03/06/2013 - The VOD market is growing but is not easy to access for European films

The worldwide dominance of films by US major studios is also reflected in video-on-demand distribution. Big platforms. such as iTunes or Netflix, are coming from the US to Europe. "48% of the VOD services are under US control, which makes life difficult for European films," said André Lange, Head of the Department for Information on Markets and Financing at the European Audiovisual Observatory, during the workshop 'Film and internet – Best friends with benefits?' in Cannes.

Most of the countries have not figured out a solution to give European films a better access to the VOD platforms. So far, there are only quotas in Slovakia, Italy and France that vary from 20-60% (in France) but monitoring is occuring less than with TV. "In France, there is an independent control by spot checks," added Langé "but the lack of sanctioning power is a difficulty."

"In order to set up regulations, we need support from the film funds," said Jean-Francois Furnémont, Director of the CSA. "We have to react proactively so that the films we produce also get distributed." According to Benoit Danard, Head of Research and statistics at the CNC, 93% of all cinemagoers use the internet, and 73% of these every day. "The internet can be used to reach the audience," underlined Furnémont. "For 85% of all viewers, however, cinema is the best screen."

"What has changed is access to content," concluded Observatory Executive Director Wolfgang Cloos. "We have an increasing choice and access to everything in the world." For this reason, the new EU programme Creative Europe will place an emphasis on audience building. "We are encouring the market players to use new technologies," said Aviva Silver, head of the MEDIA programme. "We want room to experiment."