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Lion: The Oscar-worthy film funded by Media Super

Lion was funded by Media Super.

Lion was funded by Media Super. Photo: Media Super

The Australian film and television industry is tapping the $2.1 trillion of wealth stashed in the nation’s super funds to pay for its on-screen creations.

Media Super, an industry fund for the media, arts and entertainment sectors, has put its hand in its pocket to back Lion, the new film from Aussie director Garth Davis which stars Slumdog Millionaire icon Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman, David Wenham and US-born actress Rooney Mara.

The movie, based on a true story, tells the tale of a five-year-old Indian boy who falls asleep on a train and ends up in Calcutta, completely lost.

He is eventually adopted by an Australian couple, played by Kidman and fellow Australian Wenham.

Media Super funded The Dressmaker.

Media Super funded The Dressmaker.

In what could be seen as a serendipitous coincidence given the long-term nature of superannuation investment, 25 years later the once-lost street kid returns to India and uses Google Earth to find his home and family.

Lion is an important milestone for Media Super with CEO Graeme Russell saying the deal pushes its total film and TV investment to over $100 million.

“The cultural industries contribute significantly more to the Australian economy than most people realise and we are very happy to be investing in them,” he told The New Daily.

Film and TV has become big business for Media Super since 2010 “when we developed a unique arrangement to give us exposure to the sector,” said Mr Russell. To date Media Super has completed 70 projects.

“The investment model took us several years to develop and we are now the major player in that funding area in Australia,” he said.

The film industry is a notoriously ‘boom and bust’ business where box office smash hits are used to cover the embarrassing black holes left by duds.

But Media Super is not punting with the money of hard-working journalists and entertainment sector people.

Its funding deal is essentially a loan which is paid back on completion date by film production companies. Producers get a 40 per cent rebate for the cost of the film from the government as industry assistance, so Media Super essentially gets its money back from the tax payer.

Would you trust Rake's Cleaver Greene with your money? Media Super did.

Would you trust Rake‘s Cleaver Greene with your money? Media Super did.

As a result “every one of our 70 projects has been completed and our investment repaid, with interest,” Mr Russell said.

“Our members have earned 6.8 per annum from this investment since we started in 2010, (so it’s a) a sound return for a low risk investment,” he said.

Media Super doesn’t disclose how much it puts into individual films or series, but Mr Russell says it is generally between $500,000 and $3 million. Some loans go as high as $5 million.

Given the 40 per cent government rebate offered to producers, the fund doesn’t fund more than 40 per cent of the cost of one production. Usually it is well below that level, Mr Russell said.

Watch the trailer for The Turning, which was funded by Media Super

Media Super doesn’t choose which productions to fund; that decision is made by specialist financier Fulcrum Media Finance.

Producer of Lion, Emile Sherman, said Media Super’s commitment to Australian film is valuable to the industry.

“The support that the fund has given to Australian film producers over the last six years, and which it continues to give, through its partnership with Fulcrum Media Finance, has made a significant impact on the industry and its growth.”

While Media Super has put $100 million into film and TV it has no more than $60 million in the industry at any one time.

Lion will be released on January 19 in Australia.

Below are some of the productions Media Super has supported.

Feature films

  • Lion
  • The Dressmaker
  • The Hunter
  • The Daughter
  • Holding the Man
  • The Railway Man
  • Last Cab to Darwin
  • The Rover
  • Drift
  • The Turning

Television programs

  • The Gods of Wheat Street
  • Cleverman
  • Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries
  • The Secret River
  • Rake (Season 4)
  • Upper Middle Bogan (Season 3)
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