Peter Schrurs has taken over as interim director for at least three months.
Bero Beyer, director of lead public agency the Netherlands Film Fund, is stepping down temporarily from his post for “work-related health reasons.” Peter Schrurs, a former director of the Vpro, has now started as interim director.
It is not clear when Beyer will return to the fund although a fund spokesperson confirmed to Screen that Schrurs is expected to be at the fund for at least three months. He will be at the helm of the organisation alongside business director George van Breemen.
Schrurs also served as...
Bero Beyer, director of lead public agency the Netherlands Film Fund, is stepping down temporarily from his post for “work-related health reasons.” Peter Schrurs, a former director of the Vpro, has now started as interim director.
It is not clear when Beyer will return to the fund although a fund spokesperson confirmed to Screen that Schrurs is expected to be at the fund for at least three months. He will be at the helm of the organisation alongside business director George van Breemen.
Schrurs also served as...
- 1/31/2023
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Important News about European Co-productions and Streaming Options vis-à-vis IP rights: A Discussion with Doreen BoonekampDiscussions in Europe are taking place regarding a new funding chapter that puts social and cultural value above economic impact and yet takes into consideration the power of streaming and the rights’ holders share in this newest form of distribution.Doreen Boonekamp, CEO of the Netherlands Film Fund for a decade, was also Chair of the Omc Group of Member States’ Experts on Co-production, an important arena for sharing experience and best practices from different EU Member States and different parts of the audiovisual value chain. This Omc Group aims for further development of Europe’s pluralism, freedom of artistic expression and cultural diversity, integrating them into a single business model which also favors talent retaining ownership of intellectual property rights as digital production and distribution mature.
Doreen Boonekamp and Vice Chair Alex Traila have created the report Coproductions that Shine to elaborate on how this new funding chapter might take shape. Doreen and I discussed the topic of coproduction and especially the role streamers are now playing during Cannes at the Dutch Pavilion.
From the Palme d’Or of the Franco-Italian Il Gattopardo by Visconti in 1963 to the Palme d’Or of the 2022 Eurimages-supported Triangle of Sadness, produced by Plattform Produktion and Coproduction Office, in co-production with Film i Väst, Essential Films, Svt, BBC Films, Arte France Cinéma and Zdf/Arte, in collaboration with Heretic, Bord Cadre Films, Sovereign Films and Piano Films, and with support from the Swedish Film Institute, Danish Film Institute, Eurimages, the BFI (awarding National Lottery funding), Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and Nordisk Film & TV Fond, there is a famous European tradition of film co-production, which is rooted in the fertile ground of networks and relationships between European audiovisual professionals.
Among the 27 EU countries that drive filmmaking in a Europe which is doing its best to be pluralistic and inclusive, the meaning of “co-production” is several producers working together to leverage their mutual resources (financial, talent and material) and artistic collaboration, and most importantly to share risks, rights and revenues, in order to produce an audiovisual work. “Official” cinematographic co-productions are covered by international conventions or bilateral agreements.
The Omc report on co-productions is not only about cinematographic works covered by the revised Council of Europe Convention on Cinematographic Co-production, but is more about creating and sustaining organic forms of cooperation among EU-27 producers in features and in the field of TV series, a format that is thriving. While acknowledging the importance of co-productions with countries outside Europe, the Group decided to focus only on co-productions among EU-27 Member States in this report.
The report, Co-productions that Shine, is addressed to policy-makers at EU, national and sub-national level, as well as to professionals working in the audiovisual industry. For the recommendations to have the greatest possible impact, private stakeholders across the whole value chain — from creatives to end-of-chain operators —must commit to them and to cooperate among themselves as well as with public institutions. Effective implementation of the recommendations will be instrumental in the transformation of the European ecosystem.
Read the entire report here.
SydneysBuzz: Thank you for taking the time to discuss the issues facing European coproductions. I think that for all its problems, Europe (the EU and its Economic Council) is still an oasis for culture. This union, creating and distributing co-productions has been going on for more than 30 years. We are now seeing a generational shift, not only here in Europe but worldwide.
Doreen: More than 30 years ago in Europe, a set of institutions was created with the sole purpose of fostering and facilitating the birth of a European film industry. Thirty years ago, these initiatives ensured continuity and further development of European pluralism, freedom of artistic expression and cultural diversity, integrating them into a single business model. The set of institutions were:
Eave, the training ground for creative producers to develop international skills and projectsEuropean Audiovisual Observatory, the collecting and distributing information on the state of playEurimages, supporting European co-productionsEuropean Distribution Office, promoting and exporting European films outside Europe’s bordersMedia programme, enhancing the whole value chain from project development to support for festivals.
We knew culture, or more precisely storytelling through film and audiovisual works, catered to the unity of our continent’s inherited diversity. The centerpieces were authors and independent producers.
This is coming under question now as streamers move in and want to own the product in the way that the former Hollywood Studios used to do (and still do, though to a much lesser degree now). I know in France, the auteurs own their properties and I know producers want to own their work elsewhere, but the streamers want to dispense with such ownership.
Yes that presents a conflict. Today Europe is facing new challenges, and film and audiovisual are again at their heart.
At the same time, the challenges in terms of what is at stake are not so very different from 30 years ago. We do however feel the need to reconfirm the principles that bind us to safeguard creation and freedom of expression, as well as acknowledge and support the concept of cultural diversity to strengthen the European audiovisual ecosystem.
The main regulatory instruments that are relevant in the audiovisual sector are the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive adapting it to the emergence of streaming and video sharing platforms, the new Copyright Directive protecting creators in the digital age, and the Cinema Communication that frames how state aid can be allocated to the audiovisual sector.
Under the old American studio system, countries “blocked” local returns from American movie exhibition so that rather than export profits back to USA, monies were allocated to local production (which rarely made it out of the countries where they were produced).
Yes funds coming from American blockbusters and films produced and distributed by the studios were often blocked from leaving some countries and so were put into productions in those countries.
Of course then USA represented 90 of studio film revenues and now USA brings in less than 30 from the USA domestic market, the return on investment in question is much greater internationally.
Today more players in Europe than before combine production and distribution. This is particularly relevant for streaming platforms, which are not just involved in online ƒdistribution, but increasingly in production. There is, however, the possibility for member states to impose levies or investment obligations to contribute financially to the production of European works. One of these investments obligations ensures that 30 of the European works in the catalogs of streamers contribute to the production of more European works. All of this is laid down in more detail in the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive.
A number of powerful international streaming platforms have entered the European market and are successfully producing content in Europe. This has represented both an opportunity and a challenge for European independent audiovisual producers and works.
On the one hand, platforms can give European producers and artists access to financing and a wider international audience. On the other, the application by platforms of what could be defined as a “work-for-hire” model (i.e. the acquisition of all the intellectual property rights from the producer and/or from individual creators from the outset, worldwide and in perpetuity) can “lock in” producers/talents with the platform in question.
That raises concerns regarding ownership of intellectual property and represents risks for the diversity of content created and the autonomy of the European ecosystem.
This issue is particularly important as the importance of streaming has lately been considerably reinforced, as shown by recent trends in consumption habits. European citizens’ time spent on streaming platforms increased by 122 in 2020, driven in part by the closure of theatres in pandemic times. Video on demand outstripped live viewing by 68 to 32.
Despite the difficulty of striking balanced relationships, strong European co-productions are in a better position to thrive in a post-covid world. They are the very epitome of European works with public appeal. In this respect, co-productions are a response to and a way out of the current crisis. This is a renewed rationale for public funds to stimulate strong European co-productions, via incentives in their support.
Co-productions are powerful vehicles to address the challenges currently faced by the industry, namely the recovery from the crisis, the intensification of the digital domain, and the necessity of greening the sector.
What about IP rights ownership?
Over the last decades, the common understanding of co-production was to share IP rights as a return on investment for the creative and financial risks. This understanding of co-production has had a recognized structuring impact on the market.
IP is crucial for the monetization of content and for the independence from broadcasters and/or streaming platforms which comes with IP revenues.
In the TV sector, independent producers confirm that such IP requirements in public support have been instrumental when introducing reverting rights with broadcasters, with the obligation for exploitation rights to revert to the independent producer after 7 years (in the case of pre-sale to a broadcaster) or 10 years (in the case of co-production with a broadcaster).
Over the years, the requirement on intellectual property in the Media programme has helped independent producers recover the intellectual property of the works produced. In so doing, the Media programme has had a structuring effect on the TV market in Europe, and on co-productions.
I have heard that the major players (streamers like Apple, Amazon) do not want to deal with “small” European production companies. They just want to own the entire property which they own totally, produce and distribute.
When negotiating with major players, European production companies have limited bargaining power. This can result in models based on ceding full ownership of IP rights. This has in turn hindered the ability of the independent producers to recoup their investments and monetize their work on a long-term basis This leads to the need to reaffirm the classic European model based on independent production companies owning the IP and exploitation rights in line with the territoriality principle.
The European Producers Club (Epc) has carried out preparatory work on addressing this issue and has identified concrete guidelines on re-balancing these relationships (see Box).
The current situation of independent productions, in particular in the TV series sector, has professionals calling for the position of independent producers to be reinforced at critical moments of the production chain, notably in their relations with broadcasters and/or streaming platforms, and ensuring complementarity between national and pan-European public policies and support programs.
How can the balance of power between producers and streamers be equalized?
The question of the balance of power between market players with different business models not only influences the IP arrangements, but also fair access to viewing data. In the context of co-productions, co-producers should have access to data on the performance of their works.
While the box office figures of theatrical releases are monitored and available to professionals, the access to data from online exploitation, such as the number and length of views, is in the hands of the streaming platforms. This topic has been a recurrent request from independent producers in recent years. Access to this information is also crucial for public funding bodies, who need to calculate support in relation to a work’s performance.
The members of this Omc group stress the need to grant producers and relevant public authorities fair access to viewing data, as this is instrumental in understanding the audience in a fast evolving context. These figures are not only useful for producers and authors, and for film funds to adapt their support to the evolution of the markets, but also for the audience to make an informed choice.
Beyond access to data, any means favoring transparency, such as regular contacts and open dialogue, are instrumental in a healthy environment for strong European co-productions. The Media Outlook that the Commission services will publish in 2022 will also look at those trends and analyse their potential impact on the European market and existing business models.
What are your recommendations for stronger European co-productions?
The following recommendations emerged from the discussions of this Omc group and are addressed to policy-makers, key players and creatives in the audiovisual sector. Overall, they show how co-productions have the potential to make a special contribution by helping the sector address the combined challenges of the digital revolution, themCOVID-19 crisis and the greening of the audiovisual sector.
Our recommendations for producers are
1. Dream big and scale up to the European market.
As European co-productions rely on several partners from different countries, they trigger interest across borders. This is a way to increase the distribution of a given work, be it theatrical or online, and ultimately its audience. Therefore, production companies are encouraged to use co-productions as a launchpad to widen their native market from their original Member State to Europe as a whole.
2. Enhance co-creation within co-productions.
Starting cooperation upstream maximises the benefits of co-producing. To mean more than just pooling financial resources, co-productions imply co-creation. Relying on several producers reinforces the quality of the project, as it brings together the expertise of different producer profiles as well as of the different end-of-chain operators, such as broadcasters and streaming platforms. Collective writing boosts creativity and co-creation, which is the essence of European co-productions. Therefore, to maximise the benefit of co-producing, producers and authors are encouraged to develop contacts and to collaborate as early as the very preliminary stages of projects (conception, writing).
3. Nurture talents.
Talents are the foundation stones of European co-productions. Whether in front of or behind the camera, they benefit from and sustain the international career of a co-production. Production companies are those best placed to ensure that experience acquired from co-productions is shared among their staff and talents, to enable them to grow professionally and to think of Europe as their natural playground. Therefore, production companies are encouraged to use co-productions to develop talents at the European level and contribute to the strengthening, (re)positioning and consolidation of the European market.
