8679.0 - Film, Television and Digital Games, Australia, 2011-12 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 12/07/2013   
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GLOSSARY

Affiliation fees

Fees paid to television broadcasters from businesses with which they are affiliated.

Amortisation of programs or productions

The diminution in the value of productions and program rights over time (generally several years) occurring when productions or program rights are treated as capitalised expenses. The amortisation charge is expensed through the financial statements of the business and excludes program rights expensed during the financial year.

Animation

Visual editing services such as 2D and 3D animation. Includes animation services provided during post production on partly or completely animated productions, such as feature films, television programs and other productions.

Animation, computer generated imagery and visual effects technicians

Office-based production staff working primarily on special effects such as animation and computer generated imagery. Excludes visual effects technicians working on-set.

Businesses at end June

The number of businesses operating at end June 2012. For the purposes of this survey, the term 'businesses' includes non-profit organisations.

Cast

All members with on-screen activity in a production including actors, on-screen presenters, extras, stand-ins and stunt performers.

Casual

Persons employed on a non-permanent basis, including persons on fixed term contracts with employee entitlements.

Children's drama

Drama programs made specifically for children under the age of 14. See entry for Drama.

Children's programs

Television programs made specifically for children under the age of 14. Includes Children's drama and Other children's programs.

Cinematography

Activities related to the camera in filming: film stock, film speed, framing, camera movement and lighting.

Commercial broadcast hours

Airtime for completed first release programs, including time allocated for advertisements. Excludes program re-runs and the production time for commercials, program promotions and online content related to television productions.

Commercial free-to-air broadcasters

Commercial free-to-air television broadcasters licensed with the Australian Communications and Media Authority to broadcast. The businesses operate on a profit-making basis and generate the majority of their income from the sale of airtime.

Commercials and program promotions

Media produced to advertise a product or service to the general public. Includes station and program promotions, which may take the form of interstitial programs. Also includes community service announcements.

Computer programmers

Persons who develop and write computer software as part of the game development process.

Consoles

Dedicated gaming platforms such as the Sony PlayStation or Microsoft Xbox. Also includes handheld consoles such as Sony PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS.

Corporate video

Media productions to meet a specific need for a corporate client, including media produced for targeted marketing and training purposes. Excludes commercials made for the general public (see entry for Commercials and program promotions).

Crew

On-set production support staff.

Depreciation and amortisation expenses

Expenses relating to the depreciation and amortisation allowed on tangible and intangible assets. Includes, for lessees only, depreciation/amortisation in respect of finance leases.

Digital game development services

All aspects of digital game development and production (e.g. concept and art design, animation, audio, programming etc.), online game development services and post-production, digital and visual effects (PDV) work on digital games.

Digital game development services income

Income from the provision of digital game development or production services to other businesses. Includes PDV work on digital games.

Digital game developers

Businesses that generate income predominantly from the development of digital games for a range of formats (major consoles, handheld consoles, personal computers and mobile phones).

Digital games

Interactive software products made for the consumer entertainment market, involving a gameplay feature. Excludes products primarily designed for the purposes of training or advertising (these should be treated as other software applications).

Directors' fees

Fees received by directors of films which are predetermined prior to the commencement of the film. This income can be a combination of fees, commissions or profit sharing.

Documentaries

Films or programs that provide a creative treatment of actuality other than news and current affairs, sports coverage, magazines, infotainment or light entertainment programs. This item also includes short documentaries. It excludes dramatised documentaries and documentaries made for children.

Drama

Programs that have a fully or partially scripted screenplay in which the dramatic elements of character, theme and plot are introduced and developed to form a narrative structure. Includes programs in which actors deliver improvised dialogue based on a scripted outline. Also includes animated drama and dramatised documentaries. Note also that situation and sketch comedy is a subcategory of drama, although this excludes stand-up comedy programs and comedy sketches featured incidentally in other types of programs.

Drama and documentary production and post-production businesses

Film and video production or post-production businesses that derived or incurred income or production expenses in the survey reference period related to drama or documentary productions.

