Company used to promote government arts package found to be ineligible for funding

Creative Productions was visited by the Prime Minister in July

A company featured during the promotion of the Morrison Government’s $250million arts sector relief package has criticised the Prime Minister after discovering it is ineligible for funding.

As the Nine papers report, Creative Productions, a technical services company based on the Gold Coast, was visited by Scott Morrison in July. Despite the package being announced back in June, the guidelines of the $75million Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) grant fund, which is part of the larger $250million, were only published last week.

Creative Productions provided $100,000 in pro bono services to the Fire Fight benefit concert in February.

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Creative Productions chief financial officer Stephen Knight said the company hasn’t received any revenue since March. Additionally, he said Creative Productions isn’t eligible for support from the RISE fund as the funding is tailored for events and touring companies and not directly for companies specialising technical services such as lighting or sound.

Only when events and touring companies can safely operate again would technical services companies like Creative Productions be employed and receive flow-on income from the government funding.

“Right now we have very little support to keep going,” Knight told Nine. “The entire industry is being left for dead. If this continues, at the end of this pandemic you will have no production companies left to actually stage any events.

Creative Productions has been receiving JobKeeper subsidies for 21 of its workers, but it is operating on a reduced rent which it will eventually need to pay back.

A spokesperson for the Federal Government said Creative Productions would be contacted to discuss support options.

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“We know the enormous challenges facing so many businesses like Creative Productions and we’ll continue to work closely with every sector and deliver further support as needed,” the spokesperson said.

The RISE fund guidelines indicate it could take up to three months from submitting the grant application for a successful applicant to receive the funding.

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