Cate Blanchett and Chris Hemsworth have called on the Australian government to support the film and TV industry.
Cate Blanchett
The 'Thor: Ragnarok' stars have signed an open letter to government officials from the Australian Directors' Guild, the Australian Writers' Guild, the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance, the Screen Producers Australia, and the Casting Guild of Australia, which asks for more support of the movie and television industry in Australia.
The letter reads: "We are storytellers - writers, producers, directors, casts and crews who make screen stories that honour past Australians and connect present and future generations to our history and to our values. You are elected representatives - the custodians of Australia's stories, our unique culture. You create the environment within which our nation's stories thrive or die. Ours is a partnership. And we need your help.
"Our ability to keep telling Australian stories on screen is at risk, our voices in danger of being drowned out by a deluge of overseas content. And if our nation's stories aren't told, they die. And when they die, future generations won't know who we are and what makes us us. That's why we need to 'Make it Australian'.
"We need: Australian content rules to evolve, to cover new media like Netflix, Amazon, Telstra TV, telcos and ISPs; Competitive tax incentives; and well-funded public broadcasters and screen agencies. Then we can compete. Australians telling the diverse stories of our people, our country. We call on parliamentarians, the custodians of our uniquely Australian stories, to commit to growing our screen industry so that our Australian stories will be told to our children, grandchildren and the generations of Australians that follow."
The letter has been signed by over 150 actors, directors and producers.
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