Austral Photoplay Company Explained

The Austral Photoplay Company was a short lived Australian production and distribution company. It was established in Melbourne in 1913 by A. C. Tinsdale and later transferred to Sydney in 1917.^[1] It initially sought to raise £10,000 to make a film about the goldfields.^[2]

It raised funds to make movies via public subscription; people would pay for the right to appear in the film. They later purchased the negatives of films made by the Australian Film Syndicate in 1911–12.^{[3] [4]}

In 1917 Tinsdale shot footage for a feature in Ballarat called Women and Gold which was never completed.^[3]

The company was still trying to raise funds in 1919^[5] and also later in 1920, under another name.^[6]

Select Credits

• The Life's Romance of Adam Lindsay Gordon (1916) – distribution only
• The Laugh on Dad (1918)
• Dad Becomes a Grandad (1918) – short
• Through Australian Wilds (1918) – documentary with Francis Birtles
• A Romance of Burke and Wills Expedition of 1860 (1918)
• Scars of Love (1918)

Notes and References

1. News: AUSTRAL PHOTOPLAY COMPANY. . . Frankston, Vic. . 13 June 1914 . 10 July 2012 . 2. MORNING. National Library of Australia.
2. News: Advertising. . . Frankston, Vic. . 13 June 1914 . 10 July 2012 . 2. MORNING . National Library of Australia.
3. Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, p 75
4. News: Local Moving Pictures. . . Parramatta, NSW . 24 May 1919 . 10 July 2012 . 11 . National Library of Australia.
5. News: Advertising. . . NSW . 10 May 1919 . 10 July 2012 . 6 . National Library of Australia.
6. News: WHAT MR. THEODORE THINKS. . . Perth . 19 February 1921 . 10 July 2012 . 4 . National Library of Australia.