Efftee Studios was an early Australian film and theatre production studio, established by F.W. Thring (the name 'Efftee' deriving from his initials, 'FT' for Francis Thring) in 1930. It existed until Thring's death in 1935. Initially Efftee Films was based in Melbourne and used optical sound equipment imported from the US.

History

In 1931, the company produced the first commercially viable Australian made sound feature film, Diggers. Over the next five years, Efftee produced nine features, over 80 shorts and several stage productions, including the Australian musicals Collits' Inn (1933) and The Cedar Tree (1934). Notable collaborators include C. J. Dennis, George Wallace and Frank Harvey. In 1934, Thring suspended Efftee's operations to pressure the government to establish a quota for Australian films, threatening to move production to London. He relocated production to Sydney to take advantage of the New South Wales Cinematograph Films (Australian Quota) Act 1935. Efftee was also the first operator of Melbourne radio station 3XY which began broadcasting on 9 September 1935. Thring traveled to Hollywood in March 1936 to look for scriptwriters and actors and returned in June but died soon after. Founder F.W. Thring was the father of the Australian and international actor, Frank Thring.

Selected filmography

Features

Non-Efftee features shot in the Efftee Studio

The 'Efftee Entertainers' Variety Shorts

Two-Reel Efftee shorts

Theatre shows

Unmade films

Sources