Snaring audiences for feature films has become somewhat of a "train wreck" for the industry as online streaming continues to shake old cinematic models to the core.

Screen Australia chief executive Graeme Mason delivered this blunt assessment to aspiring directors, producers and writers in Adelaide for the sold-out Screen Makers Conference (SMC).

Graeme Mason has an extensive history from film production, sales and acquisitions to distribution. ( ABC Radio Adelaide: Malcolm Sutton )

He said the top 20 films in Australia last year, which included the Oscar-nominated local film Lion, took 93 per cent of the box office despite there being 700 releases.

"So the other 680 releases were all fighting over 7 per cent," Mr Mason said.

"All independent cinema, whether it's American studio indie or a British film, is struggling for that attention."

Horror films and children's films were still attractive to people wishing to share the experience with others in a cinema, as were comic book franchises such as Thor and The Avengers, but the old "holy grail" of making [independent] movies for the 18 to 24-year-old demographic was all but finished.

"They are not coming to the movies [to see independent films]," Mr Mason told the room of creatives.

"There's always going to be exceptions, which is the great thing about our business, but do your research."

Instead, streaming services like Netflix, Stan and the ABC's iview were continuing to gather momentum, as were YouTube sensations RackaRacka — Adelaide's own Danny and Michael Philippou — who have now amassed more than 700 million views to become "the most successful content creators in the country".

New players signify a changing of the guard

Mr Mason has a long and extensive background in filmmaking and acquisition and worked on films such as Trainspotting and Shallow Grave, which he admitted he "wouldn't make for cinema today; I'd make them for Netflix".

He said filmmakers could no longer rely on festivals and word of mouth to give their projects wings.

"An OK drama film is no longer good enough. It has to be great [otherwise] I will stay home and watch something on Netflix.

"The choices of what you can watch and when and how has gone astronomically out of control."

The annual Screen Makers Conference in Adelaide has sold out every year since it began in 2015. ( ABC Radio Adelaide: Malcolm Sutton )

And there is no sign of it abating with Facebook now commissioning scripted content in the United States, and Amazon and Apple trying to get a foothold into the market as well.

"There are double the amount of films getting released now than there were six years ago — double — but at the same moment the [cinematic] audience is [shrinking]," Mr Mason said.

"Will I bet a house on the existing big Hollywood film and TV studios all being here in 10 years? Absolutely not.

"Do I think that Amazon, Google and Facebook etcetera will in some way shape or form replace them? Absolutely.

"Opportunity for everybody is in these new platforms."

Mr Mason said while feature films were "hands down the most difficult thing to do at the moment", they were still important and it was about working out how to make new opportunities "work for you" in a "transitioning market".

Investment in screens and cinemas ongoing

Australia's Madman Entertainment, a highly successful all-rights distributor founded by Paul Wiegard and Tim Anderson 22 years ago, has also stepped into the streaming game with Docplay, a platform devoted to world documentaries.

Mr Wiegard said any distributor or investor who did not take an "ever-evolving approach" would be in a "standstill position going backwards".

Madman Entertainment's Paul Wiegard founded the distribution company with Tim Anderson 22 years ago. ( Supplied: Media Resource Centre )

But he suggested Mr Mason's comments about Hollywood studios might have been aimed at shaking people into thinking deeply so they "were not in denial".

"There is absolutely a fundamental change in the way in which consumers are finding and engaging with their content, but there's many tales in this," Mr Wiegard said.

"There's an ageing population but there's a growing population and we have ongoing investment in screens and additional cinemas being added."

He agreed there was much more content being made for the big screen compared to 10 years ago, which was a response to digitisation.

"And this is certainly not a new idea among distributors, but there's an acknowledgement that there's not just one way to do things.

"Each film will have its own certain DNA, its own built audience ... and there's a lot more to that, either upstream, downstream, or in spin-offs."

Pitch-o-rama finalists given surprise award

As well as offering one-on-one pitching sessions with a variety of industry representatives, the conference, which was run by the Media Resource Centre, also included the Pitch-o-rama event for aspiring web series creators.

The winner this year was Inner Lucy by Ana Carbajo, a surreal comedy to be set inside a woman's vagina about life, relationships and sex, and which was awarded $10,000 in development funding from ABC iview and the MRC.

ABC Drama and Comedy commissioner Brett Sleigh said it was chosen from among 10 other finalists because it was a "little bit provocative and will draw people to iview".

Albert Jamae with the SAFC's Courtney Gibson and fellow recipient Lucy Gale. ( ABC Radio Adelaide: Malcolm Sutton )

In a surprise announcement, however, South Australian Film Corporation chief executive Courtney Gibson also awarded two other finalists with $5,000 each for development funding.

This included Lucy Gale for her web series Fortunate, which she said was about an astrophysics student who "gets sidetracked when she realises all her daily horoscopes are coming true".

"It was very generous of the SAFC to just kind of spontaneously add in some funds as well," Ms Gale said.

The other recipient was Albert Jamae for his dark comedy Four Feet Under, which is about a brother and sister who run their father's pet funeral parlour while he is in hospital with his "umpteenth terminal illness".

Eastern seaboard dominates federal funding

Screen Australia is the peak federal funding body and last financial year invested nearly $70 million into new film, television and online content.

Conference co-director Karena Slaninka said 94 per cent of that production occurred in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland with the exception of factual content.

Asked about his commitment to regional funding, Mr Mason said Screen Australia was on track this year to have invested 30 per cent of its funding into regional content.

He said this was significantly more than the 10 per cent recommended last year by a federal parliamentary inquiry.

Mr Mason admitted, however, that the figure did not distinguish between where a company might be from, but rather, where the money was spent.

"The problem with filming regionally is not finding the talent; it's the additional cost," he said.

"We just did Mystery Road, which was an incredible series and incredibly successful for the ABC and us, but the cost of filming that in regional Western Australia — oh my God.

"It would be double the cost of what it would be to film in Sydney or Brisbane and you could not have done that show without us and the ABC footing the bill because it simply does not make any economic sense."