Reports Previous Workshops
Introduction
The first cycle of MEDICI took place between 2012 and 2014. Composed of four Workshops, it was conceived in real time and progressively adapted in order to cover the main challenges faced by the funds, starting with “Strategies & initiatives for the film funders” (1st Workshop – Sigtuna/Sweden from 15 to 17 April 2012), followed by “Financing Strategies” (2nd Workshop – Retz/Austria from 7 to 9 November 2012) and “Impact of digital in the film business and production decision making processes” (3rd Workshop – Limelette/Belgium from 17 to 19 September 2013), ending with “Promotion, distribution and success evaluation (4th Workshop – Štiřín/Czech Republic from 16 to 18 September 2014).
The participation in those four Workshops was as followed:
- 55 persons working within the 70 relevant funds (all levels) for MEDICI participated in one of the four Workshops, representing 39% of the contacted and potential participants.
- The participation of national (54%) regional (40%) and supranational (6%) funds has been well balanced, given the fact that most of the regional funds have a little structure (more difficult to free themselves in order to attend such events), are more economically driven and less concerned with some of the topics discussed.
- Geographically (taking into account the countries members of the MEDIA Programme):
- Countries of Northern Europe were the best represented. Some of the funds sent more than one of their team members to some Workshops.
- Eastern Europe: only 2 funds (Poland and Slovakia) were represented. Despite several invitations, the Hungarian Film Fund never confirmed its participation.
- Western Europe: almost all the countries attended except the biggest player CNC in France despite numerous calls and meetings with the different heads of departments (Cinema, International Affairs and Advance on receipts).
- Southern Europe countries: it is the area with less country members of MEDIA up to 2014 (since then Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia have joined the Creative Europe program in 2014). The critical economic situation in Spain, Portugal and Greece did not allow their funds to attend. Nonetheless, Italian regional funds were present at each Workshop as well as Slovenian at the Fourth Workshop.
- In terms of financial value, the public funds participating in those four MEDICI Workshops represent a total budget of over 525 Mio €, almost 33% of the 1,6 billion Euro spent by European funding bodies on project support activities like scriptwriting, development, production, distribution and promotion (according to the study published by the European Audiovisual Observatory – The Future of State Aid / 2012-3). (see Annex E Funds and Budgets 2012-2014)
What emerged during those four Workshops, is the participants' desire to take time to share, experience and exchange, and to use this “moment in time” as a source of inspiration, discussion and reflection.
A new cycle started in 2015 with the Fifth Workshop that took place in Santpoort (The Netherlands) from September 29 to Thursday October 1, 2015 . The event was attended by 25 participants (excluding the guest speakers) representing 23 public funds (18 national funds and 5 regional funds) from 20 countries (incl. 2 non EU countries). A moderator ran the two-day workshop. Four guest speakers (incl. 2 representatives of film funds) were invited to present respectively Module 2, 3, 4 and 6 (See Details about participants PDF).
This new cycle was followed by the Sixth workshop that took place in Warth (Switzerland). Twenty-seven funds were represented (including 2 guest speakers) from 19 countries (incl. 3 non Eu countries), 16 from national funds from and 7 from regional funds. 56% of those participants came for a second or more time.
In 2017, the Seventh Workshop took place in Lørenskog (Norway). Thirty funds were represented (including 1 guest speaker) from 23 countries (incl. 3 non EU countries), 22 from national funds and 8 from regional funds. 57% of them came for a second time or more.
In 2018, the Eight Workshop took place in Royaumont Abbey (France). Twenty-eight participants were presented (including 1 panelist) from 21 countries (incl. Europe and two non EU countries), 19 of them represented 18 national funds, 7 regional funds and 2 an European fund. 52% of them attended the Medici workshop for a second time or more. Two producers, one from Belgium and one from Denmark were invited to attend a panel about coproduction and moderated by Roberto Olla (Eurimages). Among the guests speakers, there were two representatives of broadcasting channels, Yle/Finland for Module 2 and 3 and Media TFO/Canada Ontario for module 4. (See Details about participants PDF)
In 2019, the Ninth Workshop took place in Potsdam (Germany) attended by thirty-three public funds representatives from 22 countries (incl. Europe and three non EU countries). Among them twenty-four represented national funding bodies, seven regional ones and two the European fund (Eurimages). 64% (21 participants) came for the second or more time. On the side of the six guests speakers, as said above, one of them was a a film fund representative (Claus Ladegaard), the other five came from the audiovisual film industry specialized in their field (platform economy, blockchain and the European Audiovisual Observatory)
MEDICI's target group includes the persons working within European film-funding bodies – the Heads of such institutions, but also the persons in charge on a daily basis of project management, decision procedures and contracting procedure requiring real involvement in setting the rules to access film funding.