4. Develop international skills.
Developing their network internationally is important for all professionals (producer, writer, director, cast, crew) if they are to feel comfortable with different working cultures, to open up to international job opportunities, and ultimately develop a genuine co-production mindset. International training schemes are particularly fit for this purpose. Whether they are dedicated to co-production or not, they are a unique way to liaise with professionals from other countries and become privileged co-production partners. European networks of professionals also enable best practice sharing, which in turn facilitates working together. Creative Europe Media supports the development of talents and skills among professionals. Professionals are encouraged to take initiatives and responsibility in developing their international skills and European networks.
Our recommendations for film funds
1. Open up further to boost co-productions.
The Covid-19 crisis has hit the audiovisual sector hard and co-productions are an opportunity to recover and build the future together. This is also an opportunity for film funds to assess and if necessary adjust their support to co-productions and move towards more open requirements focused on the work’s contribution to the sector. Film funds are invited to increase incentives for co-productions, whether they are majority or minority, in three ways:
— Push dedicated envelopes for co-productions in order to secure continuity in support.
— Extend the support for co-productions to the script development stage, since the value of starting to work together as early as possible has been established and should in turn translate into possible support to co-producers to enable them to co-develop.
— Offer support to professionals to take part in international training programs.
2. Align to avoid incompatibilities.
Co-productions are complex vehicles to drive. Producers sometimes struggle to identify the relevant schemes to support their co-productions. More transparency about the different schemes (e.g. making information on schemes available in English) and clarity as to the granting criteria are needed to facilitate co-productions at European level. Online tools should be developed to give clear and simple publicly accessible information and guidance to professionals. Certain support schemes, including some on a regional or local level, as well as fiscal incentives, require extensive national participation in the supported works, such as days of filming, members of the cast or crew and national expenses. However, these requirements may be hard to combine and hence become less effective and efficient. Moreover, requirements related to national expenditures may also demonstrate limitations when faced with the intensification of the digital transition, the public health crisis and the greening of audiovisual.
Film funds are encouraged to streamline their conditions and to ease spending obligations to increase the chances of supporting works that are likely to act as locomotives for the sector and in addition to reduce the administrative burden for producers.
3. Play IP as a team.
Currently, there is a lack of fair deal structures, i.e. platforms oriented towards rights ownership in the long run versus independent producers having to sell their content and exploitation rights to stay afloat in the short run despite their interest in IP retention in the long run. This is exacerbated by differences in the players’ negotiating power. However, fair deals benefit the European audiovisual industry as a whole, as ownership of rights that can be exploited is instrumental in enabling independent producers to grow and in boosting the diversity of the cinematographic works and TV series developed and created. Therefore, public support, in particular selective aid, can structure the sector by incentivizing fair deals and reserving support to works produced by independent producers keeping a certain share of rights. To do so, public support schemes should in their selection process take into account IP and exploitation rights arrangements between the different partners.
Our recommendations addressed to all public and private players
1. Innovate!
Joining forces also creates an opportunity to try new approaches. On the financial side, different instruments are available, such as the Cultural and Creative Sector Guarantee Facility. On societal challenges, such as sustainability, the audiovisual industry has a specific responsibility to take the lead due to its power to influence attitudes. On the technological side, co-productions can experiment with new techniques, such as immersive or virtual production. Co-productions are an opportunity to innovate. It is up to the professionals to be bold and to film funds to accompany them in this process.
2. Expand the use of data.
Production companies, authors and relevant public authorities have an interest in accessing the data on the performance of the co-produced work, so that they get to know their audience better. This can feed into future works. The film funds and public authorities also have an interest in knowing the performance of the works they invest in. Therefore, viewing data is a powerful tool to support European ambitions. In this perspective, data on co-productions should be collected, shared and analysed across the value chain, including VOD services’ (viewing) data.
3. Ensure the diversity of co-productions as a key asset of Europe’s audiovisual industry at all times.
To ensure the competitiveness of Europe as a whole in the long run, it is critical to boost the diversity of works by not only involving independent producers, talents, funds and other key players in high production capacity territories, but also those in smaller territories, less spoken language areas as well as from other minorities and voices from underrepresented groups to ensure their access to funding. Since independent co-productions have proven to be the driving force for diversity, their position should be strengthened, clarified and respected in order to level the playing field which both cinematographic works and TV series need in order to blossom. Independent producers and independent production companies should enjoy fair contractual terms and clarification of the definition of independence for co-productions vis-à-vis all end-of-chain operators, including broadcasters and VOD services.
10 facts about the Creative Europe Program
The new Creative Europe program launched in 2021 comes with a significantly increased budget of Eur 2.45 billion for the next seven years (i.e. an increase of approximately Eur 1 billion compared to the previous programming period), and 58 is earmarked for the Media strand.
Doreen Boonekamp and Vice Chair Alex Traila have created the report Coproductions that Shine to elaborate on how this new funding chapter might take shape. Doreen and I discussed the topic of coproduction and especially the role streamers are now playing during Cannes at the Dutch Pavilion.
From the Palme d’Or of the Franco-Italian Il Gattopardo by Visconti in 1963 to the Palme d’Or of the 2022 Eurimages-supported Triangle of Sadness, produced by Plattform Produktion and Coproduction Office, in co-production with Film i Väst, Essential Films, Svt, BBC Films, Arte France Cinéma and Zdf/Arte, in collaboration with Heretic, Bord Cadre Films, Sovereign Films and Piano Films, and with support from the Swedish Film Institute, Danish Film Institute, Eurimages, the BFI (awarding National Lottery funding), Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg and Nordisk Film & TV Fond, there is a famous European tradition of film co-production, which is rooted in the fertile ground of networks and relationships between European audiovisual professionals.
Among the 27 EU countries that drive filmmaking in a Europe which is doing its best to be pluralistic and inclusive, the meaning of “co-production” is several producers working together to leverage their mutual resources (financial, talent and material) and artistic collaboration, and most importantly to share risks, rights and revenues, in order to produce an audiovisual work. “Official” cinematographic co-productions are covered by international conventions or bilateral agreements.
The Omc report on co-productions is not only about cinematographic works covered by the revised Council of Europe Convention on Cinematographic Co-production, but is more about creating and sustaining organic forms of cooperation among EU-27 producers in features and in the field of TV series, a format that is thriving. While acknowledging the importance of co-productions with countries outside Europe, the Group decided to focus only on co-productions among EU-27 Member States in this report.
The report, Co-productions that Shine, is addressed to policy-makers at EU, national and sub-national level, as well as to professionals working in the audiovisual industry. For the recommendations to have the greatest possible impact, private stakeholders across the whole value chain — from creatives to end-of-chain operators —must commit to them and to cooperate among themselves as well as with public institutions. Effective implementation of the recommendations will be instrumental in the transformation of the European ecosystem.
Read the entire report here.
SydneysBuzz: Thank you for taking the time to discuss the issues facing European coproductions. I think that for all its problems, Europe (the EU and its Economic Council) is still an oasis for culture. This union, creating and distributing co-productions has been going on for more than 30 years. We are now seeing a generational shift, not only here in Europe but worldwide.
Doreen: More than 30 years ago in Europe, a set of institutions was created with the sole purpose of fostering and facilitating the birth of a European film industry. Thirty years ago, these initiatives ensured continuity and further development of European pluralism, freedom of artistic expression and cultural diversity, integrating them into a single business model. The set of institutions were:
Eave, the training ground for creative producers to develop international skills and projectsEuropean Audiovisual Observatory, the collecting and distributing information on the state of playEurimages, supporting European co-productionsEuropean Distribution Office, promoting and exporting European films outside Europe’s bordersMedia programme, enhancing the whole value chain from project development to support for festivals.
We knew culture, or more precisely storytelling through film and audiovisual works, catered to the unity of our continent’s inherited diversity. The centerpieces were authors and independent producers.
This is coming under question now as streamers move in and want to own the product in the way that the former Hollywood Studios used to do (and still do, though to a much lesser degree now). I know in France, the auteurs own their properties and I know producers want to own their work elsewhere, but the streamers want to dispense with such ownership.
Yes that presents a conflict. Today Europe is facing new challenges, and film and audiovisual are again at their heart.
At the same time, the challenges in terms of what is at stake are not so very different from 30 years ago. We do however feel the need to reconfirm the principles that bind us to safeguard creation and freedom of expression, as well as acknowledge and support the concept of cultural diversity to strengthen the European audiovisual ecosystem.
The main regulatory instruments that are relevant in the audiovisual sector are the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive adapting it to the emergence of streaming and video sharing platforms, the new Copyright Directive protecting creators in the digital age, and the Cinema Communication that frames how state aid can be allocated to the audiovisual sector.
Under the old American studio system, countries “blocked” local returns from American movie exhibition so that rather than export profits back to USA, monies were allocated to local production (which rarely made it out of the countries where they were produced).
Yes funds coming from American blockbusters and films produced and distributed by the studios were often blocked from leaving some countries and so were put into productions in those countries.
Of course then USA represented 90 of studio film revenues and now USA brings in less than 30 from the USA domestic market, the return on investment in question is much greater internationally.
Today more players in Europe than before combine production and distribution. This is particularly relevant for streaming platforms, which are not just involved in online ƒdistribution, but increasingly in production. There is, however, the possibility for member states to impose levies or investment obligations to contribute financially to the production of European works. One of these investments obligations ensures that 30 of the European works in the catalogs of streamers contribute to the production of more European works. All of this is laid down in more detail in the revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive.
A number of powerful international streaming platforms have entered the European market and are successfully producing content in Europe. This has represented both an opportunity and a challenge for European independent audiovisual producers and works.
On the one hand, platforms can give European producers and artists access to financing and a wider international audience. On the other, the application by platforms of what could be defined as a “work-for-hire” model (i.e. the acquisition of all the intellectual property rights from the producer and/or from individual creators from the outset, worldwide and in perpetuity) can “lock in” producers/talents with the platform in question.
That raises concerns regarding ownership of intellectual property and represents risks for the diversity of content created and the autonomy of the European ecosystem.
This issue is particularly important as the importance of streaming has lately been considerably reinforced, as shown by recent trends in consumption habits. European citizens’ time spent on streaming platforms increased by 122 in 2020, driven in part by the closure of theatres in pandemic times. Video on demand outstripped live viewing by 68 to 32.
Despite the difficulty of striking balanced relationships, strong European co-productions are in a better position to thrive in a post-covid world. They are the very epitome of European works with public appeal. In this respect, co-productions are a response to and a way out of the current crisis. This is a renewed rationale for public funds to stimulate strong European co-productions, via incentives in their support.
Co-productions are powerful vehicles to address the challenges currently faced by the industry, namely the recovery from the crisis, the intensification of the digital domain, and the necessity of greening the sector.
What about IP rights ownership?
Over the last decades, the common understanding of co-production was to share IP rights as a return on investment for the creative and financial risks. This understanding of co-production has had a recognized structuring impact on the market.
IP is crucial for the monetization of content and for the independence from broadcasters and/or streaming platforms which comes with IP revenues.
In the TV sector, independent producers confirm that such IP requirements in public support have been instrumental when introducing reverting rights with broadcasters, with the obligation for exploitation rights to revert to the independent producer after 7 years (in the case of pre-sale to a broadcaster) or 10 years (in the case of co-production with a broadcaster).
Over the years, the requirement on intellectual property in the Media programme has helped independent producers recover the intellectual property of the works produced. In so doing, the Media programme has had a structuring effect on the TV market in Europe, and on co-productions.
I have heard that the major players (streamers like Apple, Amazon) do not want to deal with “small” European production companies. They just want to own the entire property which they own totally, produce and distribute.