Educational media

Media produced primarily for educational purposes. This includes media produced for schools, tertiary and other educational institutions, as well as for the general public.

Employment at end June

Number of persons working for businesses during the last pay period ending in June of the given year. Includes working proprietors and partners, employees absent on paid or prepaid leave, employees on workers' compensation who continue to be paid through the payroll, and contract workers paid through the payroll. Excludes persons paid by commission only, non-salaried directors, volunteers and self-employed persons such as consultants and contractors.

End-to-end digital game development income

Income earned from the end-to-end development and production of digital games during the reference period. Includes sales revenue (including pre-sales and advances from publishers and parent companies), unit sales, subscription and revenue from in-game purchasing and advertising, government funding received for the production of digital games and investment contributions from the public or private sector. Excludes development or production services provided to other businesses.

Executive producers, producers, line producers

Staff who spend the majority of their time in the role of executive producer, producer or line producer on the set of productions.

Executive producers' fees, producers' fees, line production

Executive producers' fees, producers' fees and income from line production as production services to other businesses.

Feature films

Films that are 60 minutes or longer in length, excluding documentaries and telemovies.

Film and video other than television programs

Film and video productions other than television programs. Excludes commercials and program promotions.

Film and video post-production businesses

Businesses mainly engaged in the provision of post-production services and other motion picture and video activities (including specialised motion picture or video post-production services).

Film and video production businesses

Businesses mainly engaged in producing motion pictures, videos, television programs and/or commercials and program promotions.

Film, television and video production services

Production services including executive producers' fees, producers' fees, line production, directors' fees, cinematography, rental of facilities and/or equipment with crew and other production services.

Game designers

Staff primarily working on the layout, concept and design of a game. This may include writing scripts, specifications or creating storyboards for digital games.

General business operations

Staff who spend the majority of their time working on general business operations. Includes managers and administrators, sales and marketing staff, IT support staff and accounting, legal and clerical staff. Excludes producers and production managers.

Gross income from the sale of airtime

Income from the sale of airtime or 'space' on television for the broadcasting of advertisers' commercials or sponsors' messages. Includes advertising sales revenue from subscription television channels. Industry value added (IVA)

IVA is an estimate of the difference between the market value of the output of an industry and the purchases of materials and expenses incurred in the production of that output. For the purposes of this collection, all businesses are considered to be market producers.

The derivation of IVA for market producers is as follows:

Sales and service income

plus Funding from federal, state and/or local government for operational costs

plus Capital work done for own use

plus Closing inventories

less Opening inventories

less Purchases of goods and materials

less Other intermediate input expenses

equals IVA.

However, it should be noted that IVA is a measure of economic activity and is not equivalent to operating profit before tax (OPBT). Wage and salary expenses and most other labour costs are not taken into account in the calculation, neither are interest expenses, depreciation or a number of lesser expenses. On the income side, OPBT includes total income, whereas IVA only includes sales and service income and government funding for operational costs.

Interest expenses

Includes interest paid on loans from banks, finance companies, partners, and related or unrelated businesses, and in respect of finance leases. Also includes interest equivalents such as hedging costs and expenses associated with discounted bills. Excludes bank charges other than interest, and capital repayments.

Labour costs

Comprises wages and salaries (including salary sacrificed earnings paid on behalf of employees and employee share based payments and stock options), employer contributions into superannuation, workers' compensation premiums/costs, fringe benefits tax and payroll tax. Excludes capitalised wages and salaries.

Light entertainment and variety

Includes infotainment, lifestyle, stand-up comedy, panel shows, variety, quiz and game, and reality television programs. Excludes programming made specifically for children (see entry for Other children's programs).

Mobile and web platforms

Games developed for mobile and web platforms such as iOS and Flash.

Multiple platform

Titles developed simultaneously for more than one of the following platforms: Console, handheld console, PC and Mac, Mobile and web platforms. Note that such titles are excluded from the individual categories for which they are developed.

News and current affairs

Programs reporting on current or recent happenings, including film coverage of international, national and local events, reports on weather and essential services. Also includes sports news bulletins, and programs which interpret events through interviews or discussion with acknowledged experts.

