In Gott's Treasure, a CD-ROM created by Australian game developer, Greg Zaritski, two characters roam the globe looking for riches, not unlike Australian multimedia developers trying to make it in the global marketplace. ©1997 GZ-

The problem with Australia has always been distance. It's a fair whack from one side of the country to the other, and an even further whack to the rest of the world. No wonder it was the ideal place for the English to send their convicts in the 18th century; the probability of seeing them back in England to steal another loaf of bread (aghast!) was next to nil.

The problem remains to this day (the distance, not the convicts). As a consequence, Australians are, by and large, communication junkies. We are world leaders in per capita ownership of fax machines, and not far behind with mobile phones. The world is just as far away as it was in 1788, but at least now we can fax 'em.

The latest solution could be multimedia. Multimedia applications offer smart methods of bridging geographical isolation, and also offer possibilities for taking Australian technology to the rest of the world (the 'clever country' is a phrase that gets a fair work-out here). Laudably, Federal and State governments have hitched themselves firmly to the interactive bandwagon, and created a unique infrastructure which offers support both in terms of finances and resources. Australian multimedia creators have the option of assistance from several funding bodies. Principal among these are the Australian Multimedia Enterprise (AME), the Australian Film Commission (AFC), and the Multimedia 21 Fund.

One of the many difficulties in discussing multimedia is that it's so damn broad; the word covers anything from touch screen information kiosks to intelligent toasters. To narrow the focus, I'll use examples from my favorite form: computer games. Don't make that face. Some of them are darn educational.

The Australian Multimedia Enterprise
In 1994 the then Prime Minister Paul Keating threw $84 million Aust. into the multimedia bucket with his Creative Nation policy. Creative Nation was designed to foster multimedia in Australia over a three-year period, and provided for the creation of the Australian Multimedia Enterprise (AME), a body which would oversee the investment of the lion's share of money provided by the scheme.

Under the byword of "finance for the multimedia content industry," the AME has since its inception invested $15.8 million in 38 projects with total budgets of $31.7 million, and funded 70 concepts to a total of $3.3 million. AME investment is on a buy-back basis; the organization provides funds to assist in development, on the understanding that a sum equal to double the advance will be repaid when the project attracts a publisher or other investors. Until then, the AME owns its share.

Alfred Milgrom is on the board of the AME. As manager of Beam International, a company with a 15-year history of producing computer games, he is one of Australia's longest-serving multimedia professionals. Milgrom says, "There has been a history of pork barreling with funding schemes for the arts in Australia. At its worst, projects would be launched purely with a mind to attract funding, with no real job at a multimedia company. ME forced people to look at commercial realities, and to have a proper business plan."