When negotiating with major players, European production companies have limited bargaining power. This can result in models based on ceding full ownership of IP rights. This has in turn hindered the ability of the independent producers to recoup their investments and monetize their work on a long-term basis This leads to the need to reaffirm the classic European model based on independent production companies owning the IP and exploitation rights in line with the territoriality principle.
The European Producers Club (Epc) has carried out preparatory work on addressing this issue and has identified concrete guidelines on re-balancing these relationships (see Box).
The current situation of independent productions, in particular in the TV series sector, has professionals calling for the position of independent producers to be reinforced at critical moments of the production chain, notably in their relations with broadcasters and/or streaming platforms, and ensuring complementarity between national and pan-European public policies and support programs.
How can the balance of power between producers and streamers be equalized?
The question of the balance of power between market players with different business models not only influences the IP arrangements, but also fair access to viewing data. In the context of co-productions, co-producers should have access to data on the performance of their works.
While the box office figures of theatrical releases are monitored and available to professionals, the access to data from online exploitation, such as the number and length of views, is in the hands of the streaming platforms. This topic has been a recurrent request from independent producers in recent years. Access to this information is also crucial for public funding bodies, who need to calculate support in relation to a work’s performance.
The members of this Omc group stress the need to grant producers and relevant public authorities fair access to viewing data, as this is instrumental in understanding the audience in a fast evolving context. These figures are not only useful for producers and authors, and for film funds to adapt their support to the evolution of the markets, but also for the audience to make an informed choice.
Beyond access to data, any means favoring transparency, such as regular contacts and open dialogue, are instrumental in a healthy environment for strong European co-productions. The Media Outlook that the Commission services will publish in 2022 will also look at those trends and analyse their potential impact on the European market and existing business models.
What are your recommendations for stronger European co-productions?
The following recommendations emerged from the discussions of this Omc group and are addressed to policy-makers, key players and creatives in the audiovisual sector. Overall, they show how co-productions have the potential to make a special contribution by helping the sector address the combined challenges of the digital revolution, themCOVID-19 crisis and the greening of the audiovisual sector.
Our recommendations for producers are
1. Dream big and scale up to the European market.
As European co-productions rely on several partners from different countries, they trigger interest across borders. This is a way to increase the distribution of a given work, be it theatrical or online, and ultimately its audience. Therefore, production companies are encouraged to use co-productions as a launchpad to widen their native market from their original Member State to Europe as a whole.
2. Enhance co-creation within co-productions.
Starting cooperation upstream maximises the benefits of co-producing. To mean more than just pooling financial resources, co-productions imply co-creation. Relying on several producers reinforces the quality of the project, as it brings together the expertise of different producer profiles as well as of the different end-of-chain operators, such as broadcasters and streaming platforms. Collective writing boosts creativity and co-creation, which is the essence of European co-productions. Therefore, to maximise the benefit of co-producing, producers and authors are encouraged to develop contacts and to collaborate as early as the very preliminary stages of projects (conception, writing).
3. Nurture talents.
Talents are the foundation stones of European co-productions. Whether in front of or behind the camera, they benefit from and sustain the international career of a co-production. Production companies are those best placed to ensure that experience acquired from co-productions is shared among their staff and talents, to enable them to grow professionally and to think of Europe as their natural playground. Therefore, production companies are encouraged to use co-productions to develop talents at the European level and contribute to the strengthening, (re)positioning and consolidation of the European market.
4. Develop international skills.
Developing their network internationally is important for all professionals (producer, writer, director, cast, crew) if they are to feel comfortable with different working cultures, to open up to international job opportunities, and ultimately develop a genuine co-production mindset. International training schemes are particularly fit for this purpose. Whether they are dedicated to co-production or not, they are a unique way to liaise with professionals from other countries and become privileged co-production partners. European networks of professionals also enable best practice sharing, which in turn facilitates working together. Creative Europe Media supports the development of talents and skills among professionals. Professionals are encouraged to take initiatives and responsibility in developing their international skills and European networks.
Our recommendations for film funds
1. Open up further to boost co-productions.
The Covid-19 crisis has hit the audiovisual sector hard and co-productions are an opportunity to recover and build the future together. This is also an opportunity for film funds to assess and if necessary adjust their support to co-productions and move towards more open requirements focused on the work’s contribution to the sector. Film funds are invited to increase incentives for co-productions, whether they are majority or minority, in three ways:
— Push dedicated envelopes for co-productions in order to secure continuity in support.
— Extend the support for co-productions to the script development stage, since the value of starting to work together as early as possible has been established and should in turn translate into possible support to co-producers to enable them to co-develop.
— Offer support to professionals to take part in international training programs.
2. Align to avoid incompatibilities.
Co-productions are complex vehicles to drive. Producers sometimes struggle to identify the relevant schemes to support their co-productions. More transparency about the different schemes (e.g. making information on schemes available in English) and clarity as to the granting criteria are needed to facilitate co-productions at European level. Online tools should be developed to give clear and simple publicly accessible information and guidance to professionals. Certain support schemes, including some on a regional or local level, as well as fiscal incentives, require extensive national participation in the supported works, such as days of filming, members of the cast or crew and national expenses. However, these requirements may be hard to combine and hence become less effective and efficient. Moreover, requirements related to national expenditures may also demonstrate limitations when faced with the intensification of the digital transition, the public health crisis and the greening of audiovisual.
Film funds are encouraged to streamline their conditions and to ease spending obligations to increase the chances of supporting works that are likely to act as locomotives for the sector and in addition to reduce the administrative burden for producers.
3. Play IP as a team.
Currently, there is a lack of fair deal structures, i.e. platforms oriented towards rights ownership in the long run versus independent producers having to sell their content and exploitation rights to stay afloat in the short run despite their interest in IP retention in the long run. This is exacerbated by differences in the players’ negotiating power. However, fair deals benefit the European audiovisual industry as a whole, as ownership of rights that can be exploited is instrumental in enabling independent producers to grow and in boosting the diversity of the cinematographic works and TV series developed and created. Therefore, public support, in particular selective aid, can structure the sector by incentivizing fair deals and reserving support to works produced by independent producers keeping a certain share of rights. To do so, public support schemes should in their selection process take into account IP and exploitation rights arrangements between the different partners.
Our recommendations addressed to all public and private players
1. Innovate!
Joining forces also creates an opportunity to try new approaches. On the financial side, different instruments are available, such as the Cultural and Creative Sector Guarantee Facility. On societal challenges, such as sustainability, the audiovisual industry has a specific responsibility to take the lead due to its power to influence attitudes. On the technological side, co-productions can experiment with new techniques, such as immersive or virtual production. Co-productions are an opportunity to innovate. It is up to the professionals to be bold and to film funds to accompany them in this process.
2. Expand the use of data.
Production companies, authors and relevant public authorities have an interest in accessing the data on the performance of the co-produced work, so that they get to know their audience better. This can feed into future works. The film funds and public authorities also have an interest in knowing the performance of the works they invest in. Therefore, viewing data is a powerful tool to support European ambitions. In this perspective, data on co-productions should be collected, shared and analysed across the value chain, including VOD services’ (viewing) data.
3. Ensure the diversity of co-productions as a key asset of Europe’s audiovisual industry at all times.
To ensure the competitiveness of Europe as a whole in the long run, it is critical to boost the diversity of works by not only involving independent producers, talents, funds and other key players in high production capacity territories, but also those in smaller territories, less spoken language areas as well as from other minorities and voices from underrepresented groups to ensure their access to funding. Since independent co-productions have proven to be the driving force for diversity, their position should be strengthened, clarified and respected in order to level the playing field which both cinematographic works and TV series need in order to blossom. Independent producers and independent production companies should enjoy fair contractual terms and clarification of the definition of independence for co-productions vis-à-vis all end-of-chain operators, including broadcasters and VOD services.
10 facts about the Creative Europe Program
The new Creative Europe program launched in 2021 comes with a significantly increased budget of Eur 2.45 billion for the next seven years (i.e. an increase of approximately Eur 1 billion compared to the previous programming period), and 58 is earmarked for the Media strand.
- 12/18/2022
- by Sydney
- Sydney's Buzz
Cannes 2022: Europe is an Oasis of CultureCannes International Film Festival, the largest press event in the world except for the Olympics (which this year was a disaster — or was that last year?), is filled with excitement and contradictions.
As Ukraine is mercilessly bombarded by a mad man named Putin, the warriors and worriers for the Seventh Art gather to celebrate another year of creative passion. Aside from the dazzling array of talent, people, film and intense discussions, the idea that we are warriors for culture takes a shape in my mind and hence this blog.
Contradictions define the human race. In spite of Covid rates rising, people not wearing masks gather together to watch movies and share ideas. Aren’t Covid and social mixing contraindicative of health and safety? And yet we dive in…will this event further our futures or curtail them as individuals? Therein lies another contradiction: Individuals would be better named dividuals, especially in our own minds. We are very divided, not indivisable and not independent. We are living together within a universal unity of oneness and are totally divided within and without our selves.
We have in our minds that it takes democratic free speech to support artists. And free speech is getting more expensive by the day. Even the film Markets themselves (The Cannes Marche, EFM and AFM) are more worried about making money than about how to best support filmmakers’ buyers and sellers.
Dividing an indivisible world into geo-political pods, Europe stands out as a cultural oasis. To further elucidate this, I interviewed Doreen Boonekamp, formerly Director of The Netherlands Film Fund (one of Europe’s smallest countries but one with the farthest reach in many ways). Doreen is now Chair of the Open Method of Coordination (Omc) of the European Union Member States’ Experts on Coproductions. Co-productions that Shine shows that the commitment of Europe to continuing cultural development is unique among all national alliances.
(for discussions, stats, and author profiles for their publication go here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359137163 ).
Wishing to put together a dialogue between two seemingly opposite camps, I also spoke with Shivani Pandya Malhotra, Managing Director of the Red Sea International Festival who, in my opinion, is the only spokesperson for culture (i.e., film) in the Middle East as she has gone from 15 years as head of the Dubai Film Festival to the now most impressive, showiest of showcases of Arab and African films, the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Shivani herself, India born and raised, is an example of crossing culture and is a rare woman leading a world class event (in spite of Iris Knobloch being named titular head of the Cannes Film Festival, a largely ceremonial position but the first time held for a woman and a non-French one at that). Equally notable is Mrs. Fatma Al Remaihi, Chief Executive Officer of Doha Film Institute in Qatar who has maintained her position since the longest standing such institute’s inception.
The dialogue will have to wait, but regarding Saudia Arabia: we do not have to put into the words the arguments for and against giving support to the country as they are repeated in every discussion, but on the warrior for culture front: the youth of the Islamic Middle East and Africa are hopeful and filled with their as-yet-untold-stories now waiting at the gate to be released to the world. This, to me, represents the democratization of media and of free speech.
Culture in the Middle East, while ancient, has never been widely disseminated or even spoken of as if its existence mattered to its leaders. Now, just perhaps, this is changing…
So to begin this rambling blog: beginning at the end, the awards have been handed out, Cannes is over for another year during which many as yet unknown events will occur either further dividing or further uniting us in the film world.
Of the approximately 130 films in the Festival and its sidebars, of course the majority were European…we are in Europe, after all, and film is a largely European invention; but here are the “others” whose themes are so often individual and group rights, indeed one can rightly call the filmmakers warriors for culture as the films make their cases heard. Very few are such elegiac slice-of-life sonatas as is Mia Hanson Love’s European film One Fine Morning for example. You can read the storylines as they are linked into the titles through IMDb:
Middle East & North Africa (Mena)
The Middle East and Africa have nine films in the festival if you include Iran and Turkey. Tunisia leads with three: Harka in Un Certain Regard by Lofty Nathan’s whose film won a prize at the Red Sea Film Fest as a work in progress; it a story about a young man who is barely making a living selling contraband gas. The young Tunisian suddenly finds himself in charge of his two sisters after this dad’s death. This is actually the story of the man who ignited The Arab Spring. In Directors’ Fortnight is Ashkal by Youssef Chebbi (workshopped at Qumra and Venice Gap Financing Market) and Under the Fig Trees (Venice Production Bridge and Marrakech International Film Festival, Atlas Workshops) by Eriga Sahiri, a copro of Tunisia, France and Switzerland. Iran has two films, Competition film Leila’s Brothers/ برادران لیلا by Saeed Roustayi and Critics’ Week in Competition film Imagine تصور by Ali Behrad. Turkey’s Burning Days is in Un Certain Regard, as is Morocco’s The Blue Caftan, and Qatar’s copro with Costa Rica, Domingo And The Mist. Palestine’s Mediterranean Fever is in Critics’ Week.