In terms of financial value, the public funds participating in the ninth MEDICI Workshop represent a total budget of 646 million euro. The total financial value of the European funds is estimated at 545 million1, 25% of the 2,2 billion euro spent by European funding on project support activities like scriptwriting, development, production, distribution and promotion (according to the study published by the European Audiovisual Observatory – Public financing for film and television content/The state of soft money in Europe, published in July 2016). (See Details per fund XLSX)
Given the fact that MEDICI is composed of Workshops with different – and sometimes similar (upon the participants' request) – issues to be addressed, specific reports have been drawn up for each of them providing a summary of the main issues and discussions, with some questions and conclusions.. Each report should be considered as a piece of a puzzle that evolves with time. The outcomes of the discussions sometimes overlap: that means that certain discussion topics represent the main challenges and concerns of the public funds.
1 Excluding SODEC (€25 M/ CAD 38M), Telefilm Canada (€66,5 million / CAD 101,6M), CORFO.Chile (€3 million) and Israel Cinema Project, Rabinovich Foundation (€7 million)
1. Context
The audiovisual sector's financial instability has grown over the last few years, due to different moves within the sector:
- The European Commission has confirmed changes to certain evaluation criteria for public funding within its member countries' film industry allowing aid for a wider scope of activities and limiting the aid amount granted by funds to be spent in their territory (max 160%)
- A revision of the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production targets: among others, a partnership better suited for producers from economically poorer countries and non-EU countries. To that effect, a new Convention has already been signed in January 2017 by 10 countries and will be in force as soon as it is officially adopted by the respective Parliament.
- A revision of the Eurimages program and manner of operation promises adjustments in step with the European reality of today, such as gender equality, the level of co-production shares and partnership with non-EU countries
- The new structure and programs of CREATIVE EUROPE taking into account the challenges created by globalisation, in particular the impact of digital technologies
- The continuing increase of production incentives (doubled between 2008 and 2014, rising from 12 to 26) creating competition between countries and making the search for production financing more and more complex to solve the requirements of local spending
- On the market revenue side, the situation improves slowly due to better box office results. Nonetheless, the increase of films produced every year keeps the access to those revenues (distributors', world sales' and broadcasters' minimum guarantees) very competitive . The result has been the exertion of immense pressure on public funds for compensation purposes at the least, let alone to adequately finance projects struggling to come into being. In such a context, MEDICI fills a need in the sector, enabling different funds to speak with each other, to exchange ideas on similar or differing problems and, as a consequence, to be in a better position to understand and meet to the extent of their abilities the needs of the film industry professionals
1.1 Audiovisual financing
Beyond the economic situation's various contingencies, technological changes as well as the presence of other screening devices have drastically modified content production and distribution. The stage-and-television generation (people over 50) is starting to be replaced by the digital users generation, and this is bound to have a direct impact on the traditional business model and more particularly feature film revenues from box office and TV sales that have dramatically decreased over the last 5 years. It is becoming very difficult to pre-sell a project to distribution companies or sales agents. For them, the financial risk is too high: they prefer to lower the price or wait until a film is finished before buying it. Even if the need for content does not disappear, new forms of producing and distributing will be appearing without any guarantee as to their economical viability.
Other factors that bear consideration:
- The ever-growing number of requests for assistance and for co-productions. The first factor reflects, among other things, the exponential development caused by all the new authors and producers graduating every year from schools and universities specialized (or not) in film. Meanwhile, the growing number of co-productions is a direct consequence of the current financial crisis, and of the impossibility for many countries to finance their productions on their own.
- The success of TV series, producing a negative impact on feature films releases and sales.
