GEO FOCUS AUSTRALIA
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www.audiomedia.com Development Down Under
The sunburnt country, the land down under, Oz – Australia’s relatively short history and isolated geographical location belies a dynamic and evolving media market.
POPULATION: APPROX. 23 MILLION
FOR A country with such a short history (the six separate colonies became officially federated in 1901), Australia has dealt with an ever-shifting media market that has been severely affected by forces both within and without its own borders.
While the country’s film industry began with the 1906 release of The Story of the Kelly Gang, which is widely regarded as the world’s first feature- length film, it sharply declined following World War I and by the 1930s nearly 95 percent of feature films screened in Australia were produced in Hollywood, with no films made locally between 1959 and 1969.
Government initiatives of the 1970s, however, launched the new wave of Australian cinema that produced hits such as Picnic at Hanging Rock and Breaker Morant, and later, iconic films
such as Mad Max.
The country’s music scene also saw a quick rise to recognition with a so- called ‘golden age’ during the ’70s and ’80s, capped off by the huge international commercial successes of bands such as Midnight Oil and INXS. Yet after this quick rise to recognition, the sector has experienced a sharp decline. Unlike the cinema industry that was affected by outside forces, however, Australia’s live music scene has been slowly suffocated by restrictive legislations imposed over the past few decades. According to a recent survey, of the 2,200 licensed venues in Sydney, just 143, or 6 percent, have a live music licence. “Ultimately it comes down to the value we attribute to art and culture. Why is it more important for the
builders next door to start drilling at 7:01am than for a venue to play music until midnight?... Activities that are not purely money-driven need external support. If we think they are important,” commented Aussie hip hop artist Ozi Batla in a February 2013 FasterLouder article titled ‘They don’t want live music to survive’. In Sydney, the local government is stepping in to help sustain and grow the music industry. In October 2012, the City of Sydney Council unanimously endorsed the establishment of a Live Music and Performance Taskforce. After a year of research, the newly launched Live Music and Performance Action Plan offers 57 solutions to help the city’s ailing music scene from suggestions on how to deal with complaints from neighbours through mediation and
making approvals easier for live music venues, to the use of council properties for performance and rehearsals.
The plan also recommends such innovative practices as undertaking research into design and construction standards to reduce low-frequency noise in residential buildings and advocating to the building codes board for an Australian standard. “Our cities are driven by creative people and small businesses, and this is one of the first honest attempts to clear the bureaucratic minefield that’s held us back for so long,” said Taskforce chair and co-directory of the National Live Music Office, John Wardle. “It’s the first serious attempt to actually fix the labyrinth of red tape affecting music and arts venues.”
>>> AUDIO POST PRODUCTION Soundfirm Brings Atmos to Australia
AUSTRALIA’S LARGEST and most highly awarded independent post-production company, Soundfirm, has recently expanded its facilities with a new purpose- built location in Melbourne featuring the country’s first Dolby Atmos mixing rooms. Meeting Dolby’s high standards for the company’s new Atmos technology, Soundfirm’s flagship cinema mixing room is equipped with Meyer Sound speakers and amplifiers, and a Harrison Trion console. “Soundfirm always strives to offer leading technologies for our clients’ projects. We are very excited about our ability to offer Dolby Atmos to create an enhanced and immersive sound experience for our upcoming projects,” commented Soundfirm
20 December 2013
CEO Roger Savage, who was recently awarded the John Howie Award for Outstanding Leadership, Achievement, and Service to the Victorian Screen Industry for his 45 years of service to the country’s music and cinema industries. “Atmos is a major paradigm shift
from terrestrial channel-based formats like 5.1, 7.1, and 11.1 and provides a more natural and realistic soundfield, moving sound around and above audiences, transporting them into the onscreen adventure.” The new Melbourne facility, based in a recently converted warehouse building in Port Melbourne, complements Soundfirm’s other locations on the Fox Studio’s lot in Sydney, as well as in central Beijing. Some of the company’s notable
Soundfirm’s new Dolby Atmos mixing room
credits include Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge and William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet, as well
as classics The Road Warrior and Crocodile Dundee.
www.soundfirm.com
www.audiomedia.com
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