Celebrating 20 years of the Agence du court métrage
In 1983 a group of filmmakers, producers and distributors joined forces to establish L'Agence du court métrage in Paris, with the aim of promoting the standing and dissemination of short film in France. Today, the world's first short film agency of its kind can look back on two decades of successful work. We would like to take this opportunity to present the Agence du court métrage and its activities.
One of the agency's most important functions is as a central national archive for short film prints and their distribution. The ACM is not a distributor in the conventional sense, but rather a cultural representative of the filmmakers. Consequently, the agency's work goes well beyond mere distribution. The ACM is also an important consultation and documentation centre for the short form. Particular emphasis is placed on support for young film authors. The activities of the agency also include publishing the magazine BREF four times a year. Despite its non-commercial orientation, the agency has been able to make a substantial contribution to improving the short film economy. According to agency estimates, during the year 2001 alone revenues in the amount of 4 million francs were generated by its activities. Thanks in particular to its cooperation with partners and other institutions, L'Agence du court métrage has by now carved out a firm and indispensable place for itself in the French film landscape.
On the occasion of its twentieth anniversary, the ACM will host an extensive retrospective of French short film from 29 October to 2 November at the Forum des images (Forum des Halles, Paris), including panel discussions and lectures.
Some stations in the agency's history
By the end of the 70s, short film had sunk below the public horizon in France, becoming virtually invisible. Short-film makers found themselves in an impossible situation since their works no longer reached the cinema screen. This was not necessarily due to disinterest on the part of the cinemas, but above all to a lack of any distribution structure for the short form. There was no way for culture-oriented cinemas and municipal cinemas which would gladly have screened short films, to gain access to them.
In April 1982 François Ode and Daniel-Yves Yaneck undertook a study on the dissemination of the short film. They suggested establishing an institution in charge of distributing, archiving and promulgating short films. At the end of 1982 their suggestion resulted in a grant application to the Centre national de la cinématographie (CNC). The founding meeting of the Agence du court métrage (ACM) followed on 28 February 1983. Shortly thereafter the agency's offices were opened on the Rue de Tocqueville. The CNC provided a budget for hiring paid staff, and the agency took up its work by distributing films selected on the basis of quality and programme organisers' demands.
In 1986 the ACM founded a new department called "Régie TV Câble" to work on increasing short film exposure on television as well. Régie TV Câble focused particularly on Canal+, Antenne 2 and FR3, recommending films to be shown in special short-film time slots. Today this department of the ACM is also responsible for short film distribution on the Internet.
In the years 1988 and 1989 the ACM organised a Tour de France for short film. A programme of 80 films toured more than 20 cities. This offensive had to be discontinued when some of ACM's partners, notably FNAC, withdrew support. Based on this experience, an additional department was added to the agency in 1989: the Réseau Alternatif de Diffusion (R.A.D.I.). This project is dedicated to re-establishing short film as a supporting highlight at the cinema. R.A.D.I.'s concept has proven successful and has subsequently been adopted in other countries - in Germany, for example, by the Kurzfilmagentur Hamburg under the title "Kurzfilm-Abonnement (short film subscription)". This strategy is based on providing cinemas with a catalogue of short films from which, for a fixed yearly fee, they can choose films to borrow.
1989 was also the founding year of BREF, the first film magazine devoted exclusively to the short form. Since its establishment by François Ode, almost 60 issues have been published. The magazine now comes out four times a year, compiled by an independent editorial team.
In the 90s additional activities were undertaken, including in particular regular hosting of short film evenings in Paris (since 2001 at Forum des images) and the "Soirées BREF" at the Quai-de-Seine cinema, which belongs to the mk2 repertory theatre chain.
The most recent project of the ACM is devoted to preserving and publicising important works in short film history. Under the project title "Une mémoire en courts" programmes featuring new prints of short films by producer Pierre Braunberger and director Jacques Tati have been published in the last two years. The next programme is already underway, dedicated to the work of Anatole Dauman.
Still in the exploratory phase is a further project, "Une heure tout court", for the promotion of the mid-length film, i.e. films between 30 minutes and one hour, which find it particularly difficult to make their way into the cinema.
In response to pedagogical interest in the short film, the ACM has been putting together special film series for school and cinema projects since 2001. The agency provides specialised pedagogical backup material for such programmes. Another endeavour in this area are workshops in which young people can learn how to compile and organise short film programmes.