Non-online

Productions not defined as online. See entry for Online.

Office-based production staff

Production staff who are primarily based in the office. This includes animation, computer generated imagery and visual effects technicians, game designers, computer programmers, development staff, post-production staff and production managers. It excludes non-production staff.

Online

Productions that are made primarily for release on the internet. Excludes film, television and video productions that have a secondary release on the internet. Where the online production is part of a multi-platform project, it is considered to be a separate production from those released on other platforms (e.g. webisodes related to a television series).

On-set production staff

Staff who primarily work on the set of productions, such as cast and crew. Includes actors and on-screen presenters, extras, stand-ins, stunt performers and on-set support staff etc. Operating profit before tax

This item is a measure of profit or loss (surplus or deficit) prior to the deduction of income tax and appropriation to owners.

It is derived as:

total income

minus total expenses

plus closing inventories

less opening inventories

equals operating profit before tax.

Operating profit margin

The percentage of sales of goods and services which becomes profit/surplus after all operating expenses have been deducted. It is derived by expressing total operating profit/surplus before tax as a percentage of total sales of goods and services.

Other children's programs

Non-drama television programs made specifically for children under the age of 14. See entry for Drama.

Other labour costs

All staff related costs (including moneys paid directly through the payroll to freelancers without an ABN), excluding wages and salaries. See entry for Labour costs.

Other production and post-production businesses

Film and video production or post-production businesses without income or production expenses in the survey reference period related to drama or documentary productions.

Payments to other businesses/contractors for selected services

Payments made to related and unrelated businesses and self-employed contractors for selected services. This includes payments for the following items defined separately: Film, television and video production services; Post-production, digital and visual effects services for film, television and video; Digital game development services; Web development services.

PC and Mac

Games developed for personal computer formats. Includes massively multi-player online role playing games played on personal computers.

Permanent full-time

Persons employed on a permanent basis who usually work 35 hours or more per week.

Permanent part-time

Persons employed on a permanent basis who usually work less than 35 hours per week.

Post-production, digital and visual effects services for film, television and video

Includes computer generated special effects services, animation services and the rental of PDV facilities and/or equipment with crew.

Post-production, digital and visual effects services income

Income earned from the provision of post-production, digital and visual effects (PDV) services to other businesses. These include visual editing, sound editing, duplication, transferring, film laboratory and other PDV services.

Productions

Film, video and digital game projects either underway or completed during the survey reference period. Excludes projects that did not progress past the development stage.

Production costs

Expenses incurred by a business for film, television, video or digital game production during the reference period including amounts that have been capitalised. Includes all production costs, associated with development. pre-production, shoot and post-production costs. Excludes costs associated with projects for which a business provided freelance production or post-production services to another business responsible for undertaking the production.

Production staff

Staff who spend the majority of their time working on productions. This includes on-set and office-based production staff.

Production income

All income received during the reference period from production activity. Includes government funding received for production of film, television and video, investment contributions from the public or private sector, license fees received as financing for a production, sales revenue (including advances and pre-sales), minimum guarantee payments and fees received from agencies or clients for the production of commercials and/or other video. Excludes royalties income or income derived from program format rights and income associated with projects for which the business provided freelance production or post-production services to another business responsible for undertaking the production.Production income and royalties

Includes Production income and Royalties income related to film, television and video productions.

Program rights expensed

Program rights purchased via a licence arrangement from the copyright owner, for a specified period and/or number of screenings. Programs that are licensed for a single screening, such as series and game shows, are treated as current expenses.

Production services income

Income earned from the provision of production services to other businesses. Includes executive producers' fees, producers' fees, line production, directors' fees, cinematography, rental of facilities and/or equipment with crew and other production services.

Public broadcasters

Television broadcasters that operate on a 'not-for-profit' basis and whose main source of income is from government funding.

Purchases

Comprises purchases of materials, components, containers and packaging materials for manufacture or construction, and purchases of finished goods for resale. Excludes delivery charges separately invoiced or itemised by suppliers and capitalised purchases.

