Elise Archer,Minister for Arts
The Tasmanian Government is a strong supporter of our cultural and creative industries and we have worked hard over the last 12 months to support the sector with a suite of support, stimulus, and recovery initiatives.
Now it's time to build further confidence and momentum, which is why we are providing a total of $4.5 million in additional funding support to assist the sector as it continues to recover from the challenges of COVID-19.
This substantial package includes $3 million in additional Screen Production Investment funding to attract and support the production and filming of works that showcase the State and build on our successful marketing of the Tasmanian brand.
Tasmania has cemented itself as a premium destination for the creative screen and production sector, and we want to continue to see growth in this area.
Screen productions provide jobs for local production companies, creatives, actors and crews, as well as valuable cash flow to local Tasmanian businesses in areas such as accommodation, transportation and hospitality services, particularly at a time when such expenditure is greatly needed.
This latest funding will enable our screen production sector to build further capacity and support the development of new stories and concepts across the film, television and games industries, ensuring that Tasmanian creatives will continue to intrigue, engage and entertain audiences at home and around the world.
In addition, our Government's new $1 million Live Performance Reactivation Program will support the delivery of new larger scale professional live performance productions in Tasmania and assist our artists, theatre venues and producers to get back up and running in a COVID-19 environment.
This funding will complement our existing $2 million Live Performance Support Program and will help performing arts production companies and venues to stage live performances by providing significant grants of up to $200,000 towards the cost of things like professional fees, set design and construction, equipment and costume hire, and licensing costs.
We are also allocating $500,000 in additional funding to support arts organisations to deliver a range of high quality arts activities that strengthen Tasmania's arts sector, engage and inspire audiences and the wider community, and benefit Tasmania's professional artists and arts workers.
I am very proud that this new funding totalling $4.5 million comes on top of the additional $4 million in the State Budget 2020/21 and the $3.5 million in stimulus support announced in March 2020 for the industry in our immediate response to COVID-19, as well as the $3 million to Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery through our Public Building Fund for important maintenance works.
Continued momentum and confidence are both vitally important to the ongoing growth and development of the Tasmania's arts sector, and this latest substantial funding injection will ensure that high levels of production activity can be sustained going forward.
