Fearing another cuts-heavy federal budget for Australian screen content and its creators, the letter is the latest move from the Make it Australian campaign: an alliance of the Australian Directors’ Guild, the Australian Writers’ Guild, the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance and Screen Producers Australia, which have been lobbying the arts minister, Mitch Fifield, since September.
“Our ability to keep telling Australian stories on screen is at risk, and if our nation’s stories aren’t told, they die,” the letter reads.
Published on Tuesday, the open letter was also signed by Ben Elton, Yael Stone, Fred Schepisi, Kate Mulvany, David Williamson and Deborah Mailman.
Cate Blanchett, Gillian Armstrong, Peter Weir, Rose Byrne, Phillip Noyce and Richard Roxburgh are among 215 Australians working in film and television who have signed an open letter calling on the government to protect the country’s screen industry.