Film Victoria
ACQUITTING YOUR SCREEN PRODUCTION FUNDING
Successful applicants to our Production Financing Programs will be required to enter into a contract with us. In this contract we'll specify what you'll need to deliver to us to access your payments.
Reporting Template required for all acquittals
Screen Production - Investment Employment Marketing Survey (212KB)
SCREEN PRODUCTION - INVESTMENT WITH THE PRODUCER OFFSET REPORTING OBLIGATIONS
Prior to making any payment to sucessful applicants, Film Victoria requires all relevant parties to enter into a Production Investment Agreement (PIA) on terms acceptable to Film Victoria. Generally, that agreement may include the following:
Investor rights;
Film Victoria will be entitled to recoupment of its investment, a percentage of the net profits and a copyright for a period of 5 years from release.
Film Victoria will be entitled to approve all relevant transaction documents including distribution and licence agreements, investor agreements, completion guarantees and chain of title documents.
The producer will be required to pay Film Victoria a non-refundable administration fee based on the amount of Film Victoria's investment, calculated as follows:
2% for investments up to $250,000
2.5% for investments between $250,001 and $350,000
3% for investments between $350,001 and $450,000
3.5% for investments over $450,000
Film Victoria will be entitled to approve any additional distribution deal proposed subsequent to the execution of the PIA.
Film Victoria approval and consultation rights:
- Approval of any major changes to the script;
- Approval of key personnel including line producer/production manager, production accountant and post production supervisor;
- The Producer must obtain Film Victoria's prior written approval for:
- any changes to any above-the-line item in the Budget;
- re-allocation of more than 10% in aggregate of the allowance in the Budget for any line item; and
- expenditure of contingency on non-QAPE items.
- Approval of and any changes to production cashflow and drawdown schedule;
- Consultation on rough cut and fine cut;
- Film Victoria should be advised whenever the producer provides information to or seeks approval from the major investor or Screen Australia.
Film Victoria's entitlements in relation to spin-offs, remakes and sequels of the project: see Repayment of Our Investment section below.
In relation to the Producer Offset, the PIA may require the following:
The establishment of a Special Purpose Vehicle production company for the purposes of contracting, incurring the QAPE and claiming the Producer Offset.
Warranty that the Producer Offset eligibility criteria have been met and will be met during the course of production to the point of refund from the ATO.
Approval of long form evidencing cash flow of the Producer Offset
Approval of long form agreements pertaining to the Completion Bond and QAPE Guarantee.
Provision of cost reports and QAPE reports on a weekly basis throughout preproduction and production and fortnightly in post production
Provision of evidence of regular remittance to ATO of tax obligations incurred by the production by way of quarterly Business Activity Statements (BAS) and Instalment Activity Statement (IAS)
Film Victoria will be notified of (and where applicable, copied on):
- completion of audit;
- lodgement of tax return;
- receipt of Producer Offset from the ATO; and
- repayment of Producer Offset Cashflow Loan.
Where a project eligible for a Producer Offset of 20% subsequently becomes eligible for 40%, Film Victoria expects to be notified of the alteration in writing and reserves the right to renegotiate Film Victoria's equity position in the project.
Repayment of our investment
For Single Projects:
Repayment of our investment is pro rata pari passu (at the same time and proportionate rate) alongside other investors in the project.
For spin-offs that are commissioned as a series:
$5,000 per episode (length) for the first series split between the original investors; and
$7,500 per episode (length) payable for any subsequent series split between the original investors.
For sequels, remakes or spin-offs of the project, television or film, other than a series:
2% of the total production budget split between the original investors and payable when filming commences.
Producer entitlements
Producer corridors, incentives and rewards may be offered through an investor other than Film Victoria, provided they are repaid from that investor's share. Under exceptional circumstances, Film Victoria may consider offering a Producer corridor. The proposed corridor must be discussed in advance with the Investment Manager.
Enabling businesses to retain and exploit their assets is key to building a sustainable industry. Therefore Film Victoria's rights and entitlements in projects in which we invest will revert to the Producer 5 years after release.
Insurance
Film Victoria generally require Producers to take out and budget for the following insurances:
- Workers compensation insurance
- Completion guarantee
- Public liability of at least $10 million
- Film production insurance (FPI)
- Negative all risks insurance
- Multi-risk insurance
- Errors and Omissions insurance (E&O)
- Any other insurance that may be deemed necessary
- In the case of animation projects, an indication of a proposed plan for data protection and retrieval will be required.
Deferred payment arrangements
Film Victoria will not generally accept deferred payment arrangements in applications for production investment. In exceptional circumstances, and on a case by case basis, deferred payments may be accepted if there is evidence that all cast and crew have been engaged in accordance with industrial awards, the deferees have agreed to this arrangement and the budget allows for reasonable fees to be paid to the key creatives. Evidence must be provided in the form of letters of agreement.
Producers will be required to submit the following deliverables:
- Full crew list, cast list and One-Liner shooting schedule at commencement of shooting
- Completion report including final cost report and final QAPE report
- Film Victoria Production Survey (see below)
- Two copies of the poroject on DVD (including all related online and mobile content)
- Producers are required to report the number of visitors to the website of the funded project (if the website is online at the time of delivery). This report should cover the period from when the website was first placed online.
- Six different digital colour stills (a minimum size of 350 pixels wide x 300 pixels) in an electronic file
- The press kit and publicity materials for the project
- Electronic press kit (if produced).