- The increasing presence and strength of the SVoD and VoD systems, which disrupts the release windows scheme without offering substantial income to the value chain of audiovisual works. This results in a very complex environment where public funding has become unavoidable for all sectors and levels of the European audiovisual industry.
1.2 Public funds
As previously mentioned, the economic environment has not had the same impact on national cultural policies.
On the one hand, the interaction between the cultural and economical dimensions of film production has triggered new funding bodies and incentives over the last decade, aiming to support a national and European culture, to develop and consolidate local facilities by attracting European or other foreign shoots and, on a larger scale, to participate in the economic promotion of a territory.
On the other hand, those facing budget cuts or reversals in political priorities are under constant pressure to meet the demand, while at the same time being obliged to restructure their teams.
What projects to fund? How to fund them? And at what level? How to prioritise support programs or type of funding? What is the role of funds in the future? Even though the respect for some of the European Commission's requirements produces certain similarities, each fund shapes its own policy and draws up its own set of rules. That leaves it up to the producer to link all these funding programs and mechanisms with each other, in order to match budget and financing in a mutually satisfactory manner for all concerned. An exhausting and expensive exercise!
1.3 And now…
European institutions attach great value to the policy of transparency, and to loyal competition between the Funds. Therefore, the exchange and sharing of experiences between film funders — in order to get a larger picture of the financing landscape and of the influence of each mechanism on a production — has become an absolute necessity.
Film funders need a venue away from the constant pressure of decision-making, delivering money and attending strategic meetings or Workshops, to discuss together the challenges that they are facing, as well as to think about what is to be done, why and especially how—mostly in view of European production and distribution. MEDICI is meant to be such a venue.
2. Objectives of MEDICI
Objective 1 – To improve, stimulate and challenge business practices in the funding of European films by public players
By following step-by-step the stakes confronting any film funder, MEDICI wants to give participants the opportunity to address their concerns, to present and explain their own practices and find a variety of solutions or alternatives, leading to the transmission and improvement of their practices.
“MEDICI is the best use of unproductive, out-of-office time.”
Laurent Steiert, Head of Automatic Funding (Federal Office for Culture, Film section)
“I really feel like I am not just meeting people formally here. I am aware of them, their countries, their local problems. I receive their feedback and opinions.”
Peter Dinges, CEO (German Federal Film Board)
“Yes, it is a great forum to exchange knowledge, to share both experiences and new ideas. As workshops are about sharing, it is more useful than any industry event could be”
Rolandas Kvietkauskas, CEO Lithuanian Film Center
“It's always a pleasure taking part in interactive methods, and the Fifth Medici Workshop was one of this kind.”
Kozeta Kullakshi, National Film Center / Albania
Objective 2 – To enhance potential cooperation in policies between public film funds
By creating a specific training program where players with the same mission but with different backgrounds can meet and exchange ideas, MEDICI offers a unique opportunity to stimulate relationships between film funders, for the benefit of funding European films most efficiently.
“We all have different jobs within public funds. It is very good because it provides a diversity of opinions. Another good thing is that we work here in a very informal setting. And this informal context continues even after the workshop, since we keep exchanging all kinds of information. I would be happy to come back.”
George van Bremen, Head of Finance (Netherlands Film Fund)
“Although I am from Canada, it would be interesting for my fund to attend even future workshops because it helps us in networking and finding new partners. It is important because otherwise you feel alone in your country. The second benefit is that we re-negotiate and re-define here the role of film funds.”
Michel Pradier, Head of Feature Film (Telefilm Canada)
“I realise we have all the same challenges, but have different ways to solve them. To get inspiration and understanding…”
Anna Serner, CEO, Swedish Film Institute
“We got certain ideas that might be implemented in our fund”
Iris Zappe-Heller, Deputy Director, Austrian Film Institute
“The Medici Workshops fill a void that I have considered for some time in bringing peers together from a variety of like-minded funding agencies to compare best practice approaches to business and culture development in the international film industry. We all left with a suitcase of ideas and a number of new contacts from across Europe and beyond.”
James Weyman, OMDC/Canada
Objective 3 – To form a network of film funders creatively active in the defense and improvement of European films
By the very fact of assembling many film funders and exposing them to problems and solutions to be shared, it is hoped that a new force will emerge, able to contribute to the future challenges of the European film industry.
