Screen Australia has released two reports focusing on the nature of funding for locally-made Australian TV and film projects. Each breaks down the funding streams for projects delivered between January 2023 and October 2025, with a focus on transparency and growing understanding for screen storytellers.
As is made clear in the analysis, funding streamings for all screen media remains complex. It’s not a matter of simply being funded by one of the many state-based screen agencies, or Screen Australia itself. To secure funding that sees projects to completion, many third-parties play essential roles.
Screen Australia analyses screen funding – quick links
Feature film funding relies on international sales estimates, gap financing
In its analysis of 119 funded feature film projects, Screen Australia noted a variety of trends. The first was that 97% of projects included an ANZ distribution advance to buoy their finance plans, but the majority of these represented less than 5% of total budgets.
Making up the rest depended on a variety of factors, including the participation of dedicated sales agents. Per Screen Australia, 96% of films analysed had a sales agent attached, and 48% of these sales agents provided a minimum guarantee upfront – not the majority.
International sales estimates reportedly play a role in the delivery of this minimum guarantee, particularly for projects with budgets above $10 million. In plainer terms, creatives were more likely to be paid upfront when international sales estimates suggested the likelihood of success, due to factors including project scale, genre, cast attachments, and commercial ambition.
Of the minimum guarantees delivered, most were reportedly below $500,000, although some supported projects were able to secure minimum guarantees upwards of $2 million.
As for where the money actually comes from, besides early distribution advances, Screen Australia noted 34% of feature film projects made use of gap funding – i.e., a short-term loan designed to cover the brief period between development and release, where funds may be recouped.
‘While gap financing was not seen in all applications, projects that did utilise it often relied on it as a significant component of their budgets, with 70% of gap backed projects, carrying financing gaps greater than 10% of total production costs,’ Screen Australia reported.
Gap funding was noted as being an important part of enabling the creation of films, and particularly those within the mid-range budget of $5-10 milion.
It’s not the only way that creatives are gathering budget for their films, though. Currently, there’s also reliance on agency investment, offsets, international presales (19% of films rely on these), distribution advances, co-production partnerships (6%), minimum guarantees, and equity.
While the data reflects that presales are not a core financing component for most Australian projects, Screen Australia has shared that of the seven projects that did secure presales, three of those projects were able to earn more than 30% of their budget from his avenue.
‘The overarching findings from the analysis, is that Australian productions are typically financed through a combination of funding sources, with marketplace contributions playing an important role,’ Screen Australia said in its conclusion.
‘Even with ANZ distributors and ROW sales agents frequently engaged, direct marketplace investments can often only represent a small proportion of the overall budget. Substantial contributions are achievable though remain limited to a smaller set of projects.
‘The findings reinforce the importance of developing realistic project budgets aligned to market appropriate financing expectations and successful projects are often those that can effectively combine multiple sources of financing and marketplace partnerships.’
TV funding differs significantly from film funding, per Screen Australia
In its analysis of TV funding, Screen Australia found that international funding was actually one of the most important sources of finance, although the level of exact funding is influenced by factors including genre, cast attachments, and broader commercial positioning.
81% of TV projects of the 59 analysed were able to secure an international distribution advance equal to at least 10% of the product budget. 51% secured advances between $500,000 to $1 million per hour of television produced.
Interestingly, gap financing was present in none of the projects analysed. Per Screen Australia, this reveals a stronger reliance on secured financing sources and marketplace commitments, rather than short-term loans which may be less secure.
It also confirmed that presales are not the focus for adult TV projects, with only 5% accounting for this in their finance plans – although this is still common for children’s television projects, with 42% of the projects analysed securing presales as part of their finance plan.
In a specific breakout for children’s TV, making up 19 of the analysed projects, Screen Australia noted that this segment continues to attract international interest, and may be one of the steadier flagships of Australia’s TV production.
‘The data demonstrates that contribution levels are generally more moderate than seen in higher budget adult TV,’ Screen Australia said. ‘Children’s content continues to attract international interest due to its exportability and long tail audience potential.’
53% of all projects secured an advance of 10% or more of the budget, and as noted, children’s television projects can expect an international distribution advance to contribute between 5-15% of the total budget.
‘The data suggests that international buyers continue to see value in children’s content and are willing to commit to projects before completion more frequently than they do for adult TV projects,’ Screen Australia said.
In its conclusion, Screen Australia underscored the value of children’s TV projects and their international appeal, with significant successes for creatives working within this space. The popularity of these projects highlighted the importance of international distribution advances more generally to film and TV production in Australia, with early buyer commitments helping to create more stability for projects.
For those looking at financing and funding for their next screen projects, the reports give ample insight into what to expect, based on precedent. As shared, screen financing remains very complex, with multiple parties sharing the risk. It’s best to understand how it all works prior to seeking funding and opportunity in the local market.