Sub Saharan Africa
Africa has so little at the festival, considering how long the French particularly have been “helping” their ex-colonies develop films from their own culture.
International sales by Visit Films
Late to be announced for Cannes Ff Classics was A Daughter’s Tribute to Her Father: Souleymane Cissé/ Hommage d’Une Fille à Son Père by Fatou Cissé from Mali tracing the life and career of one of the greatest and most influential African filmmakers from his childhood and teenage years through the making of such acclaimed films as Cannes Jury Prize winner Yeelen to the present day.
Opening Un Certain Regard is the Senegalese-French film Father and Soldier/ Tirailleurs starring Omar Sy about a father, who enlists in the French army in 1917 to join his 17-year-old son, who was drafted by force directed by Mathieu Vadepied. Directors’ Fortnight is screening The Dam, a Sudanese coproduction of France, Germany, Serbia, Sudan. This slow art film about a worker in a traditional brickyard by the the Nile who secretly builds a mysterious mud construction. The Dam/ Le Barrage is proportedly a political fable about the power of imagination set against the backdrop of the Sudanese revolution. However, it never fully realizes itself.
A Sudanese project is also in L’Atelier, Cotton Queen by Sudanese-Russian filmmaker Suzannah Mirghani as is an Ethiopian one, The Last Tears Of The Deceased directed by Beza Hailu Lemma and produced by Gobez Media’s
Tamara Mariam Dawit; and from Zimbabwe, Chimbo chebere (The Hyena’s Song) formerly named Akashinga by Naishe Nyamubaya, which like Harka, won a 2021 Red Sea Film Festival award as a Souk project. It is a fascinating look at two sisters, one armed against poachers of wild life and the other siding with farmers seeking sustainable farming which is enroached upon by the wild life itself. Let’s hope the future brings these three films into the festival.
Latin America
Coming out of Latin America, Costa Rica’s first time in an Official Selection is Domingo and the Fog/ Domingo y la niebla, supported in part of Qatar’s Doha Film Institute. There are two copros from Colombia: The Pack/ La jauría by Andrés Ramírez Pulido, a copro of Colombia and France and A Male/ Un varón by Fabian Hernández, a copro of Colombia, France, Germany, and Netherlands. Two from Chile are Mi país imaginario by Patricio Guzmán and Chile: 1976 by Manuela Martelli and Alejandra Moffat, a copro of Chile and Italy, recently picked up for USA by Kino Lorber.
Asia
China seems to still be isolating. And who speaks for Hong Kong today? And why is Malaysia always so absent?
As for other Asian entities, Japan — whose great Who Will Drive My Car screened here last year and won the Oscar for Best International Film — has two films in the festival, Yamabuki in Acid and Plan 75 in Un Certain Regard. South Korea continues to thrive with four films: Broker and Decision to Leave are both in Competition, Next Sohee is Closing Night Film for Special Screenings of the Festival and Hunt is in Critics Week.
Southeast Asia is represented by Pakistan’s first film ever in Cannes Film Festival, Joyland in Un Certain Regard. Central Asia, Kyrgystan, is represented by the documentary The Hill in Acid. India and UK’s documentary All That Breathes is in Cannes Special Screenings.
Australia has two coproductions, with the USA, Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis in Competition, George Miller’s Three Thousand Years of Longing out of Competition plus The Stranger in Un Certain Regard.
Myanmar is represented in L’Atelier with one project, The Beer Girl In Yangon directed by Sein Lyan Tun. Another L’Atelier project is the Philippine project Sam directed by E del Mundo.
Trying to fight on the cultural front, Ukraine has three films. In Un Certain Regard is Butterfly Vision directed by Maksym Nakonechnyi, a Ukranian Croatia, Czech Republic, Sweden coproduction being sold by Wild Bunch. The feature has also been acquired by Nour Films for theatrical release in France. Inspired by the experiences of women serving in Ukraine’s armed forces against Russian-backed separatists in the country’s eastern Donbas region, in a conflict that began in 2014 and has since escalated following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24. It revolves around a female Ukrainian aerial reconnaissance expert, who returns home to her family after serving in the Donbas, where she was captured and held prisoner for months.
Directors’ Fortnight is screening Pamfir directed by Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk, a France, Ukraine, Luxembourg coproduction.
In Special Screenings is the Ukranian production The Natural History of Destruction directed by Sergei Loznitsa whose film Babi Yar: Context played Cannes last year.
The Natural History of Destruction directed by Sergei Loznitsa
North America
We all know all too well that USA has no government support of culture (disregarding the infinitesimally tiny National Association of the Arts, National Public Radio and the Smithsonian complex of museums), so we can eliminate it as a rival oasis right here. On the other hand, out of 130 films showing in Cannes Film Festival’s Official Selections and its satellites Directors’ Fortnight, Critics’ Week and Acid, US productions cum coproductions number 19 or 15 percent. USA is the Capital of Capitalism, but as in any nation, there is great talent and consequently there are great voices who can stand up for Democracy as an political system that nurtures creativity, even if its most ubiquitous films are made in order to make money for their corporate owners who only pay 10 of the total Gdp.*
US or US coproduced films: Cannes Ff Classics: The Last Movie Stars. In Cannes Competition: Armageddon Time, Showing Up, The Stars at Noon, Triangle of Sadness, Cannes Midnight: Moonage Daydream, Cannes Ff Out of Competition: Elvis, Three Thousand Years of Longing, Top Gun: Maverick; in Cannes Ff Premiere: Irma Vep (miniseries); in Cannes Ff Special Screenings All That Breathes, Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble In Mind; in Cannes Ff Un Certain Regard: The Silent Twins, War Pony aka Beast; in Critics’ Week in Competition: Aftersun, Critics’ Week Special Screenings: When You Finish Saving the World (Opening Film); in Directors’ Fortnight: Funny Pages, Men.
‘War Pony’ by Kelly Reichart
Canada is surprisingly short on films with David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future in Competition and Falcon Lakeby Charlotte Le Bon in Directors’ Fortnight.
Europe, The Oasis of Culture exists in the midst of human contradictions. Its history of defining art (in contradiction to its having built itself on the back of slavery and the looting of its colonies); its current attempts at building socialistic systems (even while capitalism thrives) which will maintain its cultures; and in its current attempts to remedy the past by official acts of inclusion (even while boatloads of refugees from Africa and truckloads of refugees from the Middle East are struggling to penetrate their borders, while capital knows no boundaries).
Humankind is filled with contradictions but at least we are still here, a noble experiment if not an entirely successful one, guardians of the world we have inherited.
*In US, ordinary tax payers pay 77 of the Gdp and payroll taxes account for 6.2.
As Ukraine is mercilessly bombarded by a mad man named Putin, the warriors and worriers for the Seventh Art gather to celebrate another year of creative passion. Aside from the dazzling array of talent, people, film and intense discussions, the idea that we are warriors for culture takes a shape in my mind and hence this blog.
Contradictions define the human race. In spite of Covid rates rising, people not wearing masks gather together to watch movies and share ideas. Aren’t Covid and social mixing contraindicative of health and safety? And yet we dive in…will this event further our futures or curtail them as individuals? Therein lies another contradiction: Individuals would be better named dividuals, especially in our own minds. We are very divided, not indivisable and not independent. We are living together within a universal unity of oneness and are totally divided within and without our selves.
We have in our minds that it takes democratic free speech to support artists. And free speech is getting more expensive by the day. Even the film Markets themselves (The Cannes Marche, EFM and AFM) are more worried about making money than about how to best support filmmakers’ buyers and sellers.
Dividing an indivisible world into geo-political pods, Europe stands out as a cultural oasis. To further elucidate this, I interviewed Doreen Boonekamp, formerly Director of The Netherlands Film Fund (one of Europe’s smallest countries but one with the farthest reach in many ways). Doreen is now Chair of the Open Method of Coordination (Omc) of the European Union Member States’ Experts on Coproductions. Co-productions that Shine shows that the commitment of Europe to continuing cultural development is unique among all national alliances.
(for discussions, stats, and author profiles for their publication go here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359137163 ).
Wishing to put together a dialogue between two seemingly opposite camps, I also spoke with Shivani Pandya Malhotra, Managing Director of the Red Sea International Festival who, in my opinion, is the only spokesperson for culture (i.e., film) in the Middle East as she has gone from 15 years as head of the Dubai Film Festival to the now most impressive, showiest of showcases of Arab and African films, the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Shivani herself, India born and raised, is an example of crossing culture and is a rare woman leading a world class event (in spite of Iris Knobloch being named titular head of the Cannes Film Festival, a largely ceremonial position but the first time held for a woman and a non-French one at that). Equally notable is Mrs. Fatma Al Remaihi, Chief Executive Officer of Doha Film Institute in Qatar who has maintained her position since the longest standing such institute’s inception.
The dialogue will have to wait, but regarding Saudia Arabia: we do not have to put into the words the arguments for and against giving support to the country as they are repeated in every discussion, but on the warrior for culture front: the youth of the Islamic Middle East and Africa are hopeful and filled with their as-yet-untold-stories now waiting at the gate to be released to the world. This, to me, represents the democratization of media and of free speech.
Culture in the Middle East, while ancient, has never been widely disseminated or even spoken of as if its existence mattered to its leaders. Now, just perhaps, this is changing…
So to begin this rambling blog: beginning at the end, the awards have been handed out, Cannes is over for another year during which many as yet unknown events will occur either further dividing or further uniting us in the film world.
Of the approximately 130 films in the Festival and its sidebars, of course the majority were European…we are in Europe, after all, and film is a largely European invention; but here are the “others” whose themes are so often individual and group rights, indeed one can rightly call the filmmakers warriors for culture as the films make their cases heard. Very few are such elegiac slice-of-life sonatas as is Mia Hanson Love’s European film One Fine Morning for example. You can read the storylines as they are linked into the titles through IMDb:
Middle East & North Africa (Mena)
The Middle East and Africa have nine films in the festival if you include Iran and Turkey. Tunisia leads with three: Harka in Un Certain Regard by Lofty Nathan’s whose film won a prize at the Red Sea Film Fest as a work in progress; it a story about a young man who is barely making a living selling contraband gas. The young Tunisian suddenly finds himself in charge of his two sisters after this dad’s death. This is actually the story of the man who ignited The Arab Spring. In Directors’ Fortnight is Ashkal by Youssef Chebbi (workshopped at Qumra and Venice Gap Financing Market) and Under the Fig Trees (Venice Production Bridge and Marrakech International Film Festival, Atlas Workshops) by Eriga Sahiri, a copro of Tunisia, France and Switzerland. Iran has two films, Competition film Leila’s Brothers/ برادران لیلا by Saeed Roustayi and Critics’ Week in Competition film Imagine تصور by Ali Behrad. Turkey’s Burning Days is in Un Certain Regard, as is Morocco’s The Blue Caftan, and Qatar’s copro with Costa Rica, Domingo And The Mist. Palestine’s Mediterranean Fever is in Critics’ Week.
Sub Saharan Africa
Africa has so little at the festival, considering how long the French particularly have been “helping” their ex-colonies develop films from their own culture.
