Entertainment
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Industry sectors
The entertainment industry is a very wide and diverse industry with a number of sectors. These cover all aspects of the production of any type of live theatre or event. This may include:
Drama
Drama is generally defined as a performance work with written parts (scripts) for actors to perform. The Drama sector uses theatres for its main venues but it can also be performed outside of theatres. The main role of the drama sector is to put on live plays and musicals for patrons to watch.
One of the best known training institutions in Australia for training actors and technicians in theatre craft is the National Institute for Dramatic Arts (NIDA). Technicians are required for the drama sector in areas such as lighting, audio, staging and vision. Front of house personnel such ushers, booking agents and other staff are also a part of the drama sector.
Ballet
Ballet is a form of dance which requires highly developed technique and skill. A ballet usually conveys a story and has sets and scenery. One of the best known ballets is ‘Swan Lake’ which is a classical ballet set to music written by Tchaikovsky. The Australian Ballet Company is one of Australia’s biggest traditional ballet companies. It was founded in 1962. You can see photos and videos from The Australian Ballet Company’s website at:
http://www.australianballet.com.au/ 
>>Downloads>>Videos
Contemporary Australian dance companies, such as the Bangarra Dance Theatre, blend traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and culture with contemporary dance. You can view video clips and read about their set design on their website at:
http://www.bangarra.com.au/ .
Concerts
Concerts are considered to be one of the most exciting sectors of the entertainment industry. Many young entertainment workers dream of operating the audio console at a major rock concert. However, concerts are not just the domain of the rock industry. There are also jazz concerts, folk concerts, orchestral concerts, operatic concerts and a variety of other forms of music concerts. Concerts can be held in small venues, such as clubs and halls, or large venues, such as the Sydney Entertainment Centre and the Sydney Opera House. The largest concert venues tend to be outdoor venues. For example, the Big Day Out series of concerts in 2006 had an attendance of 223,000 people.
Festivals
Festivals can be one day events at a specific locality, for example the Thirlmere Festival of Steam, or they can be over a much longer time period with a variety of venues and events contributing to them. The Sydney Festival started in the 1970s to replace the Waratah Festival which featured a parade and stalls in Hyde Park. The Sydney Festival encompasses many performing arts events held at locations throughout the city, including concerts at the Domain, events at the Olympic Site at Homebush, theatre productions at the Sydney Theatre and concerts at the Sydney Opera House. The Sydney Festival lasts for three weeks in January.
Festivals often have a theme, such as ‘Brigadoon’ a Scottish Highland festival held in the Southern Highlands at Bundanoon. Festivals provide employment for many workers in the entertainment industry. The Sydney Festival takes approximately $6 million dollars at the box office every year, providing valuable employment for workers in the Entertainment industry. Festivals also provide a boost to income for the host town.
Information about Australian festivals can be found at the Australian Government Culture and Recreation Portal website:
http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/ >>Collection of stories and articles>>Festivals in Australia
Corporate theatre and communication
Corporate theatre is the largest sector in the entertainment industry, in terms of turnover, employment and venues. Common types of corporate theatre and communication events include:
- product launches - every time a new car model is launched, a lavish event is used to launch it, usually in several different parts of the country.
- annual general meetings of large companies – these require extensive entertainment industry support. Microphones need to be set up for each director to speak from and audio visual displays need to work properly without delay.
- conferences and industry awards nights – these are multimedia events and occur on a regular basis. A Western Australian Company, Corporate Theatre Productions, produces and directs over 40 awards nights a year. You can visit Corporate Theatre Productions’ website to find more information about the large variety of corporate theatre they undertake:
http://www.corporatetheatreproductions.com.au/ctp/
Sporting
Technical support at a sporting event may be as simple as a single microphone for announcements or as complex as an audio system with 100 inputs, screens for visions systems and theatrical lighting (if an evening event) for half time entertainment.
Even the simplest set up, which allows the crowd to hear an announcer from a single microphone, still requires a distributed speaker system to be set up around the entire sportsground. In these types of events, if an in-house system is to be used, a system engineer will arrive early at the venue and test the system, monitor it during the day and turn it off at the end of the day. At an event which has musical entertainment before or during the event, a full system may be brought in with a number of people to operate it.
The Telstra Stadium at the Olympic site at Homebush has a Bose speaker system driven by crown amplifiers, which is generally adequate for announcements and pre-recorded music. However, when a high profile performer is brought in to perform at an event, often a more powerful system is specified. This requires:
- a bump in crew to set the system up prior to the event
- a systems engineer to monitor it during the event
- an experienced technician to operate the audio mixing console
- a crew to dismantle the system (or bump it out) after the event is over.
Cultural
The cultural sector includes a number of different aspects of the entertainment industry, depending on the type of event taking place.
Chinese New Year is a cultural festival which lasts for 15 days and includes street parades and firework displays.
Many cultural events held by indigenous Australians have a strong focus on music and dance, since this is one of the major ways that members of this group maintain their cultural identity. Performance groups are able to apply for funding through funding bodies such as The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board (ATSIA) to tour Australia promoting their culture. These tours require technical support from the entertainment industry and provide a source of income for both performers and technicians.
ATSIA has a partnership with the Australia Council for the Arts. Further information about ATSIA can be found at the Australia Council for the Arts website:
http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/artforms/aboriginal_and_torres_strait_islander_arts
Festivals Australia is another funding body which supports cultural festivals in Australia. The following information from its website summarises its purpose:
“Festivals Australia is an Australian Government cultural funding program which provides assistance to Australian regional and community festivals for the presentation of quality cultural projects.”
You can find more information about Festivals Australia by going to the Australian Government Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts website http://www.arts.gov.au/arts/festivals_australia >>Arts and Culture>>Arts>>Festivals Australia
Charitable
Charitable events requiring support form the entertainment industry range from formal events, such as the ‘Make a Wish Ball’ held at Luna Park, to outdoor picnic events such as the ‘LJ Hooker Big Brunch’. Formal events require corporate theatre-style technical support whereas outdoor events require distributed sound reinforcement to enable speakers or performers to communicate with the large crowds.
Public celebrations
Public celebrations can occur for a variety of reasons. Some are annual events, while others are one-off celebrations due to special events, for example the official public celebrations held when Australia won the right to host the Olympic Games.
The annual New Years Eve celebration in Sydney is one of Australia’s biggest public celebrations. Each year approximately 1.5 million people watch the fireworks over Sydney Harbour and listen to the music accompanying them. Speakers are set up throughout the main public viewing areas, including on the Cahill Expressway. These speakers have to be set up prior to the event and supervised throughout the duration of the event, from bump in to bump out. Apart from the fireworks display, New Years Eve is a very busy time for all public entertainment venues in the city.
Other national public celebrations which require entertainment technical support include Australia Day and ANZAC Day.
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