Organisational Structure
L'Agence du court métrage is a recognised non-profit organisation (association régie par la loi de 1901), supported by the Centre National de la Cinématographie and governed by an executive board (whose chairman is co-founder Philippe Pilard). The stated mission of the organisation is the publicly mandated promotion of short film.
The ACM is directed by Philippe Germain (délégué général). Working alongside him is managing director Rémi Bonnot (directeur administratif). ACM divisions include Service Programmation, Régie TV-câble, Service Technique, Service Documentation and a PR department. The ACM also has at its disposal a small cinema for screenings (Salle Jacques Tati).
Service Programmation, Régie TV Câble and the documentation centre are located at 74 rue du Rocher (Paris 8e), while all other departments are still housed at the agency's original address, 2 rue de Tocqueville (Paris 17e).
Short film placement and Service Programmation
Within the space of just one year, the agency manages to put an average of 1,300 different short film titles into circulation, not counting festival placements. In the year 2000, 4,560 prints were lent in the course of 840 distribution agreements. Some films, such as "Salam" by Souad El-Bouhati, boasted more than 100,000 viewers. From distribution proceeds, some 500,000 euros can be paid to the film's rights-holders each year.
Films are distributed individually, as subscriptions (see below) or as special programmes in the form of short-film reels. These curated programmes are supplied to cinemas under the name "Les soirées du court" for a flat fee of 183 euros. The agency bases its programmes on a variety of possible focuses. Sometimes the programmes consist of award-winning films, some are retrospectives and others are theme-oriented. Often the programmes are also related to pressing film policy objectives, such as the programme of mid-length films, "Une heur tout court". This group also includes a programme of documentaries designed to counteract the downward trend being experienced by documentary short film in France.
The agency's most important customers are in the non-commercial sector, but interest in short film has also started growing among commercial cinemas. In its annual report for 2002, a 26% increase in commercial rentals was recorded over the prior year. The placement of curated programmes, especially at festivals, is also experiencing growth.
A new focus of the agency is its work in the education sector, both with schools and through other means. During the past two years, nine short film programmes were put together for this purpose and offered throughout the country with specially prepared backup material. Also quite recent is the release of an educational DVD, "Le travail du film" – a joint project involving several partners, including "Sauve qui peut", the organisers of the Clermont-Ferrand short film festival. The DVD uses examples to show how short films are created and produced.
The film placement division of the ACM is not organised like a conventional film distribution. The ACM does not buy the rights to a film from the outset, but rather works as a placement agency. The agency does handle the rental itself, however, as a distributor would, including scheduling, shipping, invoicing, print maintenance, etc. For every rental the rights-holder (filmmaker or producer) receives 15% of the revenues.
Placement and programme planning for short films is based on a registration process ("inscription"), which is open to any filmmaker or producer. Subject to certain rules and obligations, short films on 16mm or 35mm with a length of up to 60 minutes can be registered. If filmmakers or producers would like to avail themselves of the agency's services, they can become members for a yearly fee of 19 or 69 euros. More than 1,400 filmmakers have already selected this "adhésion".
To further assist filmmakers the ACM launched a pilot project this year for financing film prints.
R.A.D.I. – short film subscription
Each year the rights to around 50 new films are purchased for a period of five years for the R.A.D.I. subscription system. Five copies are made of each film. The decision on which films to purchase is made in the course of screenings together with cinema representatives, usually two per year. The results of the screenings are then published on the Internet.
Just over 200 cinemas belong to the R.A.D.I. at present. They can choose from over 250 titles, which are documented extensively both on the Internet and on a CD-ROM. A subscription costs 1,130 euros (in 2003). The films- both animated and live-action – are usually shorter than 10 minutes, and in any case not longer than 15 minutes. The listing also includes foreign films, usually European award-winners at the French short film festivals. The film borrowed most often comes from a Russian filmmaker: "Au bout du monde" by Konstantin Bronzit.
Last year there were 6,000 "copying moves" in the context of the R.A.D.I. programme.
In charge of placement, programme compilation and distribution are:
Didier Kiner (responsable du pôle diffusion),
Karim Allag (responsable de la programmation),
Yann Goupil (responsable Soirées du court et programmateur)
Stéphane Kahn, Fabrice Marquat (programmateurs)
Tel: +33 1 44 69 26 60
Fax: +33 1 44 69 26 69
Régie TV câble – television rights
The Régie TV câble department is responsible for the placement of short films with domestic and foreign television companies. As in the distribution department, Régie TV câble works on behalf of the rights-holder, and itself possesses no exclusive rights to the films. The basis for its work is a special catalogue, whose repertoire is oriented along the needs of the buyers. Currently this catalogue contains 3,000 titles. When a purchase agreement is concluded, Régie TV câble receives 20% of the proceeds. In the year 2002, Régie TV câble successfully increased its international film sales (7% more than 2001).
