11/07/2005

Spotlight on the links uniting French public television and the cinema industry with the nomination last week of Patrick de Carolis to the presidency of France Télévisions, replacing Marc Teissier. Always ready to defend the interests of the 7th art in France, professional organizations have not hesitated in sending messages to the new president. And the ARP (Writers- Directors-Producers) insisted on the need for the public service, as far as cinema is concerned, to clearly "affirm its distinctness in comparison with its competitors with regard to production and promotion" and it congratulated Patrick de Carolis for his efforts before the CSA (Superior Council for Audiovisual) in the domain of cinema heritage, European co-production, the promotion of short films and support for young writers.

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In 2004, the cinema subsidiaries of France Télévisions invested 45,33 million euros in French production. Headed by Pierre Héros, France 2 Cinéma co-produced 30 features, with a total of 29,2 million euros, of which 17,53 was in form of pre-sales and 11,68 in coproduction. For its part, France 3 Cinéma led by Isabelle Peyrefitte invested 16,13 million euros, 9,2 in pre-sales and 6,94 in co-production (20 films).

In terms of film production, the French non-encrypted networks (TF1, France 2, France 3, M6) are legally required to invest in pre-sales or co-production to at least 3,2% of the previous year's turnover, and a minumum of 2,5 % of those must express French culture. Co-productions deals allow the networks to broadcast these films 24 months after their theatrical release as oppose to 36 months after in the case of a simple pre-sale. Also, the co-production value cannot pass 50% of a film's budget and 75% of investments from these non-encrypted cinema subsidiaries must go to independent production.

(Translated from French)