Thanks to glamorous Paris-set shows like “Lupin” and “Emily in Paris” topping Netflix charts — and daring French female directors Julia Ducournau (“Titane”) and Audrey Diwan (“Happening”) winning top prizes at the Cannes and Venice film festivals — France drew more eyeballs worldwide in 2021 than it has in years. A groundbreaking agreement with global streamers to invest up to €300 million ($333 million) in French content looks to continue that trend. And building on all that momentum, the government is splashing soft money to help French creatives and locations conquer international markets, with a focus on the U.S.
In the streaming era, where language barriers and borders are more permeable, creatives are becoming go-to ambassadors, as evidenced recently by French President Emmanuel Macron’s massive investment scheme, France 2030, which looks to revitalize the country’s industrial sectors, including the film and audiovisual industries. One initiative stemming from the mandate, which targets €600 million for culture,...
In the streaming era, where language barriers and borders are more permeable, creatives are becoming go-to ambassadors, as evidenced recently by French President Emmanuel Macron’s massive investment scheme, France 2030, which looks to revitalize the country’s industrial sectors, including the film and audiovisual industries. One initiative stemming from the mandate, which targets €600 million for culture,...
- 12/22/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
One way to help the film industry prepare for the post-covid future would be to look at lessons from the past, a Monday seminar at Tiffcom, the market component of the Tokyo International Film Festival, heard.
Shiina Yasushi, head of Tiffcom, said that Japanese film studios faced a similar dilemma with the growth of home video in the 1980s. They managed to counter falling box office revenues by getting into video themselves. “My concern is how we can enjoy revenues from streaming markets, especially SVOD,” he said.
Other speakers at the session included: Mathieu Fournet, head of the international policy unit at France’s National Film Center (Cnc); and Jang Gwang-soo, industry support division executive director at the Korean Film Council (Kofic).
Despite the emergence of the occasional blockbuster, like the Japanese anime megahit “Demon Slayer,” overall box office numbers were heavily impacted by the pandemic last year, the panelists said.
Shiina Yasushi, head of Tiffcom, said that Japanese film studios faced a similar dilemma with the growth of home video in the 1980s. They managed to counter falling box office revenues by getting into video themselves. “My concern is how we can enjoy revenues from streaming markets, especially SVOD,” he said.
Other speakers at the session included: Mathieu Fournet, head of the international policy unit at France’s National Film Center (Cnc); and Jang Gwang-soo, industry support division executive director at the Korean Film Council (Kofic).
Despite the emergence of the occasional blockbuster, like the Japanese anime megahit “Demon Slayer,” overall box office numbers were heavily impacted by the pandemic last year, the panelists said.
- 11/2/2021
- by Mark Schilling
- Variety Film + TV
Changes in local financing coupled with new opportunities in global distribution have pushed the French industry towards a more international outlook, argued panelists at a Tuesday round table presented as part of UniFrance’s Rendez-vous With French Cinema.
“[For certain French producers] ‘international’ used to mean who would take care of their talent when they travelled,” said film exporter Nicolas Brigaud-Robert. “[Only] today, with the way that we finance films having changed, that concern is much more widespread.”
Throughout the export focused talk – which brought together sales agents Brigaud-Robert of Playtime, and Emilie Georges of Memento, producer Bénédicte Couvreur of Lilies Films, and Cnc exec Mathieu Fournet – the panelists detailed the ways French actors could seize international opportunities.
Coming off the global success of “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” Couvreur looked to bank on newfound international attention when preparing her next film with director Céline Sciamma, the recently wrapped “Petite Maman.”
“It was important...
“[For certain French producers] ‘international’ used to mean who would take care of their talent when they travelled,” said film exporter Nicolas Brigaud-Robert. “[Only] today, with the way that we finance films having changed, that concern is much more widespread.”
Throughout the export focused talk – which brought together sales agents Brigaud-Robert of Playtime, and Emilie Georges of Memento, producer Bénédicte Couvreur of Lilies Films, and Cnc exec Mathieu Fournet – the panelists detailed the ways French actors could seize international opportunities.
Coming off the global success of “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” Couvreur looked to bank on newfound international attention when preparing her next film with director Céline Sciamma, the recently wrapped “Petite Maman.”
“It was important...
- 1/15/2021
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
The Venice Production Bridge panel entitled “Opportunities and challenges in the Arthouse sector following the pandemic” saw the participation of seven prestigious speakers. On 5 September, the third day of the Venice Production Bridge (3-11 September), a panel entitled “Opportunities and challenges in the Arthouse sector following the pandemic” took place at the Hotel Excelsior's Spazio Incontri. The discussion, moderated by Cineuropa's own editor-in-chief Domenico La Porta, saw the participation of seven industry speakers, namely Cnc's director of international relations Mathieu Fournet, Iffr director Vanja Kaludjercic, President of Cicae and of the Ag Kino association of German arthouse cinemas Christian Bräuer, President of the Fice association of Italian arthouse cinemas Domenico Di Noia, Imagine Film Distribution's associate manager Tinne Bral, Poland's Kino Pod Baranami director and member of Krakow Film Klaster Marynia Gierat and chair of the European Parliament's Culture and Education Committee Sabine Verheyen. La Porta, after introducing the.