“The real value of MEDICI is that you have a real and deep conversation with your peers about the difficult issues that are really difficult to explain to people outside the industry who do not understand the complexity of what we are operating.”
Stine Helgeland, Executive Director, Promotion and International Relations (Norwegian Film Institute)
“By exchanging views, comparing experiences with other peers, we are forced to step in and get a fresh perspective on shared issues”
Sanja Ravlic, Head of Development, Croatian Film Center
“We should not solve problems here but only get inspired”
Claus Ladegaard, Danish Film Institute
“Exchange of good practices, discovering new support systems, dialogues about issues in different countries, gives opportunities for feedbacks and inspiration for our own work”
Emmanuel Roland, Head of Production Department, CCA/Belgium
“It´s a useful opportunity to work along common issues and goals, meet new partners and compare with other realities in film funding. A real must go.”
Inés Peñagaricano, ICAU/Uruguay
“I particularly appreciate the relationships that come out of these events and have a number of good contacts to call on in future.”
James Weyman, OMDC/Canada
3. Methodology of MEDICI
The methodology is interactive as generally used in professional training, whereby all participants contribute to the topics addressed in the Workshop and share with the others their own experience outside their daily routine. MEDICI is the place where representatives of funds have the opportunity to question, present, propose and challenge their own practices and policies, so that these might be better suited to their film business community.
During the course of the four workshops, the methodology has evolved. Even if the Workshops are still structured in Modules dealing with topics designed to integrate the challenges of film funders, the duration of each of them has been shortened to allow more topics to be discussed and discussions to be more focused. Each module—now lasting between one and a half to two hours—is led by a Moderator assisted by the Head of Studies, Joëlle Levie. Their role is to stimulate discussion and ensure that all the participants have a chance to speak out, either of their own volition or as requested by the moderator.
To prepare the discussions
- Each participant is asked to fill out a questionnaire related to at least two modules (of his/her own choice) per Workshop.
- Based on the replies to these questionnaires, the Head of Studies, in collaboration with the Moderator of each module, selects the participants who present case studies based on their own experience.
Based on the questionnaires, each topic is then discussed, with case studies presented by selected participants reflecting different approaches from different funding bodies. Additional guests (like CEOs of some funding bodies, producers and/or distributors and/or directors…) are invited to participate in some of the discussions in order to gain an external and “user” point of view.
“I like the selection of diverse case studies that are chosen to demonstrate new opportunities. It is not the recipe of how to make a new Skyfall, but rather examples from every-day life so to say.”
Rolandas Kvietkauskas, Director (Lithuanian Film Centre)
“I really enjoy the combination of the experts’ input and the exchange among the participants.”
Christiana Wertz, Head of Film Fund and Film Commission (BLS Suedtirol Alto Adige)
Discussions take place in groups or plenary sessions, depending on each topic.
See Details about the programme of the Workshops
Photos by Daniel DePierre and Michiel Bartels, Illustration by KAK
First Workshop — 25 to 27 April, 2012 — Sigtuna, Sweden
- Module 1 — The Role of Public Film Funds
- Module 2 — Partnership with Industry
- Module 3 — Strategies
- Case Studies Modules 1, 2 & 3
- Module 4 — Continuity and Newcomers
- Module 5 — Introduction by Keynote Speaker Inga Von Staden
- Module 5 — New Formats
Second Workshop — 7 to 9 November, 2012 — Retz, Austria
- Module 1 — The Role of Public Film Funds
- Module 2 — Coproduction, Minority and Agreements
- Module 3 — Financing Tools
- Module 4 — National Funds / Regional funds – Friends or Competitors?
- Module 5 — A diversity of voices… a real challenge
- Open Space Module
Third Workshop — 17 to 19 September, 2013 — Château de Limelette, Belgium
Impact of Digital in Film Business and Production
- Introduction — The Perfect Storm/The Workshop Method — PEST analysis
- Module 1 — Should we support less films for an overcrowded market, or focus on ensuring that the films we select find audiences on new platforms?
- Module 2 — How does the dramatic increase in audience data and a demand-driven economy affect our decision-making processes?
