AUSFILM: ASK THE EXPERTS – REINVESTMENTS & WHAT YOU NEED TO CONSIDER.

Ausfilm Member Event x Amazon Web Services (AWS) Webinar

AUSFILM: ASK THE EXPERTS – IMPACT OF THE U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ON FX CURRENCIES

Ausfilm has partnered with the Australian Guild of Screen Composers to deliver a webinar to support sole traders and businesses in the decision-making process when exploring re-investment deals offered by Australian productions.

This webinar will provide to AGSC and Ausfilm members as much factual, relevant and up-to-date information on re-investment deals so our members can make authoritative and sound financial judgments.

WHAT YOU’LL GAIN:

Equip yourself with vital information to understand and confidently negotiate a re-investment deal. This webinar will tackle the following questions:

How to negotiate a deal if you are asked to re-invest?
Navigating staying on the job if you choose not to re-invest
How do you assess the risk?
What do you need to consider if you do decide to re-invest?
What’s your position in the recoupment schedule or ‘waterfall’?
Tax implications if you do re-invest, what are you up for at tax time? What do you declare?

Date

Thursday 5th November 2020

Venue

Webinar

Time

1:00PM - 2:00PM AEDT

Speakers

ANTONY PARTOS
SCREEN COMPOSER & PRESIDENT OF
AUSTRALIAN GUILD OF SCREEN COMPOSERS

Antony is a long-standing member of the AGSC as well as one of Australia’s most awarded screen composers. He is currently the President of the Guild and has been the vice-president from 2012 – 2016.

As a highly successful film composer, his feature film credits include Top End Wedding, Rams, Jasper Jones, 99 Homes, I Am Mother, Animal Kingdom (2010 AFI Award for Best Feature Score), The Rover, Disgrace, The Home Song Stories and Unfinished Sky (the latter two winning the AFI Award for Best Feature Score in 2007 and 2008 respectively). Other work includes the Oscar-nominated feature Tanna (winning both the 2016 AACTA and Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Feature Score), the BAFTA nominated feature documentary Sherpa (APRA/AGSC Award for Best Music for a Documentary and Best Soundtrack Album), Lucas Films documentary The Director and the Jedi which premiered at SXSW, and HBO feature film Fahrenheit 451 which premiered at Cannes Film Festival.

Antony’s scores for TV Drama include Bloom, Upright, Total Control (with Matteo Zingales), The End, Wake in Fright (AACTA Award for Best Music Score in Television), Mystery Road (AACTA Award for Best Music Score in Television, APRA/AGSC Award for Best Music in a TV Series), Rake (APRA/AGSC Award for Best Music in a TV Series), The Slap (APRA/AGSC Awards for Best TV Theme and Best Soundtrack), Mabo (APRA/AGSC Award for Best Music for a Telemovie) and Redfern Now (AACTA Award for Best Music Score in Television).

Antony is a passionate supporter of maintaining Australian stories on our screens and keeping our industry flourishing during a time of rapid change.

ELAINE BECKETT
GENERAL MANAGER
TRACKDOWN STUDIOS

Elaine Beckett is the General Manager at Trackdown Studios, Australia’s only full-service audio post and music production facility. As a well-respected post-production supervisor, she is a specialist in audio post and music; most recently providing music production services for The Undoing (HBO) and Connected (Sony).

She has worked as a score coordinator on Australia’s most prominent productions of the last decade; including The Lego Movies, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Water Diviner, Australia and Happy Feet. Alongside her work with Australia’s most recognisable filmmakers, she has supported Australia’s independent directors and producers. Elaine’s commitment to providing the highest quality service has propelled the quality of Australia’s sound and music to international standards and has cemented Trackdown as a valuable asset to Australian productions.

Most recently Elaine has moved into producing and is currently working on an animated TV series to be aired on Network 7 next year (2021).

