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State Budget 2023-24: SAFC welcomes State Government investment in the screen industry
20 June 2023
The SAFC welcomes the State Government’s investment in the South Australian screen sector announced in the 2023-24 State Budget.
SA Video Game Development (VGD) Rebate Extension
$13.5 million over four years for the extension of the South Australian Video Game Development Rebate scheme.
This additional funding dedicated to the game development sector ensures the continuation of the successful SA VGD Rebate, which enables video games studios to claim 10 per cent of eligible expenditure on video game development work undertaken in South Australia.
Launched in 2020 as the first of its kind in Australia, the SA VGD Rebate has helped to further cement South Australia as a leading location for game development by encouraging established local games studios to scale, and by incentivising non-South Australian games studios to establish a base or undertake work in the state.
Since the introduction of the scheme the SAFC has facilitated the development of 14 new video game titles from South Australian companies including Foxie Games’ wildly popular Horse Riding Tales and Wolf Tales, and Mighty Kingdom’s Star Trek Lower Decks, which won the highly coveted Best Storytelling award at the Pocket Gamer Mobile Game Awards in London.
The SA VGD Rebate was also a key driver in attracting major game developers Big Ant Studios and Keywords Studios (Tantalus South) to open new offices in Adelaide this year.
Extending the SA VGD Rebate scheme will help keep the South Australia’s game development sector nationally competitive, retain industry jobs and continue the state’s industry growth.
Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund
$2 million over four years to increase the Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund (AFFIF).
The Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund provides equity investment in Australian screen production projects, and enables AFF to be an active contributor in the creation of exciting, new Australian screen works.
Since its establishment in 2003 the AFFIF has helped to enable more than 110 screen projects, including many supported by the SAFC, with recent productions including award-winning South Australian made films The Survival of Kindness, Watandar My Countryman and My Name is Gulpilil, Film Lab: New Voices inaugural feature Monolith and soon-to-be-released horror Talk to Me.
This additional funding for the AFFIF will ensure the Adelaide Film Festival continues to present bold, diverse and culturally significant screen content annually.
The SAFC applauds the South Australian Government’s continued support of the screen sector. This investment will continue to fuel industry growth, and ensure South Australia remains a thriving centre of screen innovation across all areas of production, including game development, with flow-on cultural and economic benefits to the state.