- Module 3 — How far do we need to adapt to new business models, and how far can we seek to protect traditional industrial structures?
- Module 4 — Conclusions
Decision Making Processes
- Module 5 — Goals and selection processes/methods
- Module 6 — Selection criteria
- Module 7 — Profiles of experts, consultants, selection committee members
- Module 8 — Relations with higher authorities and producers
Fourth Workshop — 16 to 18 September 2014 — Štiřín, Czech Republic
Promotion, Distribution and Success Evaluation
- Module 1 – The Role of Public Funds in Promotion
- Module 2 – Distribution – Who and What to Support
- Module 3 – Vod Platforms as Potential Friends of the EU Cinema
- Module 4 – Release Windows
- Module 5 – Finding and Addressing Audiences
- Module 6 – How to Evaluate Success
Fifth Workshop — 29 September to 1 October 2015 — Santpoort, Netherlands
International Co-productions, Development, Gender and quotas
- Module 1 – Co-production: Landscape (volume, co-production treaties, cinema vs television, financial, non-official)
- Module 2 – Co-productions: Financing issues: for the producers, for the funds (specific programmes, decision timeline, recoupment, financial co-production)
- Module 3 – Co-productions: Legal and Financial Issues
- Module 4 – Distribution: co-production opens access to other countries, does the audience follow?
- Module 5 – Gender / Quotas Issue – Update on Funds’ Strategies
- Module 6 – What to foresee in the next ten years based on what’s going on now?
- Module 7 – Development – An underestimated stage in the production process?
Sixth Workshop – 27 to 29 September 2016 – Warth, Switzerland
The Development of Content: Challenges and Opportunities – Public Funds as Pawns or Players?
- Introduction – Scriptwriting and development funding landscape
- Module 1 – Evaluation of funds' portfolio
- Module 2 – Scriptwriting and Development Support: funding landscape, co-development initiatives and development strategies, successful or unsuccessful stories
- Module 3 – Automatic schemes: more about sustaining production companies than developing quality projects?
- Module 4 – VoD platforms as commissioners and distributors of original content. For good or for bad?
- Module 5 – Talent support initiatives
- Module 6 – Hybrid contents: the mix of different artistic disciplines
- Module 7 – Development – An underestimated stage in the production process?
Seventh Workshop – 27 to 29 September 2017 – Finstadjordet, Norway
The Role of Public Film Funds in the Future
- Introduction
- Module 1 – What are the essential and relevant core values of public funds?
- Module 2 – How to design funding programs today?
- Module 3 – How to take risk and experiment?
- Module 4 – Is diversity essential for reaching the audiences? Are there tools for evaluating the diversity of audiences?
- Presentation of the study “Current state of investment of national and regional public funds in Europe for professional training”
- Module 5 – How to integrate new technologies and players in the value chain?
- Module 6 – Distribution and Promotion Schemes
- Module 7 – Engaging with Future
Eighth Workshop – 26 to 28 September 2018 – Royaumont Abbey, France
Cooperation between public funds in an increasingly complex and international environment: opportunities, actions, ideas
- Module 1a – Panel: Co-operation between funds means mainly supporting co-production
- Module 1b – Are there possible alternatives?
- Module 2 – How to access smart data to better reach the audience?
- Module 3 – How could funds help each other to make the projects they co-finance visible?
- Module 4a – How to simplify and make life easier for funds and producers in terms of paperwork.
- Module 4b – Digitizing the Funding Process
- Module 5 – How to assess the performance of funding programs dedicated to international co-operation?
Ninth Workshop – 25 to 27 September 2019 in Potsdam, Berlin, Germany
The public film funds’ experiences with new players and forms of content, their impact on funding schemes and their responsibility towards the industry in the 21st century
- Module 1 – Platform Economy
- Module 2.1 – New Formats
- Module 2.2 – Group Exercise: Format Development
- Module 4.1 – Digitisation From Application to Distribution
- Module 4.2 – Blockchain as a part of the workflow
- Module 4.3 – Group exercise: block chain as part of new funding schemes. Supporting new formats and platform distribution
- Module 5 – Sustainability: Surviving the 21st Century
- Module 6 – Free Flow: What Do You Think?