Lush House ‘documentary’ wins tax subsidy
What's the difference between Documentaries and Infotainment? One get tax subsidies and the other doesn't.
- Published by David Knox
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The Administrative Appeals Tribunal has upheld a complaint by Production company Essential Media that Lush House, featuring Shannon Lush, qualifies for a Producers’ Tax Offset.
It ruled in favour of the show as Documentary after Screen Australia had knocked itg back as Infotainment.
As a Documentary it will receive 20% of its costs back under the subsidy scheme.
Essential Media had claimed similar programmes, including SBS series Is Your House Killing You? and ABC’s Stress Buster met the criteria.
A spokesperson tells News Limited, “Managing our homes is often the last thing on our minds. And yet as our homes become more disorganised, our lives become more stressful and unproductive.
“In this series, domestic guru Shannon Lush gives homemakers the skills to transform their homes and thereby transform their lives.”
On the show’s website at the LifeStyle Channel there is no mention of the genre: “Each week one family or household receives the Shannon Lush treatment. These are people who need her help to get their lives and homes in order. They are literally in a mess. Lush House is no snap your fingers make-over show.”
But shouldn’t a good Documentary really be giving two sides to an issue, leaving the viewer to make up their own mind?
Perhaps its time the Documentary guidelines incorporated the requirement that Documentaries express an editorial “point of view” by their filmmakers.
Otherwise where do we draw the line between Documentary, Observational, Reality, DIYÂ and Infotainment?
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- Tagged with Is Your House Killing You?, Lush House, Stress Buster
One Response
Another option would be acknowledge that non-fiction programs are hard to classify one way or the other, and so not subsidise any of them just for being “documentaries”.
Programs might either a) have to be made for a public broadcaster to get public money or b) have to apply for money based on it’s individual merits like most art projects looking for grants have to.