International sales by Visit Films
Late to be announced for Cannes Ff Classics was A Daughter’s Tribute to Her Father: Souleymane Cissé/ Hommage d’Une Fille à Son Père by Fatou Cissé from Mali tracing the life and career of one of the greatest and most influential African filmmakers from his childhood and teenage years through the making of such acclaimed films as Cannes Jury Prize winner Yeelen to the present day.
Opening Un Certain Regard is the Senegalese-French film Father and Soldier/ Tirailleurs starring Omar Sy about a father, who enlists in the French army in 1917 to join his 17-year-old son, who was drafted by force directed by Mathieu Vadepied. Directors’ Fortnight is screening The Dam, a Sudanese coproduction of France, Germany, Serbia, Sudan. This slow art film about a worker in a traditional brickyard by the the Nile who secretly builds a mysterious mud construction. The Dam/ Le Barrage is proportedly a political fable about the power of imagination set against the backdrop of the Sudanese revolution. However, it never fully realizes itself.
A Sudanese project is also in L’Atelier, Cotton Queen by Sudanese-Russian filmmaker Suzannah Mirghani as is an Ethiopian one, The Last Tears Of The Deceased directed by Beza Hailu Lemma and produced by Gobez Media’s
Tamara Mariam Dawit; and from Zimbabwe, Chimbo chebere (The Hyena’s Song) formerly named Akashinga by Naishe Nyamubaya, which like Harka, won a 2021 Red Sea Film Festival award as a Souk project. It is a fascinating look at two sisters, one armed against poachers of wild life and the other siding with farmers seeking sustainable farming which is enroached upon by the wild life itself. Let’s hope the future brings these three films into the festival.
Latin America
Coming out of Latin America, Costa Rica’s first time in an Official Selection is Domingo and the Fog/ Domingo y la niebla, supported in part of Qatar’s Doha Film Institute. There are two copros from Colombia: The Pack/ La jauría by Andrés Ramírez Pulido, a copro of Colombia and France and A Male/ Un varón by Fabian Hernández, a copro of Colombia, France, Germany, and Netherlands. Two from Chile are Mi país imaginario by Patricio Guzmán and Chile: 1976 by Manuela Martelli and Alejandra Moffat, a copro of Chile and Italy, recently picked up for USA by Kino Lorber.
Asia
China seems to still be isolating. And who speaks for Hong Kong today? And why is Malaysia always so absent?
As for other Asian entities, Japan — whose great Who Will Drive My Car screened here last year and won the Oscar for Best International Film — has two films in the festival, Yamabuki in Acid and Plan 75 in Un Certain Regard. South Korea continues to thrive with four films: Broker and Decision to Leave are both in Competition, Next Sohee is Closing Night Film for Special Screenings of the Festival and Hunt is in Critics Week.
Southeast Asia is represented by Pakistan’s first film ever in Cannes Film Festival, Joyland in Un Certain Regard. Central Asia, Kyrgystan, is represented by the documentary The Hill in Acid. India and UK’s documentary All That Breathes is in Cannes Special Screenings.
Australia has two coproductions, with the USA, Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis in Competition, George Miller’s Three Thousand Years of Longing out of Competition plus The Stranger in Un Certain Regard.
Myanmar is represented in L’Atelier with one project, The Beer Girl In Yangon directed by Sein Lyan Tun. Another L’Atelier project is the Philippine project Sam directed by E del Mundo.
Trying to fight on the cultural front, Ukraine has three films. In Un Certain Regard is Butterfly Vision directed by Maksym Nakonechnyi, a Ukranian Croatia, Czech Republic, Sweden coproduction being sold by Wild Bunch. The feature has also been acquired by Nour Films for theatrical release in France. Inspired by the experiences of women serving in Ukraine’s armed forces against Russian-backed separatists in the country’s eastern Donbas region, in a conflict that began in 2014 and has since escalated following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24. It revolves around a female Ukrainian aerial reconnaissance expert, who returns home to her family after serving in the Donbas, where she was captured and held prisoner for months.
Directors’ Fortnight is screening Pamfir directed by Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk, a France, Ukraine, Luxembourg coproduction.
In Special Screenings is the Ukranian production The Natural History of Destruction directed by Sergei Loznitsa whose film Babi Yar: Context played Cannes last year.
The Natural History of Destruction directed by Sergei Loznitsa
North America
We all know all too well that USA has no government support of culture (disregarding the infinitesimally tiny National Association of the Arts, National Public Radio and the Smithsonian complex of museums), so we can eliminate it as a rival oasis right here. On the other hand, out of 130 films showing in Cannes Film Festival’s Official Selections and its satellites Directors’ Fortnight, Critics’ Week and Acid, US productions cum coproductions number 19 or 15 percent. USA is the Capital of Capitalism, but as in any nation, there is great talent and consequently there are great voices who can stand up for Democracy as an political system that nurtures creativity, even if its most ubiquitous films are made in order to make money for their corporate owners who only pay 10 of the total Gdp.*
US or US coproduced films: Cannes Ff Classics: The Last Movie Stars. In Cannes Competition: Armageddon Time, Showing Up, The Stars at Noon, Triangle of Sadness, Cannes Midnight: Moonage Daydream, Cannes Ff Out of Competition: Elvis, Three Thousand Years of Longing, Top Gun: Maverick; in Cannes Ff Premiere: Irma Vep (miniseries); in Cannes Ff Special Screenings All That Breathes, Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble In Mind; in Cannes Ff Un Certain Regard: The Silent Twins, War Pony aka Beast; in Critics’ Week in Competition: Aftersun, Critics’ Week Special Screenings: When You Finish Saving the World (Opening Film); in Directors’ Fortnight: Funny Pages, Men.
‘War Pony’ by Kelly Reichart
Canada is surprisingly short on films with David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future in Competition and Falcon Lakeby Charlotte Le Bon in Directors’ Fortnight.
Europe, The Oasis of Culture exists in the midst of human contradictions. Its history of defining art (in contradiction to its having built itself on the back of slavery and the looting of its colonies); its current attempts at building socialistic systems (even while capitalism thrives) which will maintain its cultures; and in its current attempts to remedy the past by official acts of inclusion (even while boatloads of refugees from Africa and truckloads of refugees from the Middle East are struggling to penetrate their borders, while capital knows no boundaries).
Humankind is filled with contradictions but at least we are still here, a noble experiment if not an entirely successful one, guardians of the world we have inherited.
*In US, ordinary tax payers pay 77 of the Gdp and payroll taxes account for 6.2.
- 6/22/2022
- by Sydney
- Sydney's Buzz
Hybrid edition has shifted industry showcase online.
The 40th Netherlands Film Festival (Nff) gets underway today as a hybrid event spearheaded by a bold new screening strategy.
The Utrecht-based festival, set to run September 25-October 3, will see selected films screening simultaneously not just in the Dutch city but in hundreds of cinemas across the Netherlands. There will also be drive-in screenings. However, all industry activities will take place online.
“We have managed to set up a huge collaboration with cinemas all over the Netherlands,” acting festival director Doreen Boonekamp said of the plan to show eight Nff titles “in over...
The 40th Netherlands Film Festival (Nff) gets underway today as a hybrid event spearheaded by a bold new screening strategy.
The Utrecht-based festival, set to run September 25-October 3, will see selected films screening simultaneously not just in the Dutch city but in hundreds of cinemas across the Netherlands. There will also be drive-in screenings. However, all industry activities will take place online.
“We have managed to set up a huge collaboration with cinemas all over the Netherlands,” acting festival director Doreen Boonekamp said of the plan to show eight Nff titles “in over...
- 9/25/2020
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Netherlands Film Fund head Bero Beyer has an additional €5m to navigate the pandemic.
Netherlands Film Fund CEO Bero Beyer has given details of an ambitious plan to kickstart Dutch production this summer as the Covid-19 lockdown lifts.
The Fund has received a significant sum believed to be in excess of €5m ($5.7m) in extra government funding to help the Dutch industry cope with the pandemic. This money is part of a €300m ($340m) coronavirus support scheme for the entire cultural sector that was announced recently by the Dutch minister of culture Ingrid van Engelshoven.
Beyer has now revealed how...
Netherlands Film Fund CEO Bero Beyer has given details of an ambitious plan to kickstart Dutch production this summer as the Covid-19 lockdown lifts.
The Fund has received a significant sum believed to be in excess of €5m ($5.7m) in extra government funding to help the Dutch industry cope with the pandemic. This money is part of a €300m ($340m) coronavirus support scheme for the entire cultural sector that was announced recently by the Dutch minister of culture Ingrid van Engelshoven.
Beyer has now revealed how...
- 6/11/2020
- by 57¦Geoffrey Macnab¦41¦
- ScreenDaily
Overshadowed by a grisly, racially motivated shooting in western Germany and the growing pains of new festival leadership, this year’s Berlinale served to illuminate the market dynamics and global issues set to impact the international film and television industry in the run-up to Cannes — provided coronavirus stays away from the Croisette.
The Berlin festival, which ran Feb. 20 to March 1, boasted only a handful of buzzy deals. The upcoming Jessica Chastain- and Eddie Redmayne-fronted “The Good Nurse” reportedly sold in the range of $25 million to Netflix. IFC Films nabbed U.S. rights to Christian Petzold’s fantasy romance “Undine,” while Cohen Media Group took North American rights to Vadim Perelman’s Holocaust drama “Persian Lessons.” Terms of those two deals were not announced.
But few films were as beloved as “Gunda,” a black-and-white documentary about frolicking farm animals. Devoid of voiceover and score, the film titillated critics and buyers alike.
The Berlin festival, which ran Feb. 20 to March 1, boasted only a handful of buzzy deals. The upcoming Jessica Chastain- and Eddie Redmayne-fronted “The Good Nurse” reportedly sold in the range of $25 million to Netflix. IFC Films nabbed U.S. rights to Christian Petzold’s fantasy romance “Undine,” while Cohen Media Group took North American rights to Vadim Perelman’s Holocaust drama “Persian Lessons.” Terms of those two deals were not announced.
But few films were as beloved as “Gunda,” a black-and-white documentary about frolicking farm animals. Devoid of voiceover and score, the film titillated critics and buyers alike.
- 3/3/2020
- by Manori Ravindran, Ed Meza, Nick Vivarelli and John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Leading industry reps gathered on the opening day of Berlin’s European Film Market for what is certain to be a continuing discussion about leveling the playing field for independent producers across Europe and demanding greater engagement in the sector from global players.
The 1st European Film Politics Seminar aims to set the political agenda of the industry’s top issues over the coming year in order to accelerate European synchronization of film sector policies across EU member states.
With the major priorities being set in Berlin, a first draft strategy will be presented at the Marché du Film in Cannes, followed by an overview of measures achieved or still lacking during the Venice Production Bridge.
During the three-hour brainstorming session, opened by Efm director Matthijs Wouter Knol and chaired by Steven Gaydos, executive vice president of global content of Variety, participants explored how Europe’s indie producers, seen as...
The 1st European Film Politics Seminar aims to set the political agenda of the industry’s top issues over the coming year in order to accelerate European synchronization of film sector policies across EU member states.
With the major priorities being set in Berlin, a first draft strategy will be presented at the Marché du Film in Cannes, followed by an overview of measures achieved or still lacking during the Venice Production Bridge.
During the three-hour brainstorming session, opened by Efm director Matthijs Wouter Knol and chaired by Steven Gaydos, executive vice president of global content of Variety, participants explored how Europe’s indie producers, seen as...
- 2/22/2020
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
The Berlinale’s European Film Market opened on Thursday with the inaugural European Film Politics Seminar, offering a look at the pressing challenges facing independent European producers in a fast-changing landscape increasingly dominated by the growing number of U.S. streaming giants.
The seminar was hosted by Steven Gaydos, executive vice president of global content of Variety.
In his introduction, Efm director Matthijs Wouter Knol noted the increasing presence of streaming and VoD platforms attending this year’s market. In addition to Netflix and Amazon, Disney Plus, Apple TV Plus and HBO Max will also be in Berlin and open for business, much to the annoyance of independent distributors.
