In response to some beancounters declaring that CinefestOZ added $1.7 million to the local economy, the WA government has announced that it will fund a prize of $100,000 for the 2014 Festival from Royalties for regions, through the Eventscorp Regional Events program. This will make it the largest film prize in Australia to date.
The government is banking on the increased prize attracting some bigger names to the Festival as well as greater national and international media attention, and a little more froth and bubble to promote Western Australia and the South-West region.
The Festival is reported to have grown from 1900 ticket sales at it’s inception in Busselton in 2008 to more than 12,400 tickets sold in 2013.
CinefestOZ 2014 will run from August 20-24.