Aussie Film Commission Defends 'Picnic' Handling, Attitude
Towards Prods. (Variety Feb. 21, 1977)
The controversy over the handling of the Peter Weir feature, "Picnic
at Hanging Rock" stepped up last week when the Australian Film
Commission made a formal riposte to the interview in New York with
Variety (Jan. 10) given by Jim McElroy, the films coproducer.
Alan Wardrope, the AFC's director of marketing and distribution,
described McElroy's comments as "characterized by inaccuracy" and noted
the tardiness of the film-maker in airing his views "some three years
after the alleged events and some six months after the film has been
sold to the U.S. market."
Wardrope also took exception to the way in which McElroy described
the Film Commission as only recently to have "realized" the importance
of the producer. Said he: "To suggest that the AFC has only just become
aware of the importance of producers is naive in the extreme and serves
only to deny the track record of the AFC in assisting producers to get
their projects off the ground and into production and also to expose
their finished product in the marketplace."
Getting specific about the controversy over the handling of "Picnic
At Hanging Rock" by the Commission, Wardrope said: "Specifically, so far
as 'Picnic' is concerned, all marketing decisions were made by investors
and the Commission does not have a majority vote."
He stated further that "at no time was $1,000,000 placed on the film
in negotiations for the U.S. and in fact at Cannes in 1976, the up
fronts discussed ran from $250,000 to $500,000."
"The sale was eventually made by Milton Pickman of Los Angeles and
the investors were delighted he accepted the film and delighted that he
sold it,"Wardrope stated. As to a small U.S. independent getting what
McElroy described as a six-month option on the film, Wardrope denies
this. "No one ever had a six month option on the film, and to suggest
this put the film's sales chances on the back burner for such a period
is pure nonsense."
Stressing the AFC's role in the development of the industry,
Wardrope said "The facts are that of all domestic funding sources the
Australian Film Commission has not only put more cash into producers'
hands than any other financing group, but also has put up most finance
in terms of marketing advances and completion guarantees.
"When other investors balk at putting up additional to budged
production costs, it falls to the AFC to come up with these funds so
that the film may be completed and have a chance in the various
international marketplaces."
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