Following a two-year absence, France will be back among the partner countries of Locarno Pro’s Alliance 4 Development platform that facilitates cooperation between existing co-development funds in Switzerland, Italy, Germany and – well – France, once again.
Launched by the Locarno fest’s industry side in 2014, the initiative aims to test market potential and to form creative alliances and foster European co-productions at early stages of development. France had pulled out in 2018 for unspecified reasons, possibly caused by financial constraints.
“European co-productions are obviously a priority for us right now,” Mathieu Fournet, who is director of international affairs at France’s famed Cnc national film board, told Variety. “We have very strong relationships with Germany and Italy, and we have bilateral funds with these countries,” he noted.
Fournet said the Cnc recently started to look at what they could do to “reinforce co-productions,” and rejoining Alliance 4 Development was a natural step given...
Launched by the Locarno fest’s industry side in 2014, the initiative aims to test market potential and to form creative alliances and foster European co-productions at early stages of development. France had pulled out in 2018 for unspecified reasons, possibly caused by financial constraints.
“European co-productions are obviously a priority for us right now,” Mathieu Fournet, who is director of international affairs at France’s famed Cnc national film board, told Variety. “We have very strong relationships with Germany and Italy, and we have bilateral funds with these countries,” he noted.
Fournet said the Cnc recently started to look at what they could do to “reinforce co-productions,” and rejoining Alliance 4 Development was a natural step given...
- 8/7/2020
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The line-up has been set for the 2020 edition of Bridging the Dragon, an initiative run by the Cannes Marche du Film in collaboration with the Sino-European producers.
The two-day program focusing on China will look to address questions surrounding how the pandemic will affect the Chinese market from production and distribution standpoints. It will be pivoted to online this year due to the ongoing lockdown, as per the rest of the Marche, and will run June 23-24. It will involve one-to-one matchmaking meetings and a series of panel discussions.
Among the speakers will be: Anna Marsh, CEO of Studiocanal; Jeffrey Chan, Executive Vice President of Bona Film Group; veteran Chinese producer and distributor Jerry Ye; Ulf Israel, Managing Director of Senator Film / Wild Bunch; Cheng Leer, Vice President of Mahua Fun Age Pictures; Mathieu Fournet, Head of European and international affairs of the French National Cinema Centre (Cnc); and Liu Chun,...
The two-day program focusing on China will look to address questions surrounding how the pandemic will affect the Chinese market from production and distribution standpoints. It will be pivoted to online this year due to the ongoing lockdown, as per the rest of the Marche, and will run June 23-24. It will involve one-to-one matchmaking meetings and a series of panel discussions.
Among the speakers will be: Anna Marsh, CEO of Studiocanal; Jeffrey Chan, Executive Vice President of Bona Film Group; veteran Chinese producer and distributor Jerry Ye; Ulf Israel, Managing Director of Senator Film / Wild Bunch; Cheng Leer, Vice President of Mahua Fun Age Pictures; Mathieu Fournet, Head of European and international affairs of the French National Cinema Centre (Cnc); and Liu Chun,...
- 6/4/2020
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
San Sebastian — On Monday at the San Sebastian Film Festival the European Film Forum hosted a presentation and two panels highlighting new financing and collaboration models for promoting European works.
Both panels were hosted by Rafael Lambea of Spanish non-profit Crea Sgr.
In 2016 Crea Sgr was the first agency to make use of new financing mechanisms established by the European Investment Fund, represented on Monday by Laoura Ntziourou who talked about ways in which the fund helps SMEs from creative and cultural services secure financing at each stage of production processes.
The first panel, Co-financing Formulas for Better Exploitation of Rights, featured conversations about new financing and collaboration models. Case studies were presented to illustrate production, distribution and exhibition possibilities combining both public and private sector financing.
Panelists included Ntziourou, two Spanish producers in Miramemira’s Xavier Font – who brought with him experiences from Oliver Laxe’s “Fire Will Come...
Both panels were hosted by Rafael Lambea of Spanish non-profit Crea Sgr.
In 2016 Crea Sgr was the first agency to make use of new financing mechanisms established by the European Investment Fund, represented on Monday by Laoura Ntziourou who talked about ways in which the fund helps SMEs from creative and cultural services secure financing at each stage of production processes.
The first panel, Co-financing Formulas for Better Exploitation of Rights, featured conversations about new financing and collaboration models. Case studies were presented to illustrate production, distribution and exhibition possibilities combining both public and private sector financing.
Panelists included Ntziourou, two Spanish producers in Miramemira’s Xavier Font – who brought with him experiences from Oliver Laxe’s “Fire Will Come...
- 9/23/2019
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
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