MARK BAMFORD
LAWYER
SIMPSONS SOLICITORS

Mark Bamford is a partner at specialist media and entertainment law firm Simpsons Solicitors, with over 25 years’ experience across the media, entertainment, digital and technology sectors. His clients are involved in all facets of financing, creating and commercialising content. Mark has particular expertise in media finance and has represented a number of banks, financiers, government funders and private equity interests including Bank of Montreal, Ingenious Media, Union Bank, Bank of America, Macquarie Bank, Investec, Fulcrum and Film Victoria. Alongside this, he acts for a number of producers, production houses and studios. He has advised on hundreds of TV and film productions, from large budget studio features to award-winning, locally produced TV animations. In addition to his core areas of practice, Mark’s broad experience enables him to assist a diverse set of clients seeking assistance in general corporate and commercial transactions. His practice areas include: Banking & Finance; Classification; Competition & Consumer Law; Corporate; General Commercial; Industrial Relations; Intellectual Property; Privacy & Data Protection; Regulatory; and Securities Law (PPSA). Mark has been selected for inclusion in repeat editions of Best Lawyers Australia for Intellectual Property. He has an Arts (Fine Art) and Law degrees from Sydney University and a Master of Laws (Hons) from the University of Technology.

KATE MARKS
CEO
AUSFILM

Kate Marks was appointed as Ausfilm’s CEO in October 2019. As CEO, Kate leads the Ausfilm team in Australia and the USA and is responsible for developing international market strategies to ensure Australia is a globally competitive production location for international film and TV projects.

Working with Ausfilm’s membership and industry, Kate regularly engages with and delivers advice, data and information to the Australian Government regarding screen production to ensure Australia’s screen industry policy settings support Ausfilm members, Australian crew and international productions filming in Australia.

Prior to Kate’s appointment as CEO, she was Ausfilm’s Los Angeles based Executive Vice President of International Production, responsible for connecting Ausfilm members to international filmmakers and working closely with U.S. development, finance, physical and post/VFX executives to help them bring their productions to Australia and Australian companies. Projects secured for Australia during Kate’s tenure in Los Angeles include Shang-Chi and The Legend of the Ten Rings; Clickbait; Season four of Preacher; Love & Monsters; Godzilla vs Kong; Dora and the Lost City of Gold; Alien: Covenant; Thor: Ragnarok; Season three of The Leftovers; Pacific Rim Uprising; Kong Skull Island; Bleeding Steel and The Shallows. Kate held this role from September 2014 – December 2019.

Kate held the position of President of the Board of Australians in Film (AiF) for four years in Los Angeles. AiF is a Los Angeles based non-profit film, TV and digital content foundation that supports, develops and promotes Australian screen talent and culture in the United States.

STUART SMITH, CPA
DIRECTOR
FISCAL ARTISANS P/L

Thirty-five years of accounting and financial services, working with a wide range of entities and individuals in the music, visual arts, film and the TV industries.

Actively involved with the Australian Government’s Screen Production Tax Offset arrangements and the Australian Government’s R&D rebate provisions, film funding arrangements, optimising business and entity structures, and general accounting and taxation services. Previously CFO for Fin Design & Effects Group spanning four countries, working with the business for over six years, as well as running a public accounting practice for over 30 years.

Stuart has managed the financial arrangements for Australian post-production services for the following productions, focusing on the accounting and taxation provisions, and liaison with the Australian Government’s Office for the Arts who administer the PDV Offset applications: I Am Mother (Australia); Lost In Russia (China); Airpocalypse (China); Turandot (China); Cosmos Series 3 (USA); Thor: Ragnarok (USA); Dark Tower (USA); The Eight Hundred (China).

BRETT THORNQUEST, CPA
DIRECTOR & PRODUCER
CONTRARIAN GROUP

Established in 2009, Contrarian is a private group of business advisory and service companies, operating solely within the film & tv production industry.

The founder and principal is Brett Thornquest (CPA, Registered Tax Agent). Before creating Contrarian, Brett was a senior executive within the Moneypenny Group from 2000 to 2008. His career to date has seen Brett develop a unique combination of experience at the coalface of the entertainment industry, initially working as an on-set production accountant before transitioning to high-level film & television project tax advisory and compliance.

The primary focus of Contrarian is the provision of tax, advisory and compliance services to production companies, lenders and financiers and their specific projects seeking to access Australia’s various Federal and State Government incentives e.g. the Producer, Location and PDV Offsets and their regional/provincial equivalents. Since its inception, Contrarian has extensive experience submitting project claims across a mix of US studio, local Australian and international feature co-productions and television series and mini-series.

Registration

This is an AGSC and Ausfilm member-only event. RSVP Essential and to access the webinar link please email [email protected].

If you are not an Ausfilm member and would like to know more please contact the Director of Marketing & Industry Partnerships: [email protected]

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