Screen Australia, state agencies and the ABC and
SBS. The presumption is that in most cases Australian
performers will be engaged. Where a producer claims
that a foreign performer is required to guarantee
foreign investment, a 30% threshold is there to ensure
that this investment claim is bona fide and genuine.
Low budget productions need to meet a 60% foreign
finance threshold to justify hiring foreign actors. Low
budget taxpayer funded feature productions are the
training ground for the Australian industry and are
largely subsidised by the Australian government for
development purposes. It makes little sense to use
this money to pay overseas actors unless there is
significant support from overseas as well.
What about commercial TV series?
Commercial networks must produce and screen
Australian content under the Australian Content
Standard. This is bread and butter work, both
creatively and financially, for performers and crew.
So in the rules only under the most exceptional of
circumstances are overseas performers able to be
engaged, notably in respect of mini-series for which
rules similar to film productions apply. Every role
provided to an overseas actor is a loss of work for a
performer and an undermining of the cultural intent of
the Australian Content Standard.
What about films that don’t receive
government funding?
Productions wholly funded from overseas have more
flexibility to import overseas performers. All that
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is required of film and television productions that
are not subsidised by the Australian Government is
that Australian performers are afforded reasonable
opportunities to be engaged at all levels on the
production, and that the foreign investment is higher
than what is spent on the overseas performers.
Overseas performers are able to
bring more investment into the
country – why not allow them in?
Equity does not oppose applications for overseas
performers when there is significant foreign
investment. Where MEAA objects is when productions
simply assert that the performer will bring in a market
but this is not actually backed up with investment
from that market. All MEAA asks is that productions
put money where their mouth is and back up claims
with investment.
Why are the Guidelines being
reviewed now?
The Government explains the review as part of its
deregulation agenda. It is taking place at the same time
the government reviews a range of visas for overseas
workers with a view to further deregulation. This
review is being undertaken jointly by the Department
of Immigration and Border Protection and the
Ministry for the Arts. The Review Discussion Paper
was released without announcement.
What do we want?
MEAA, on behalf of Australian performers and
crew, want the current guidelines (Foreign
Actor Certification Scheme, underpinned by Net
Employment Benefit Test) retained. The Guidelines
form an important part of the Government’s support
for Australia’s cultural sector. Dismantling them in the
name of deregulation will lead to the inevitable longterm decline of our vibrant entertainment industry.