At the same time, the number of producers attending the market rose by 40% over the past year, he added. “For a market like Efm, it’s crucial to keep producers on their radar.”
Independent producers in particular are vital in the industry as makers of content,...
The seminar was hosted by Steven Gaydos, executive vice president of global content of Variety.
In his introduction, Efm director Matthijs Wouter Knol noted the increasing presence of streaming and VoD platforms attending this year’s market. In addition to Netflix and Amazon, Disney Plus, Apple TV Plus and HBO Max will also be in Berlin and open for business, much to the annoyance of independent distributors.
At the same time, the number of producers attending the market rose by 40% over the past year, he added. “For a market like Efm, it’s crucial to keep producers on their radar.”
Independent producers in particular are vital in the industry as makers of content,...
- 2/20/2020
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
He will take over from Doreen Boonekamp in March 2020.
Bero Beyer, director of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, is to leave the festival to succeed Doreen Boonekamp as CEO of the Netherlands Film Fund in March 2020.
The role is the most important public film post in the Netherlands.
Beyer will join the Fund on March 1, 2020 after overseeing the 49th edition of Iffr which will run from January 22-February 2 next year.
A successful independent producer before taking the helm at Iffr, Beyer has been involved in such projects as Hany Abu-Assad’s Oscar-nominated Paradise Now and Annemarie Jacir’s Salt Of This Sea.
Bero Beyer, director of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, is to leave the festival to succeed Doreen Boonekamp as CEO of the Netherlands Film Fund in March 2020.
The role is the most important public film post in the Netherlands.
Beyer will join the Fund on March 1, 2020 after overseeing the 49th edition of Iffr which will run from January 22-February 2 next year.
A successful independent producer before taking the helm at Iffr, Beyer has been involved in such projects as Hany Abu-Assad’s Oscar-nominated Paradise Now and Annemarie Jacir’s Salt Of This Sea.
- 7/1/2019
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Speculation is mounting as to who might succeed Boonekamp as head of the Fund.
Doreen Boonekamp is to stand down in October after a decade as CEO of the Netherlands Film Fund, it was confirmed in Cannes this week.
Speaking exclusively to Screen International, the Fund head reflected on her ten year stint at the Fund during a period of seismic change in the Dutch industry. When she took over, the Dutch economy was reeling in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, there was a steep decline in both public and private financing for film, and the government had made...
Doreen Boonekamp is to stand down in October after a decade as CEO of the Netherlands Film Fund, it was confirmed in Cannes this week.
Speaking exclusively to Screen International, the Fund head reflected on her ten year stint at the Fund during a period of seismic change in the Dutch industry. When she took over, the Dutch economy was reeling in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, there was a steep decline in both public and private financing for film, and the government had made...
- 5/18/2019
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Recent projects include Iffr opener Dirty God.
Dutch producers rarely looked to the UK as potential partners until recently.
The UK is not part of Eurimages and the BFI’s minority co-production fund has limited resources. But now the two industries are coming much closer together as a cluster of high-profile new projects attests. Sacha Polak’s Dirty God, screening in Sundance this week and the opening film at Iffr, is one of several recent or upcoming features on which UK and Dutch producers have partnered.
Further examples include Elbert van Strien’s Scotland-set psychological thriller Marionette, Paula Van Der Oest...
Dutch producers rarely looked to the UK as potential partners until recently.
The UK is not part of Eurimages and the BFI’s minority co-production fund has limited resources. But now the two industries are coming much closer together as a cluster of high-profile new projects attests. Sacha Polak’s Dirty God, screening in Sundance this week and the opening film at Iffr, is one of several recent or upcoming features on which UK and Dutch producers have partnered.
Further examples include Elbert van Strien’s Scotland-set psychological thriller Marionette, Paula Van Der Oest...
- 1/31/2019
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Recent projects include Iffr opener Dirty God.
Dutch producers rarely looked to the UK as potential partners until recently.
The UK is not part of Eurimages and the BFI’s minority co-production fund has limited resources. But now the two industries are coming much closer together as a cluster of high-profile new projects attests. Sacha Polak’s Dirty God, screening in Sundance this week and the opening film at Iffr, is one of several recent or upcoming features on which UK and Dutch producers have partnered.
Further examples include Elbert van Strien’s Scotland-set psychological thriller Marionette, Paula Van Der Oest...
Dutch producers rarely looked to the UK as potential partners until recently.
The UK is not part of Eurimages and the BFI’s minority co-production fund has limited resources. But now the two industries are coming much closer together as a cluster of high-profile new projects attests. Sacha Polak’s Dirty God, screening in Sundance this week and the opening film at Iffr, is one of several recent or upcoming features on which UK and Dutch producers have partnered.
Further examples include Elbert van Strien’s Scotland-set psychological thriller Marionette, Paula Van Der Oest...
- 1/31/2019
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Near record levels of inward investment are boosting the local industry.
As the Dutch film industry comes together at International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr), there is much to be optimistic about in 2019.
The local industry is experiencing near record levels of inward investment as a location and post-production hub and Dutch co-production is blossoming. There may have been a slight - 0.8% - decline in admissions to 35.7 million cinema visitors in the Netherlands in 2018 but box office revenue has risen due to an increase in ticket prices.
Dutch market share for local films has remained broadly stable: it fell slightly from...
As the Dutch film industry comes together at International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr), there is much to be optimistic about in 2019.
The local industry is experiencing near record levels of inward investment as a location and post-production hub and Dutch co-production is blossoming. There may have been a slight - 0.8% - decline in admissions to 35.7 million cinema visitors in the Netherlands in 2018 but box office revenue has risen due to an increase in ticket prices.
Dutch market share for local films has remained broadly stable: it fell slightly from...
- 1/28/2019
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
The “talent drain” in the Dutch industry is coming to an end.
Source: Berlin Film Festival
My Giraffe
CEO of the Netherlands Film Fund Doreen Boonekamp has stated that the “talent drain” in the Dutch industry is coming to an end.
Thanks to the cash rebate system, now in its fourth year, Boonekamp believes that filmmakers are more easily able to pursue careers in the Netherlands while also managing collaboration with international partners.
Films including Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk and Ryan Reynolds/Samuel L. Jackson buddy thriller The Hitman’s Bodyguard are among big-canvas international films to shoot in the Netherlands in 2016 and other big-budget films are continuing to come to the country, among them John Crowley’s adaptation of Donna Tartt’s novel, The Goldfinch. Made through Warner Bros and Amazon Studios and starring Ansel Elgort, the project has received €565,945 in Dutch cash rebate funding in the last awards round in late December. The local production...
Source: Berlin Film Festival
My Giraffe
CEO of the Netherlands Film Fund Doreen Boonekamp has stated that the “talent drain” in the Dutch industry is coming to an end.
Thanks to the cash rebate system, now in its fourth year, Boonekamp believes that filmmakers are more easily able to pursue careers in the Netherlands while also managing collaboration with international partners.
Films including Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk and Ryan Reynolds/Samuel L. Jackson buddy thriller The Hitman’s Bodyguard are among big-canvas international films to shoot in the Netherlands in 2016 and other big-budget films are continuing to come to the country, among them John Crowley’s adaptation of Donna Tartt’s novel, The Goldfinch. Made through Warner Bros and Amazon Studios and starring Ansel Elgort, the project has received €565,945 in Dutch cash rebate funding in the last awards round in late December. The local production...
- 1/25/2018
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Film Fund boss wants more high-end TV production in the Netherlands.
The Dutch are looking to strengthen further their already successful cash rebate system for film.
Moves are now being taken to extend the rebate to high end TV drama and animation series.
The scheme, introduced in 2014, is reckoned to have increased the number of employees working in the film sector by 26%.
“The scheme is becoming better known outside the Netherlands. We can tell this by the increase in international production,” Netherlands Film Fund CEO Doreen Boonekamp told Screen International.
She said that it was now time for the Netherlands to “catch up” with territories like Germany and the UK that have already extended their incentive schemes to TV.
On the one hand, the Dutch want to “take a role in international TV series that shot partly in the Netherlands,” and, on the other, the aim is to “raise the level of our own high end...
The Dutch are looking to strengthen further their already successful cash rebate system for film.
Moves are now being taken to extend the rebate to high end TV drama and animation series.
The scheme, introduced in 2014, is reckoned to have increased the number of employees working in the film sector by 26%.
“The scheme is becoming better known outside the Netherlands. We can tell this by the increase in international production,” Netherlands Film Fund CEO Doreen Boonekamp told Screen International.
She said that it was now time for the Netherlands to “catch up” with territories like Germany and the UK that have already extended their incentive schemes to TV.
On the one hand, the Dutch want to “take a role in international TV series that shot partly in the Netherlands,” and, on the other, the aim is to “raise the level of our own high end...
- 4/6/2017
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
Comments come as 10 countries set to sign the Council of Europe’s revised co-production convention in Rotterdam.
Roberto Olla (pictured), the head of European co-production fund Eurimages, has said that the UK’s rumoured re-joining of the fund following last year’s Brexit vote is unlikely to happen any time soon.
Speaking to Screen, Olla said that he believed the idea was “more wishful thinking than a real strategy,” adding that he has had “no contact” from the national bodies in the UK regarding the topic.
However, he also added that “the door is always open” as long as the UK remains in the Council of Europe, and that if the UK does consider re-joining Eurimages, then “the benefits are clear for everybody”.
Olla is travelling to Rotterdam today to attend the signing of the revised Council of Europe Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production, which is taking place at International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr) tomorrow (Jan 30).
There will be...
Roberto Olla (pictured), the head of European co-production fund Eurimages, has said that the UK’s rumoured re-joining of the fund following last year’s Brexit vote is unlikely to happen any time soon.
Speaking to Screen, Olla said that he believed the idea was “more wishful thinking than a real strategy,” adding that he has had “no contact” from the national bodies in the UK regarding the topic.
However, he also added that “the door is always open” as long as the UK remains in the Council of Europe, and that if the UK does consider re-joining Eurimages, then “the benefits are clear for everybody”.
Olla is travelling to Rotterdam today to attend the signing of the revised Council of Europe Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production, which is taking place at International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr) tomorrow (Jan 30).
There will be...
- 1/29/2017
- by tom.grater@screendaily.com (Tom Grater)
- ScreenDaily
Netherlands suffered from a lack of domestic blockbusters last year, according to film fund CEO.
Doreen Boonekamp, CEO of the Netherlands Film Fund, has expressed her confidence that Dutch films can recapture the local market share they lost last year.
Dutch films performed markedly less well in 2016 than they did the year before. They had a 12.3% share, down from 18.7%.
Overall, box office was slightly up. According to statistics released earlier this month by Fdn (Flmdistributeurs Nederland), there were 34,177,932 cinema admissions in 2016, an increase of 3.7% compared to 2015.
Investments in new locations, renovations and refurbishments, new techniques and concepts and the success of international productions were credited for the growth.
The most popular films of 2016 were Bridget Jones’s Baby, Finding Dory and The Secret Life Of Pets. The sequel Soof 2 (pictured) was the most popular Dutch movie of the year.
Speaking during Iffr, Boonekamp attributed the downturn in local market share to the lack of blockbuster local mainstream...
Doreen Boonekamp, CEO of the Netherlands Film Fund, has expressed her confidence that Dutch films can recapture the local market share they lost last year.
Dutch films performed markedly less well in 2016 than they did the year before. They had a 12.3% share, down from 18.7%.
Overall, box office was slightly up. According to statistics released earlier this month by Fdn (Flmdistributeurs Nederland), there were 34,177,932 cinema admissions in 2016, an increase of 3.7% compared to 2015.
Investments in new locations, renovations and refurbishments, new techniques and concepts and the success of international productions were credited for the growth.