Rent, leasing and hiring expenses

The costs of the rent, leasing (excluding finance leases) and hiring of vehicles, land, buildings, machinery, equipment and any other property from other businesses or individuals. Includes operating lease payments and rental of facilities and/or equipment without crew.

Rent, leasing and hiring income

Income derived from the ownership of land, dwellings, buildings and other structures, motor vehicles, plant, machinery and other equipment. Excludes royalties from mineral leases, income from finance leases and payments received under hire purchase arrangements and rental of facilities and/or equipment with crew.

Rental of facilities and/or equipment with crew (income)

Income received from other businesses for renting facilities or equipment that come with crew. Excludes the income from renting facilities or equipment without crew.

Royalties expenses

Payments made for the use of rights or intellectual property of another business or individual. Includes payments under licensing arrangements, payments for the use of patents and copyrights, including music and literary rights and payments for the use of program format rights. Excludes program rights expensed and expensed computer software license fees.

Royalties income

Income earned by a business for the use of rights or intellectual property that it owns, including feature films, television programs and digital games. This includes payments under licensing arrangements, payments for the use of patents and copyrights and income derived from program format rights. It excludes licence fees received as financing for a production, which are considered to be production income.

Salaried directors

Directors of incorporated businesses are directors who received a wage or salary during the reference period. Salaried directors are considered to be employees of the business.

Selected broadcasting expenses

Selected broadcasting related expenses including broadcasting licence fees, affiliation fees, payments to other businesses for the provision of television channels and commissions paid to advertising agencies or brokers for the sale of airtime.

Short films

Films that are shorter than 60 minutes in length, excluding documentaries and telemovies. Includes short features, defined as 45-55 minutes in length.

Sound editing

The process of arranging a film's soundtrack to decide its final order and content. During this process pre-recorded sound can also be manipulated or changed so as to be more suitable for the final product.

Sport

Live or delayed first release broadcast for competitive sport, and programs such as sporting previews, summaries, and talk in which replays of events are incidental. Excludes sports news bulletins (see entry for News and current affairs).

Subscription broadcasters and channel providers

Commercial television broadcasters operating on a profit-making basis and receiving the majority of their income from subscription fees, and businesses primarily engaged in providing subscription television broadcasters with access to a channel or set of channels containing pre-packaged programs ready for broadcasting. Some of these businesses are also involved in producing television content.

Subscription fees

Fees paid by viewers to subscription television broadcasters for access to a set of channels. Includes subscriber revenue from the provision of subscription television channels.

Television documentaries

Documentaries made specifically for television. See entry for Documentaries.

Television programs

Productions made primarily for broadcast on television.

Total income

The sum of all income components.

Total expenses

The sum of all expense components. Excludes capitalised expenses.

Visual editing

The process of cutting and arranging a film to decide its final order, content and presentation. Includes animation, visual effects, subtitling and other types of visual editing.

Visual effects

The process of adding visual effects to a production.

Wages and salaries

The gross wages and salaries (excluding capitalised wages and salaries) of all employees of the business. The item includes severance, termination and redundancy payments, salaries and fees of directors and executives, retainers and commissions of persons who received a retainer, bonuses, and annual and other types of leave. Provision expenses for employee entitlements (e.g. provisions for annual leave and leave bonus, long service leave, sick leave, and severance, termination and redundancy payments) are also included, as are salary sacrificed earnings and remuneration of employees in the form of share based payments and stock options. Payments related to self-employed persons such as consultants, contractors and persons paid solely by commission without a retainer are excluded. The drawings of working proprietors and partners are also excluded.

Web development services

Includes adapting or enhancing of video content for mobile or web platforms and development of complementary online media (e.g. web apps, social media integration etc.). It excludes development or maintenance of a business's corporate website and online game development services.

Webisodes

Episodic content created for online consumption that forms part of a web series or a television series. Includes episodic content created specifically for mobile consumption (mobisodes).

Working proprietors and partners

A working proprietor of an unincorporated business operates his or her own business (sole proprietorship) while a partner, along with one or more other partners, operates a partnership.