Though agencies do surveys, focus groups and advisory committees, it is pretty rare to find a properly run study of the independent screen community. Here is a report commissioned by the Gold Coast City Council which enlists the Queensland University of Technology’s Digital Media Research Centre to do just that.
The council wanted to understand the ecology of screen makers living locally or in the region; it was interested in any form of production which didn’t occur through the studios. This double-local focus allowed it to cover everything from wedding videos, to web series, VR, backyard horror films and international cult flicks.