The most popular films of 2016 were Bridget Jones’s Baby, Finding Dory and The Secret Life Of Pets. The sequel Soof 2 (pictured) was the most popular Dutch movie of the year.
Speaking during Iffr, Boonekamp attributed the downturn in local market share to the lack of blockbuster local mainstream...
- 1/29/2017
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
Producer body set to relocate to Amsterdam from Paris in early 2017.
Former CineMart and Rotterdam Lab manager Jacobine van der Vloed has been hired as director of the producers body Ateliers du Cinéma Européen (Ace).
Her appointment is a consequence of the body’s imminent move from its current home of Paris to Amsterdam in the spring and will take effect from Jan 1, 2017.
Board memberMarleenSlot of Amsterdam-based Viking Film said the move had been prompted partly by rising costs in Paris and the offer of additional funding from the Netherlands Film Fund (Nff).
Ace president Simon Perry has been busy over the last 12 months looking for new sources of income and a new location.
The move comes at a time when the Netherlands is becoming an increasingly important player on the international co-production scene following the introduction of a 30% tax rebate scheme in May 2014.
Slot noted Nff director Doreen Boonekamp had played a key role in the...
Former CineMart and Rotterdam Lab manager Jacobine van der Vloed has been hired as director of the producers body Ateliers du Cinéma Européen (Ace).
Her appointment is a consequence of the body’s imminent move from its current home of Paris to Amsterdam in the spring and will take effect from Jan 1, 2017.
Board memberMarleenSlot of Amsterdam-based Viking Film said the move had been prompted partly by rising costs in Paris and the offer of additional funding from the Netherlands Film Fund (Nff).
Ace president Simon Perry has been busy over the last 12 months looking for new sources of income and a new location.
The move comes at a time when the Netherlands is becoming an increasingly important player on the international co-production scene following the introduction of a 30% tax rebate scheme in May 2014.
Slot noted Nff director Doreen Boonekamp had played a key role in the...
- 12/15/2016
- ScreenDaily
Industry figures at the Holland Film Meeting talk to Screen about the importance of locally-based sales companies.
In the wake of the collapse of Fortissimo Films last month, a heated debate has begun in the Netherlands about the lack of sales agents in the Benelux region.
At the Holland Film Meeting in Utrecht this weekend (Sept 22-25), several leading producers have commented on the importance of establishing new locally-based companies that can represent Dutch movies at international markets. There has even been talk of government support for a Dutch sales agency, either helping existing companies or setting up a new national agency.
The debate comes as Pim van Collem’s sales outfit Dutch Features Global Entertainment has revealed that it is planning to set up a small arthouse label next year, and as speculation continues to swirl around what will happen to Fortissimo’s titles.
Throughout its 20-year history, Fortissimo always handled Dutch movies alongside its Asian...
In the wake of the collapse of Fortissimo Films last month, a heated debate has begun in the Netherlands about the lack of sales agents in the Benelux region.
At the Holland Film Meeting in Utrecht this weekend (Sept 22-25), several leading producers have commented on the importance of establishing new locally-based companies that can represent Dutch movies at international markets. There has even been talk of government support for a Dutch sales agency, either helping existing companies or setting up a new national agency.
The debate comes as Pim van Collem’s sales outfit Dutch Features Global Entertainment has revealed that it is planning to set up a small arthouse label next year, and as speculation continues to swirl around what will happen to Fortissimo’s titles.
Throughout its 20-year history, Fortissimo always handled Dutch movies alongside its Asian...
- 9/26/2016
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
Industry figures at the Holland Film Meeting talk to Screen about the importance of locally-based sales companies.
In the wake of the collapse of Fortissimo Films last month, a heated debate has begun in the Netherlands about the lack of sales agents in the Benelux region.
At the Holland Film Meeting in Utrecht this weekend (Sept 22-25), several leading producers have commented on the importance of establishing new locally-based companies that can represent Dutch movies at international markets. There has even been talk of government support for a Dutch sales agency, either helping existing companies or setting up a new national agency.
The debate comes as Pim van Collem’s sales outfit Dutch Features Global Entertainment has revealed that it is planning to set up a small arthouse label next year, and as speculation continues to swirl around what will happen to Fortissimo’s titles.
Throughout its 20-year history, Fortissimo always handled Dutch movies alongside its Asian...
In the wake of the collapse of Fortissimo Films last month, a heated debate has begun in the Netherlands about the lack of sales agents in the Benelux region.
At the Holland Film Meeting in Utrecht this weekend (Sept 22-25), several leading producers have commented on the importance of establishing new locally-based companies that can represent Dutch movies at international markets. There has even been talk of government support for a Dutch sales agency, either helping existing companies or setting up a new national agency.
The debate comes as Pim van Collem’s sales outfit Dutch Features Global Entertainment has revealed that it is planning to set up a small arthouse label next year, and as speculation continues to swirl around what will happen to Fortissimo’s titles.
Throughout its 20-year history, Fortissimo always handled Dutch movies alongside its Asian...
- 9/26/2016
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
Nolan’s Second World War epic is one of a number of large-scale productions to utilise the territory; TV could be next.
After a quiet start, the 30% Dutch “cash rebate” scheme launched in the summer of 2014 is beginning to take off and the Dutch are ramping up their co-production activities.
One very significant coup was attracting Christopher Nolan’s Second World War IMAX epic Dunkirk, which stars Tom Hardy and Harry Styles, to the Netherlands. Nolan’s film shot for more than four weeks in the Netherlands over the summer and received $1.2m (€1m) through the new incentive scheme.
The Warner Bros. production was based at the harbour of Urk, a small fishing village, and made extensive use of huge freshwater lake (the largest in Western Europe), The IJsselmeer. It is understood that Dunkirk’s Dutch cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema was a major advocate of shooting in the Netherlands. Local company Kaap Holland Film came aboard the project...
After a quiet start, the 30% Dutch “cash rebate” scheme launched in the summer of 2014 is beginning to take off and the Dutch are ramping up their co-production activities.
One very significant coup was attracting Christopher Nolan’s Second World War IMAX epic Dunkirk, which stars Tom Hardy and Harry Styles, to the Netherlands. Nolan’s film shot for more than four weeks in the Netherlands over the summer and received $1.2m (€1m) through the new incentive scheme.
The Warner Bros. production was based at the harbour of Urk, a small fishing village, and made extensive use of huge freshwater lake (the largest in Western Europe), The IJsselmeer. It is understood that Dunkirk’s Dutch cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema was a major advocate of shooting in the Netherlands. Local company Kaap Holland Film came aboard the project...
- 9/23/2016
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
Guy Pearce and Dakota Fanning star alongside Game Of Thrones co-stars Kit Harrington and Carice van Houten.
Brimstone director Martin Koolhoven says that his producer Els Vandevorst (Francofonia) has “balls of steel.”
Listen to Vandevorst’s own account of her seven year journey to guide Koolhoven’s €12m revenge western to screen and you quickly get a sense of what he means.
Koolhoven first started talking about the project (starring Guy Pearce, Dakota Fanning, Carice van Houten and Kit Harington) when he was making his Dutch language Second World War film, Winter In Wartime (2008). At the time, Vandevorst warned him that he was too busy with his current projects to devote any time to it.
Winter In Wartime was a box office hit in the Netherlands but didn’t have the international festival exposure that the filmmakers had hoped. However, Vandevorst encouraged the director to be as ambitious as possible. She and the...
Brimstone director Martin Koolhoven says that his producer Els Vandevorst (Francofonia) has “balls of steel.”
Listen to Vandevorst’s own account of her seven year journey to guide Koolhoven’s €12m revenge western to screen and you quickly get a sense of what he means.
Koolhoven first started talking about the project (starring Guy Pearce, Dakota Fanning, Carice van Houten and Kit Harington) when he was making his Dutch language Second World War film, Winter In Wartime (2008). At the time, Vandevorst warned him that he was too busy with his current projects to devote any time to it.
Winter In Wartime was a box office hit in the Netherlands but didn’t have the international festival exposure that the filmmakers had hoped. However, Vandevorst encouraged the director to be as ambitious as possible. She and the...
- 9/2/2016
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
Guy Pearce and Dakota Fanning star alongside Game Of Thrones co-stars Kit Harrington and Carice van Houten.
Brimstone director Martin Koolhoven says that his producer Els Vandevorst (Francofonia) has “balls of steel.”
Listen to Vandevorst’s own account of her seven year journey to guide Koolhoven’s €12m revenge western to screen and you quickly get a sense of what he means.
Koolhoven first started talking about the project (starring Guy Pearce, Dakota Fanning, Carice van Houten and Kit Harington) when he was making his Dutch language Second World War film, Winter In Wartime (2008). At the time, Vandevorst warned him that he was too busy with his current projects to devote any time to it.
Winter In Wartime was a box office hit in the Netherlands but didn’t have the international festival exposure that the filmmakers had hoped. However, Vandevorst encouraged the director to be as ambitious as possible. She and the...
Brimstone director Martin Koolhoven says that his producer Els Vandevorst (Francofonia) has “balls of steel.”
Listen to Vandevorst’s own account of her seven year journey to guide Koolhoven’s €12m revenge western to screen and you quickly get a sense of what he means.
Koolhoven first started talking about the project (starring Guy Pearce, Dakota Fanning, Carice van Houten and Kit Harington) when he was making his Dutch language Second World War film, Winter In Wartime (2008). At the time, Vandevorst warned him that he was too busy with his current projects to devote any time to it.
Winter In Wartime was a box office hit in the Netherlands but didn’t have the international festival exposure that the filmmakers had hoped. However, Vandevorst encouraged the director to be as ambitious as possible. She and the...
- 9/2/2016
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
Fewer Dutch films with more production investment and marketing clout behind them. That is what Doreen Boonekamp, director of the Netherlands Film Fund, is promising in the next four-year funding cycle, 2017-2020.
“We say we really want to invest in quality and production value rather than in a huge number of films,” Boonekamp commented. “We will raise our contributions to individual projects to enable the teams to take enough time to develop their projects…we will also have more money available for marketing and distribution.”
Dutch box office has had a bumper year. In 2015, new data reveals, 33 million cinema tickets were sold, up considerably from the 30.8 million tickets sold last year
Local films achieved an 18.7% market share, slightly lower than the 20% achieved in 2014, but still an impressive number. “It’s extremely good when you compare it with the 0.8% (market share) back in 1994.
Overall revenue was up significantly in a year in which Hollywood blockbusters like Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Jurassic World...
“We say we really want to invest in quality and production value rather than in a huge number of films,” Boonekamp commented. “We will raise our contributions to individual projects to enable the teams to take enough time to develop their projects…we will also have more money available for marketing and distribution.”
Dutch box office has had a bumper year. In 2015, new data reveals, 33 million cinema tickets were sold, up considerably from the 30.8 million tickets sold last year
Local films achieved an 18.7% market share, slightly lower than the 20% achieved in 2014, but still an impressive number. “It’s extremely good when you compare it with the 0.8% (market share) back in 1994.
Overall revenue was up significantly in a year in which Hollywood blockbusters like Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Jurassic World...
- 1/31/2016
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
Treaty negotiated by Netherlands Film Fund and the National Film and Video Foundation.
South Africa and the Netherlands have signed a film and TV co-production treaty.
The treaty has been negotiated by the Netherlands Film Fund and the National Film and Video Foundation, both of which will assess applications for the co-production scheme.
According to the two treaty, “the level of performing, technical and craft contribution of each co-producer must be in line with the financial support that he/she brings to the project, which can be no less than 10% and no more than 90% of the production costs.”
Ms. Zama Mkosi, CEO of the National Film and Video Foundation said of the treaty: “Filmmakers from both our countries are also going to benefit from the Dti incentive scheme, which its aim is to encourage and attract big-budget productions and post production.”
Doreen Boonekamp, CEO of the Netherlands Film Fund said that previous exchanges between the two countries...
