Following this afternoons discussion on the impact of the European Commission’s Digital Single Market strategy on Europe’s film and audiovisual sector, a brief overview of talking points and quotes for your reference.
Talking Points / Quotes from Panellists:
Lord David Puttnam (producer of award-winning films including The Mission, The Killing Fields and Chariots of Fire)
- “This is a political argument that needs to be won. What the commission is trying to do with the Digital Single Market makes sense in a broader context, there is a case for it, but it contains ill-thought legislation. Unintended consequences haunt almost every piece of legislation. And that’s what we are seeing on the audiovisual side.”
- “There are four un-founded “truths” pushing this debate. One is the idea that this is a battle between the old world versus the new digital world, and that the old world are just in the way. Two, that this is an argument over consumer choice, and blocking consumer choice.”
- “My own view is that the DSM will never be fully implanted, only half way, and this could cause even great problems.”
Anders Kjaerhauge from Zentropa (producers of internationally award-winning directors and screenwriters such as Lars von Trier, Thomas Vinterberg and Susanne Bier)
- “Our model is a three-legged chair: private money, public money and pre-sales. In the case of A ROYAL AFFAIR pre-sales represented 37% of the full budget. Generally speaking, the share of pre-sales in our films is between 20-60%. This is a discussion we need to have, but my worry is that they are beginning to cut down one of the legs of the industry. My big worry is that we could be in a situation where Zentropa will say ‘can we produce films in the future?’ I may just become a catalogue manager.”
Jaume Roures from Mediapro (producer of award-winning films including Midnight in Paris, El Botón de Nácar, Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Carnage)
- “The other issue not being addressed by the commission is piracy. This is particularly relevant for Spain which is the second most affected area for this after China. This doesn’t just affect sport, it effects every segment of the industry.”
Michael Ryan from GFM Films (which has financed, sold and produced over 200 films, with recent productions including Legendary; at the Cannes film market with the new Monty Python)
- “I find it deeply ironic that the commission is now suggesting that we stop the idea of territorial sales just when the digital market is able to be monetised. When Spain was and is devastated by DVD piracy, the commission did nothing about piracy. Just when the Digital market is paying for some of that loss, the commission is now proposing to take away our ability to properly monetise films this way.”
Olivier Mille from Artline Films (producers of acclaimed documentaries; at Cannes Classics section with the documentary Hitchcock/Truffaut)
- “I’m a little bit surprised that the European commission is itself in a certain way starting to destroy what they have built for the last 15 or 20 years”
- “More recently with Hitchcock/Truffaut... the only way to produce this was to have a partner in the US, and of course in exchange he gets territories and rights to recoup his investment. The disappearance of the possibility of giving rights in exchange of co-production would make the whole system collapse. Co-production and presales are essential for television, documentaries and animation as well as for feature film.”
The panel was hosted by CEPI (European Coordination of Independent Producers), EUROCINEMA (Association de Producteurs de Cinéma et de Télévision), FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Associations), FIAD (International Federation of Film Distributors Associations), IFTA (The Independent Film & Television Alliance), IVF (International Video Federation - Publishers of Audiovisual Content on Digital Media and Online) and the MPA (Motion Picture Association).
-Edited by Vanessa McMahon-
