Circulation of European films in the Digital Era

European Programme Media

The Call for Proposals EAC-S08-2013 “Circulation of European films in the digital era” has been published by the European Commission, Directorate General for Education and Culture i the framework of the MEDIA European Programme.

The purpose of the current “European Policy Network of National Literacy Organisations” call is to strengthen cross-European collaboration between foundations and associations, ministries and other organisations active in the field of literacy promotion in order to raise levels of literacy amongst children, young people and adults in Europe.

The current “Circulation of European films in the digital era” call for papers pursues three complementary and inseparable objectives:

• improving conditions for the circulation of European films within the European Union;
• increasing and expanding the global audience for European films;
• informing market players and local authorities of changes likely to improve complementarity between distribution platforms

 

Among the specific objectives of the current “Circulation of European films in the digital era” call for papers, applications must propose to experiment with simultaneous or quasi-simultaneous releases on a wide range of distribution platforms (festivals, cinemas, DVD, Video on Demand services, television channels, etc.) and in a number of European territories. Being restricted to European films and to their distribution within European Union Member States, projects will need to cover a substantial number of films and territories. Applicants are expected to develop new business models (in terms of generating and distributing income from the various distribution platforms) which provide an incentive for the different players to open up for simultaneous or quasi-simultaneous releases. This dimensional parameter is essential to learn significant lessons from the Preparatory Action and to use it as a decision-making tool for local authorities and professionals in the European cinematographic industry. Therefore, projects should also provide for the organisation of a public meeting to present to professionals and local authorities the main findings of the experiment and the lessons to be learnt.

 

Given the general and specific objectives, the priorities of the current “Circulation of European films in the digital era” call for papers are:

• specify the nature of any positive changes which could be made in terms of "media chronology". Concretely, it should provide a typology of films and countries for which such planning would be potentially appropriate.
• enable the emergence of new models based on a more efficient relationship between the various sectors and market players of the film industry.
• provide ways to renew promotional and marketing tools in order to better combine the transnational and national levels and to optimise the efficiency of the related investment.

 

Under the current “Circulation of European films in the digital era” call for proposals, the following proposals are eligible:

• the proposal must be submitted by a group made up of companies or organisations from the audiovisual and related industries (producers, sales agents, distributors, right holders, marketing agencies, cinemas, VOD platforms, etc…);
• the coordinator and co-beneficiary(ies) of the applicant group must have their registered office in a Member State of the European Union;
• the applicant group must include at least two sales agents.

 

The total budget earmarked for the co-financing of projects is estimated at 1.994.000 Euro. The amount of the financial contribution to be awarded will be determined within the limits of available budget and in consideration of the costs and nature of each action, assessed on the basis of the application and the selection and award criteria. It shall take the form of a Grant. There is no maximum amount.

 

The deadline for submitting proposals in the framework of the MEDIA Programme is 6 September 2013.

 

Further information on the current call for proposals is available on the European Commission’s web site at: http://ec.europa.eu/culture/media/fundings/digital-circulation/call-s08-2013_en.htm