South Africa and the Netherlands have signed a film and TV co-production treaty.
The treaty has been negotiated by the Netherlands Film Fund and the National Film and Video Foundation, both of which will assess applications for the co-production scheme.
According to the two treaty, “the level of performing, technical and craft contribution of each co-producer must be in line with the financial support that he/she brings to the project, which can be no less than 10% and no more than 90% of the production costs.”
Ms. Zama Mkosi, CEO of the National Film and Video Foundation said of the treaty: “Filmmakers from both our countries are also going to benefit from the Dti incentive scheme, which its aim is to encourage and attract big-budget productions and post production.”
Doreen Boonekamp, CEO of the Netherlands Film Fund said that previous exchanges between the two countries...
- 12/11/2015
- ScreenDaily
Qualifying co-productions to access financing possibilities in both countries; eligible Dutch films will be exempt from China’s quota on foreign films.
The People’s Republic of China and the Kingdom of the Netherlands have signed a treaty for the co-production of films between both countries.
The Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bert Koenders, and Chinese Minister of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (Sapprft), Cai Fuchao, signed the treaty in Beijing today (Oct 26) during the state visit to China of His Majesty King Willem-Alexander and Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands.
The treaty will enhance and facilitate the co-production of films between China and the Netherlands, which will be conducive to the film industries in both countries and to the development of their cultural and economic exchanges.
The treaty allows qualifying co-productions to access financing possibilities in both countries. The level of the performing, technical and craft...
The People’s Republic of China and the Kingdom of the Netherlands have signed a treaty for the co-production of films between both countries.
The Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bert Koenders, and Chinese Minister of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (Sapprft), Cai Fuchao, signed the treaty in Beijing today (Oct 26) during the state visit to China of His Majesty King Willem-Alexander and Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands.
The treaty will enhance and facilitate the co-production of films between China and the Netherlands, which will be conducive to the film industries in both countries and to the development of their cultural and economic exchanges.
The treaty allows qualifying co-productions to access financing possibilities in both countries. The level of the performing, technical and craft...
- 10/26/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Government officials due at the Berlinale for the signing of the treaty.
In Berlin today [Feb 7], the Dutch-German coproduction treaty will finally be ratified.
The Dutch Minister of Education, Culture and Science Dr. Jet Bussemaker and German State ministers Prof. Monika Grütters, Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, and Dr. Andreas Görgen, Head of Culture and Communication at the Federal Foreign Office, are due at the Berlinale for the signing of the treaty.
The German Federal Film Förderungs Anstalt (Ffa) and Netherlands Film Fund took the lead in recent years, preparing the treaty, which will boost bilateral co-production and the development of the film industry and film culture in both countries.
“With the coproduction agreement between Germany and the Netherlands, we are starting yet another chapter of our successful partnership,” Ffa Executive Managing Director Peter Dinges told ScreenDaily.
“The agreement is a logical result of the initiative of the Netherlands Film Fund and the German Federal Film Board (Ffa) and...
In Berlin today [Feb 7], the Dutch-German coproduction treaty will finally be ratified.
The Dutch Minister of Education, Culture and Science Dr. Jet Bussemaker and German State ministers Prof. Monika Grütters, Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, and Dr. Andreas Görgen, Head of Culture and Communication at the Federal Foreign Office, are due at the Berlinale for the signing of the treaty.
The German Federal Film Förderungs Anstalt (Ffa) and Netherlands Film Fund took the lead in recent years, preparing the treaty, which will boost bilateral co-production and the development of the film industry and film culture in both countries.
“With the coproduction agreement between Germany and the Netherlands, we are starting yet another chapter of our successful partnership,” Ffa Executive Managing Director Peter Dinges told ScreenDaily.
“The agreement is a logical result of the initiative of the Netherlands Film Fund and the German Federal Film Board (Ffa) and...
- 2/7/2015
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
Speaking in Rotterdam, Netherlands Film Fund director Doreen Boonekamp has delivered an upbeat assessment of the state of the Dutch film industry.
Boonekamp has also revealed details of how the country’s new cash rebate system, introduced last year, is driving up production levels.
Some €78m was spent on Dutch production last year, a considerable hike on production investment in 2013, which was around €14m less.
Boonekamp said, as a result of the new incentive, “a lot of post production work is going back to the Netherlands”.
The incentive offers a cash rebate of 30% on the eligible Dutch spend.
Since the incentive was launched in June 2014, 51 film projects have received a total of €13.6m from the scheme.
These have included high profile projects such as Mike van Diem’s De Surprise, Alex van Warmerdam’s Schneider vs. Bax, Polish feature Math Sucks, Austrian movie The Night Of A Thousand Hours, and Roel Reiné’s epic seafaring yarn Michiel de Ruyter...
Boonekamp has also revealed details of how the country’s new cash rebate system, introduced last year, is driving up production levels.
Some €78m was spent on Dutch production last year, a considerable hike on production investment in 2013, which was around €14m less.
Boonekamp said, as a result of the new incentive, “a lot of post production work is going back to the Netherlands”.
The incentive offers a cash rebate of 30% on the eligible Dutch spend.
Since the incentive was launched in June 2014, 51 film projects have received a total of €13.6m from the scheme.
These have included high profile projects such as Mike van Diem’s De Surprise, Alex van Warmerdam’s Schneider vs. Bax, Polish feature Math Sucks, Austrian movie The Night Of A Thousand Hours, and Roel Reiné’s epic seafaring yarn Michiel de Ruyter...
- 1/24/2015
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Lobster, Peter Greenaway’s Eisenstein In Guanajuato and Alex van Warmerdam’s Schneider vs. Bax among those to receive a share of €8.5m ($11.4m) from the new Netherlands Film Production Incentive.Scroll down for full list of projects
A total of 34 film projects have received funding totaling €8.5m ($11.4m) from the budget of the new Netherlands Film Production Incentive.
It is anticipated that these projects will generate €47.9m ($64.6m) in Netherlands-based production expenditure.
Some 21 of the 34 successful applicants were international co-productions of feature films and documentaries, in which a Dutch producer has a majority or minority stake.
Productions include The Night Of A Thousand Hours by screenwriter/director Virgil Widrich, a co-production between Austria (Amour Fou Vienna), Luxembourg (Amour Fou Luxembourg) and The Netherlands (KeyFilm); The Lobster by director/screenwriter Yorgos Lanthimos, a co-production between Ireland (Element Pictures), France (Haut et Court), Greece (Faliro House), UK (Scarlet Films) and The Netherlands (Lemming Film); and...
A total of 34 film projects have received funding totaling €8.5m ($11.4m) from the budget of the new Netherlands Film Production Incentive.
It is anticipated that these projects will generate €47.9m ($64.6m) in Netherlands-based production expenditure.
Some 21 of the 34 successful applicants were international co-productions of feature films and documentaries, in which a Dutch producer has a majority or minority stake.
Productions include The Night Of A Thousand Hours by screenwriter/director Virgil Widrich, a co-production between Austria (Amour Fou Vienna), Luxembourg (Amour Fou Luxembourg) and The Netherlands (KeyFilm); The Lobster by director/screenwriter Yorgos Lanthimos, a co-production between Ireland (Element Pictures), France (Haut et Court), Greece (Faliro House), UK (Scarlet Films) and The Netherlands (Lemming Film); and...
- 7/28/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Bas van der Ree will take up the job at the beginning of July.
As the Dutch seek to attract international movies to shoot in the region, the Netherlands Film Fund has appointed veteran industry figure Bas van der Ree as Netherlands Film Commissioner. He will take up the job at the beginning of July.
It follows an inaugural call for applications for a new 30% cash rebate incentive, which saw 37 projects looking to access the rebate, which was launched in Cannes last month. These included both minority and majority Dutch coproductions. A decision on which will receive support should be taken by mid-July.
“Van der Ree is very experienced with production of feature films, documentaries, television films and also commercials,” said Doreen Boonekamp, CEO of the Netherlands Film Fund, of the new commissioner.
“He has a broad experience within different kinds of media production. That’s important for a Film Commission to have. It is not...
As the Dutch seek to attract international movies to shoot in the region, the Netherlands Film Fund has appointed veteran industry figure Bas van der Ree as Netherlands Film Commissioner. He will take up the job at the beginning of July.
It follows an inaugural call for applications for a new 30% cash rebate incentive, which saw 37 projects looking to access the rebate, which was launched in Cannes last month. These included both minority and majority Dutch coproductions. A decision on which will receive support should be taken by mid-July.
“Van der Ree is very experienced with production of feature films, documentaries, television films and also commercials,” said Doreen Boonekamp, CEO of the Netherlands Film Fund, of the new commissioner.
“He has a broad experience within different kinds of media production. That’s important for a Film Commission to have. It is not...
- 6/20/2014
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
Bas van der Ree will take up the job at the beginning of July.
As the Dutch seek to attract international movies to shoot in the region, the Netherlands Film Fund has appointed veteran industry figure Bas van der Ree as Netherlands Film Commissioner. He will take up the job at the beginning of July.
It follows an inaugural call for applications for a new 30% cash rebate incentive, which saw 37 projects looking to access the rebate, which was launched in Cannes last month. These included both minority and majority Dutch coproductions. A decision on which will receive support should be taken by mid-July.
“Van der Ree is very experienced with production of feature films, documentaries, television films and also commercials,” said Doreen Boonekamp, CEO of the Netherlands Film Fund, of the new commissioner.
“He has a broad experience within different kinds of media production. That’s important for a Film Commission to have. It is not...
As the Dutch seek to attract international movies to shoot in the region, the Netherlands Film Fund has appointed veteran industry figure Bas van der Ree as Netherlands Film Commissioner. He will take up the job at the beginning of July.
It follows an inaugural call for applications for a new 30% cash rebate incentive, which saw 37 projects looking to access the rebate, which was launched in Cannes last month. These included both minority and majority Dutch coproductions. A decision on which will receive support should be taken by mid-July.
“Van der Ree is very experienced with production of feature films, documentaries, television films and also commercials,” said Doreen Boonekamp, CEO of the Netherlands Film Fund, of the new commissioner.
“He has a broad experience within different kinds of media production. That’s important for a Film Commission to have. It is not...
- 6/20/2014
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
€20m scheme aims to bring international production to the Netherlands.
The Netherlands Film Fund is to reveal full details of its long awaited new 30% cash rebate scheme in Cannes today [May 16].
Doreen Boonekamp [pictured], CEO of the Film Fund, is predicting that the new €20m scheme will significantly “strengthen the Dutch film industry and position the Netherlands in the international market place”.
The aim now is to lure international production to the Netherlands.
Boonekamp is expecting to receive EU State Aid approval in time for Friday’s announcement at the festival.
The Fund, which has been rushing to launch the scheme as soon as possible, will also present the country’s new National Film Commission on Friday afternoon.
Insiders are expecting that the first deadline for applications will fall as early as June.
The scheme will offer a 30% cash rebate on production spend in the Netherlands. Applicants are likely to be asked to have half 50% of the overall production...
The Netherlands Film Fund is to reveal full details of its long awaited new 30% cash rebate scheme in Cannes today [May 16].
Doreen Boonekamp [pictured], CEO of the Film Fund, is predicting that the new €20m scheme will significantly “strengthen the Dutch film industry and position the Netherlands in the international market place”.
The aim now is to lure international production to the Netherlands.
Boonekamp is expecting to receive EU State Aid approval in time for Friday’s announcement at the festival.
The Fund, which has been rushing to launch the scheme as soon as possible, will also present the country’s new National Film Commission on Friday afternoon.
Insiders are expecting that the first deadline for applications will fall as early as June.
The scheme will offer a 30% cash rebate on production spend in the Netherlands. Applicants are likely to be asked to have half 50% of the overall production...
- 5/16/2014
- by geoffrey@macnab.demon.co.uk (Geoffrey Macnab)
- ScreenDaily
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