- Broadcast quality copy of all theatrical / promotional trailers of the Film (if produced)
- Two copies of each theatrical poster for Australia and overseas (if produced)
- One music soundtrack for the project on CD (if produced)
- Confirmation of receipt of deliverables in connection with the project including, any press clippings, notifications of websites and other written materials
- Any other materials produced in connection with the project including, any press clippings, notifications of websites and other written materials
- Final audit, delivered no later than three months after completion of the film
- Final Producer Offset Certificate, detailing actual QAPE
- A notification to Film Victoria of the lodgement of the production entity's tax return
- A notification to Film Victoria of receipt of the Producer Offset payment
- A notification to Film Victoria of payment to the cashflow financier
Ongoing Reporting
Twice-yearly marketing reports for the first two years following completion of the film and once a year after that for 3 years, including website statistics
Producers are required to report the number of visitors to the website of the funded project along with view counts for all episodes. In addition, reports for visitors to all other distribution platforms are required (e.g. ABC, SBS, Youtube, Testra, Facebook, etc). This report should cover the time since the last report was submitted (generally 6 months).
SCREEN PRODUCTION - INVESTMENT WITHOUT THE PRODUCER OFFSET REPORTING OBLIGATIONS
Prior to making any payment to successful applicants, Film Victoria requires all relevant parties to enter into a Production Investment Agreement (PIA) on terms acceptable to Film Victoria. Generally, that agreement may include the following:
Eligibility
An undertaking from the Producer that the project does not qualify for the Producer Offset together with supporting evidence.
Agreement from the Producer that, should the project subsequently become eligible for the Producer Offset, Film Victoria has the right to require the Producer to return the Producer Offset (or any part of it) to Film Victoria in exchange for a commensurate reassignment of equity to the Producer.
Investor rights
Film Victoria will be entitled to a percentage of the net profits for a period of 5 years from release.
Film Victoria will be entitled to a percentage of copyright in the project for a period of 5 years from release.
Film Victoria will be entitled to approve all relevant transaction documents including distribution and licence agreements, investor agreements, completion guarantees and chain of title documents.
The producer will be required to pay Film Victoria a non-refundable administration fee of between 2-5% of Film Victoria's investment (to be determined by Film Victoria), depending on the complexity of the financial structure and the number of parties involved.
Film Victoria approval and consultation rights:
- Approval of any major changes to the script;
- Approval of key personnel;
- The Producer must obtain Film Victoria's prior written approval for:
- any changes to any above-the-line item in the Budget;
- re-allocation of more than 10% in aggregate of the allowance in the Budget for any line item;
- Approval of and any changes to production cashflow and drawdown schedule;
- Consultation on rough cut and fine cut;
- Film Victoria should be advised whenever the Producer provides information to or seeks approval from the major investor or Screen Australia;
- Film Victoria will be entitled to approve any distribution deal proposed subsequent to execution of the PIA.
Reporting requirements until delivery:
- Fortnightly production reports, including financial and narrative information during pre-production
- Weekly production reports, including financial and narrative information once filming commences
- Monthly production reports, including financial and narrative information, during post production
Film Victoria's entitlements in relation to spin-offs, remakes and sequels of the project: see Repayment of Our Investment section below.
REPAYMENT OF OUR INVESTMENT
For Single Projects:
Repayment of our investment is pro rata pari passu (at the same time and proportionate rate) alongside other investors in the project.
For spin-offs that are commissioned as a series:
$5,000 per episode (length) for the first series split between the original investors; and
$7,500 per episode (length) payable for any subsequent series split between the original investors.
For sequels, remakes or spin-offs of the project, television or film, other than a series:
2% of the total production budget split between the original investors and payable when filming commences.
Producer entitlements
Producer corridors, incentives and rewards may be offered through an investor other than Film Victoria, provided they are repaid from that investor's share. Under exceptional circumstances, Film Victoria may consider offering a Producer corridor. The proposed corridor must be discussed in advance with the Investment Manager.
Enabling businesses to retain and exploit their assets is key to building a sustainable industry. Therefore Film Victoria's rights and entitlements in projects in which we invest will revert to the Producer 5 years after release.
Insurance
Film Victoria generally require Producers to take out and budget for the following insurances:
- Workers compensation insurance
- Completion guarantee
- Public liability of at least $10 million
- Film production insurance (FPI)
- Negative all risks insurance
- Multi-risk insurance
- Errors and Omissions insurance (E&O)
- Any other insurance that may be deemed necessary
- In the case of animated projects, an indication of a proposed plan for data protection and retrieval will be required.
Deferred payment arrangements
Deferrals are payments deferred until the production provides financial returns. Film Victoria will not generally accept deferred payment arrangements in applications for production investment. In exceptional circumstances, and on a case by case basis, deferred payments may be accepted if you provide evidence that all cast and crew have been engaged in accordance with industrial awards, the deferees have agreed to this arrangement and the budget allows for reasonable fees to be paid to the key creatives. Evidence must be provided in the form of letters of agreement.
Producers will be required to submit the following deliverables:
- Cost reports weekly in pre-production and production and fortnightly in post-production
- Completion report including final cost report.
- Film Victoria Production Survey (see below)
- Two DVD copies of the project
- Six different digital colour stills (a minimum size of 350 pixels wide x 300 pixels) in an electronic file
- Electronic press kit (if applicable).
- Press kit / publicity materials
- Broadcast quality copy of all theatrical / promotional trailers of the Film (if applicable)
- Two copies of each theatrical poster for Australia and overseas (if applicable)
- One music soundtrack for the project on CD (if applicable)
- Confirmation of receipt of deliverables to National Film and Sound Archive as specified in the Production Investment Agreement
- Any other materials produced in connection with the project including, any press clippings, notifications of websites and other written materials
- Fortnightly production reports, including financial and narrative information during pre-production
- Weekly production reports, including financial and narrative information once filming commences
- Monthly production reports, including financial and narrative information, during post-production
- Final audit, delivered no later than three months after completion of the film
- Twice-yearly marketing reports for the first two years following completion of the film and once a year after that for 3 years
