|
Search By:
|
Australia |
|
||
|
1896-1930 |
||||
| 1896 | ||||
| 22/8 - | The first public screening is given at the Melbourne Opera House in Bourke Street. [MORE] | |||
| 1897 | ||||
 |
||||
| 4/4 - | Salvation army worker Joseph Perry gives the country’s first public film screening. [MORE] | |||
| 1899 | ||||
| Mar - | Frederick Charles Wills begins shooting a series of government-financed films. [MORE] | |||
| 1906 | ||||
 |
||||
| 23/12 - | The world’s first feature film, The Story of The Kelly Gang, is premiered at the Athenaeum Hall in Melbourne. The film lasts 70 minutes and was produced by the theatrical company J & N Tait of Melbourne. [MORE] [ADD] | |||
| – British exhibitor T. J. West opens the country’s first purpose-built cinema. [MORE] [ADD] | ||||
| 1909 | ||||
| – The largest cinema to date is opened in Melbourne by T. J. West. It accommodates an audience of 4,000. [MORE] [ADD] | ||||
| 1910 | ||||
| 28/11 - | The country’s first newsreel, Pathe’s Animated Gazette (Australasian Edition), is issued. [MORE] | |||
| 1911 | ||||
| Early - | West’s Pictures buys the Australian branch of Pathe. [MORE] [ADD] | |||
| Mar - | Following the success of The Story of the Kelly Gang, industrial chemical company Johnson & Gibson and J &N Tait merge to form the Amalgamated Picture Company in Melbourne. [MORE] [ADD] | |||
| Dec - | The Australian government appoints a Commonwealth Photographer to film official events and government promotional films. [MORE] [ADD] | |||
| 1912 | ||||
| Sept - |
Producer Cozens Spencers constructs a $10,000 studio at Rushcutter’s Bay, Sydney. [MORE] [ADD] |
|||
| Nov - | Amalgamated Picture Company, West’s Pictures and Spencer’s Pictures merge to create General Film Company of Australasia, Australia’s largest film company. [MORE] [ADD] | |||
| - Following the banning of bushranger films by South Australia the previous year, both Victoria and the New South Wales police department follow suit. [MORE] [ADD] | ||||
| 1913 | ||||
| Jan - |
J D Williams Amusement Co. and General Film Company join forces to form ‘the combine,’ cinema’s first example of vertical integration. Production and distribution come under the banner of Australasia Films, while exhibition is handled by Union Theatres. [MORE] [ADD] |
|||
| 1916 | ||||
| 1919 | ||||
| Films of Note | ||||
 |
||||
|
The Sentimental Bloke (Raymond Longford) [MORE] [ADD] |
||||
| 1926 | ||||
|
– In Melbourne, Electric Theatres and Hoyt Pictures merge to form Hoyts Theatres, a circuit of 70 cinemas. [MORE] [ADD] |
||||
| 1927 | ||||
|
The Australian federal government establishes a Select Committee (which is upgraded to a Royal Commission in June) to investigate monopoly in the Australian film industry. [MORE] [ADD] |
||||
|
– US productions account for 87% of films screened in Australia. UK imports account for 5%, and the balance is made up by other countries. [MORE] [ADD] |
||||
| 1928 | ||||
| Apr - |
Following a report by the Royal Commission into monopoly practices in the Australian Film Industry, a clause in distribution/exhibition contracts allows a 5% rejection of US films in favour of Australian product. [MORE] [ADD] |
|||
| 1929 | ||||
| 2/1 - |
The Censorship Board and Appeals Board come into operation following 1927’s Royal Commission on the film industry. [MORE] [ADD] |
|||
| Mar - |
The last edition of the silent Australian Gazette silent cinema newsreel is released. [MORE] [ADD] |
|||
|
– Due to the failure of 1927’s Royal Commission to have any impact, and the cost of the introduction of sound, film production is at its lowest since 1909. [MORE] [ADD] |
||||
| 1930 | ||||
| 23/5 - |
Fellers, the first Australian sound film, receives a press screening. The film is produced by Artaus Films and directed by Austin Fay and Arthur Higgins. [MORE] [ADD] |
|||
|
– Following a recommendation by the Royal Commission in 1928, cash awards are offered for films, but lack of suitable productions means only an award for third place is given. [MORE] [ADD] |