The dissemination of films via the Internet has been added as a new field of endeavour. The ACM views this above all as a chance for a secondary exploitation of the films following their screening at the cinema. Agreements have been concluded with Liberafilm and Eurocinema, among others.
In charge of this department are: Hél?ne Masingue, Hél?ne Delmas (responsables des ventes)
Tel: +33 1 44692665
Fax: +33 1 44692669
E-Mail : acmregie 
noos.fr
Service documentation
The heart of the ACM, so to speak, is the documentation department. The "Service documentation" is responsible for the registration of short films and for the administration of information and data on the films. Preparing and making available all of the necessary technical and content-related information on the films is the prerequisite for the distribution, sales and programming work of the ACM and its customers. As of today a total of nearly 10,000 short film titles have been recorded and documented. In addition to the 10,000 synopses and technical specifications, these records include more than 17,000 film stills. And every year between 400 to 500 new films are added...
The documentation department also collects information that might be useful for filmmakers or producers for disseminating their films, for example festival registration forms and regulations.
In charge of this department are: Stéphanie Clouet (responsable), Solen Treussart (assistante)
BREF magazine
Founded fifteen years ago, BREF magazine is the only francophone print publication dedicated exclusively to short film. Conceived by François Ode as an information platform for the short film scene and as a voice for intellectual exchange on the short form, BREF is not a mouthpiece or central organ of the ACM. Over the years the magazine has developed its own independent editorial identity. Hence, BREF is a film magazine that – just like other serious film magazines in the feature film sector – takes short film seriously and critically accompanies current production. BREF regularly presents new short films, festival reports, and also historical research and up-to-the-minute topics. The autumn 2003 issue, for example, includes a report on the FEMIS film school, an article on cinéma militant and a portrait of filmmaker Irit Batsry. Attention is also paid to short film forms that do not fall under the main focus of the ACM, such as productions on video and digital media. Finally, a fixed feature in BREF, with its own editor, is devoted to the topic of the Internet, with discussions of the pros and cons of the Web for short film production and exposure.
At the beginning of 2003 BREF had 1,600 subscribers. The annual subscription rate is 37 euros.
Editor in chief: Jacques Kermabon
ISSN: 0759-6898
E-Mail: mailto:acmbref wanadoo.fr
Future plans – from the agency's agenda
«Élaborer un observatoire des politiques de diffusion du film court»
In view of technological changes in the media landscape (Internet, DVD, digitisation), the ACM, in cooperation with its partners, plans to undertake a joint discussion and reflection on the consequences of these developments for the dissemination of short films.
«Mettre en place une circulation européenne»
In future the agency will also turn its attention to the cross-border propagation of short films in the form of a European cooperation. Together with its partner organisations in other countries and the Salles Europa Cinéma network, the ACM will endeavour to coordinate the distribution and dissemination of short films throughout Europe.
«Mettre en place un pôle cinématographique parisien»
On a local level, the ACM plans to create a centre for short film in which all initiatives from production to distribution to education to screening are gathered together under one roof.
«Créer un portail internet dédié au court métrage»
Finally, an Internet portal for French short film is in planning, in conjunction with the "Sauve qui peut le court métrage" (Short Film S.O.S.) association in Clermont-Ferrand. The first measure will be to combine and release the databases of both organisations. An interactive learning platform for short film is also slated.
Conclusion
In the last twenty years the short film landscape in France has been completely transformed. Twenty years ago even the term «court métrage» had disappeared from the vernacular. Since then, however, the number of festivals has multiplied, the entire sector has been professionalised, more and more television stations are showing short films and even schools are taking an interest in the genre. Thus, on the occasion of its twentieth anniversary, the ACM has every right to be proud of its accomplishments: «Although we cannot claim that all of these developments are fruits of the work of l'Agence du court métrage, it cannot be denied that our work promoting and disseminating short film since the year 1983 has played a major role in the course of events.»
Reinhard W. Wolf
Note:
This text is based on publications of the Agence du court métrage on the occasion of its anniversary.
For further insights into the work of the ACM, please visit the agency's website. Since the site is more complex than it appears at first glance, we provide for you here a selection of direct links:
Online excerpts from the print edition of BREF no. 58