CSB has been working for months on an exciting project with film journalist Andrew Urban of Urbancinefile. We’re interviewing film and television practitioners about their business experiences.
Our aim is to develop a deeper understanding about the history of business decision-making in film and television and to share with our audience the wisdom from the accumulated mistakes, experiments and achievements of the contributors.
Bridget Ikin - biography
Bridget Ikin is the CEO of Hibiscus Films, and has worked as an independent film producer in both Australia and New Zealand for more than 20 years. She produced Jane Campion’s An Angel at My Table (Silver Lion Venice Film Festival 1990) and Alison Maclean’s Crush (In Competition, Cannes, 1992), and co-produced Anna Campion’s Loaded (Venice 1995) and Clara Law’s Floating Life (Silver Leopard, Locarno, 1996) along with a large number of ground-breaking short films. For four years (1996 – 2000), she was the General Manager of SBSi (the commissioning arm of SBS, and was responsible for more than 400 hours of distinctive Australian television programming - including animation, documentary, drama and feature films.
Bridget was Associate Director, Film for the 2002 Adelaide Festival, which, in a world first, commissioned four new feature films: The Tracker, Australian Rules, Walking on Water and Kabbarli. She produced Sarah Watt’s debut feature film Look Both Ways (opening film, Adelaide Film festival, 2005 and winner of AFI Awards for Best Film, Director and Screenplay, 2005). During 2005 and 2006 she was a feature film Evaluation Manager at the FFC (now Screen Australia). She has now completed Sarah Watt’s second feature, My Year Without Sex (2009), which also opened the Adelaide Film Festival.
Chapter 1 - The business of producing - 12 minutes
- Producing is a business – just - and a hairy one
- Working in broadcasting and at the FFC helped to subsidise my practice – and broadened my experience
- Relying on my instinct 100% in project selection
- Haven’t risked my house or other assets for a project
- Never had a business plan - it’s in my head
- Working mostly with women – but driven by the material, and the question of audience
- About to work with a male director, on my first documentary
- My Year Without Sex has offset money in it – but was financed in the transitional stage
- Offset seems very time-consuming – but producers having equity is an excellent idea
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Chapter 2 - Collaboration and audiences - 16 minutes
- 2009 likely to be a tough year - production down
- Not all Producer Offset objectives may be achievable
- An active participant in distribution decisions with partner John Maynard (Footprint Films)
- Wouldn’t want to work without that – it’s all about reaching an audience
- We contribute financially to the distribution of My Year Without Sex
- Commercial and creative decisions are fully integrated, shared among entire team
- Always keen to reach the widest possible audience
- Sharing details of producer’s functions with the director – but not creating a burden for them
- Opportunistic, strategic financing strategy
- Projects kept modest and containable to enable ready financing
- Every single film throws up new parameters and challenges
- My body of work is consistent
- Learnt to avoid working with people who work in a conflict environment
- 2009 is the best opportunity in years for Australian audiences to connect with our films
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