The situation of short film today in France

The French system for promoting feature film is often discussed, but rarely the support of short film. On the whole, short film promotion works in a similar fashion. The production and distribution of short films is governed by structures created 20 years ago: the festivals of Clermont-Ferrand, Brest and Grenoble, the Agence du Court Métrage (Short Film Agency), the Maison du Film Court (House of Short Film), the main regional promotional funds in Aquitaine, Midi-Pyrénées and Pays de la Loire, television programmes of short films and much more. This seasoned and stable network has led to the professionalization of short film and enabled many films to be made.

 

Today, 20 years later, there is perhaps a risk of French short film becoming “mummified” as economic and salary restraints are imposed and certain more daring and creative production methods are blocked.

 

 

What is short film in France today?

 

This is difficult to answer, but one can say that, on the one hand, some 400 short films are produced each year under professional conditions (they have a registration number and thus an official legitimation), while, on the other hand, Clermont-Ferrand as the biggest of the 200 recognized festivals in France receives between 1,600 and 1,800 submissions annually.

In quantitative terms, therefore, the French short film would appear to be alive and well.

 

Based on the 400 short films that have a registration number (n° de visa), one can verify for the year 2005 that:

66% of the films are shorter than 20 minutes

46% of shooting takes place in Paris or environs

45% of the films were shot in less than 7 days

58% of the films are shot on film stock

73% of the directors are male

74% of the directors are between 20 and 40 years old

85% of the films are made by commercial companies

 

14 million euros are available per annum for short film financing. 44% of these funds come from the Centre National de Cinématographie (CNC) and 28% from promotion programmes run by the regions, départements and cities. Television stations contribute 16%. 4% of the total stems from other public grants, 5% from private funding sources and 3% from cinema proceeds.

 

 

Short film funding in France

 

The national promotion institution, the CNC

 

The most important promotion institution is the Centre National de Cinématographie (CNC). Roughly speaking, one can distinguish between four measures within the funding systems that, taken together, have the goal of supporting a maximum number of films. These funding forms are mutually exclusive.

 

The first form of promotion is the “Contribution financi?re” (financial contribution). This support is granted based on a screenplay, i.e. before shooting begins, and totals 2,062,000 €. 50 films received support averaging 41,000 €.

 

The second promotion measure is the “Aide au programme” (programme or package grant). This 1,712,000 € in funds is earmarked for a group of established producers who present a package of one to three planned films. 41 films are supported for an average amount of 41,800 €. Every year, around 25 production companies receive funding averaging 70,000 € each. Four new companies are added to the list each year, while four others are deleted.

 

In the last three years, the “Aide au programme” was distributed as follows:

 

2003

Total budget: 1,750,000 €

40 films supported from 28 companies

Average grant per film: 43,750 €

Average grant per company: 62,500 €

Division according to genre: 38 fiction, 2 animation

 

2004

Total budget: 1,908,000 €

43 films supported from 26 companies

Average grant per film: 44,372 €

Average grant per company: 73,384 €

Division according to genre: 39 fiction, 3 animation, 1 essay

 

2005

Total budget: 1,712,000 €

41 films supported from 25 companies

Average grant per film: 41,756 €

Average grant per company: 68,480 €

Division according to genre: 33 fiction, 6 animation, 2 documentary, essay or experimental film

 

 

The third measure is the “Compte de Soutien ? l’industrie des programmes audiovisuels“ (COSIP for short – support fund for audiovisual productions). This support is reserved for films that have already received television funding (terrestrial or cable). The grant award committee decides subjectively which projects to promote, and the amount of support depends on the contribution by the television station, which can take the form either of money or supplies (ultimately as a way of augmenting the CNC funding). Other stations can join in as second or third broadcaster of the film.

 

The COSIP grants are sometimes awarded automatically, and at other times selectively. 47 films can be promoted for a total of 1 million € (i.e. 21,200 € per film). This support, which consists of only half the amount of the “Aide au programme”, is the only form of funding that can be combined with other grants, specifically with the “Prix de Qualité”.

 

 

This “Prix de Qualité” (quality award) is then the fourth promotion measure offered by the CNC. Designed to recognize high-quality short films, the Prix de Qualité is a strange honour as it can only be awarded to films that have qualified neither for “Aide sélective” nor “Aide au programme”.

 

Following are the figures for the “Prix de Qualité” for the last two years:

 

2004

Total budget: 380,000 €

24 films supported

Average grant: 15,833 €

Division according to genre: 17 fiction, 3 animation, 3 documentary, 1 experimental film

 

2005

Total budget: 300,000 €

23 films supported

Average grant: 13,043 €

Division according to genre: 19 fiction, 4 documentary/essay

 

The Prix de Qualité thus supports those films that were underfinanced, which is a good thing as far as it goes. The only problem is that, according to the law, the CNC is not permitted to support a film that has not respected the labour law. And this is the case for all short films that apply for the “Prix de Qualité”!

 

Meanwhile, the trade inspection office has started to crack down on the short film sector and has brought a substantial violation to light. Namely, there is plenty of money for making films in France, but not enough to pay those technicians who work for alternating clients while keeping within the bounds of legal employment conditions. As controls are tightened, these “intermittents” (temporary workers) are finding it harder and harder to accumulate enough working hours (in order to be eligible for unemployment benefits, each “intermittent” must currently demonstrate 507 work hours in the course of 8 months, editor). A study commissioned by the independent producers’ trade union (SPI= Syndicat des Producteurs Indépendants) with the aim of demonstrating the financial needs of short film production, revealed that several million euros are lacking if short films are to be produced legally in this sense.

 

At the 2006 festival in Clermont-Ferrand, Minister of Culture Donnedieu de Vabres announced an increase in the state funding program. This support comprises various aspects including:

 - More funding through the CNC. The average short film grant was raised from 40,000 € to 78,000 €, for example, for all “real life” films (excluding animation, documentaries and experimental film).

- The demand for higher funding from television stations, whether private or state-run.

- A complementary promotion grant to supplement funding from regional entities (Colléctivités Territoriales) similar to the promotion system that already exists for feature-length films, following the principle “one euro for two”.

 

In the interest of completeness, we must not neglect to mention that there are a few less important forms of promotion offered by the CNC in addition to those described above, such as the “Aide aux nouvelle technologies” (support for new technologies) or the “Aide ? la réecriture” (support for screenplay development), along with others.

 

 

Funding from regional entities (regions, départements, cities)

 

In 2005, the regions, départements and cities contributed more support to film than previously: an increase of 28% in a single year, thanks to extra efforts made in all funding projects. This funding should be increased even further in 2006.

 

This form of support is relatively new and has gradually become institutionalized. More and more public budgets are now earmarking funds for short film. Thus, in 2005, 3.8 million euros were spent on 262 short films (representing 20% of all projects).

 

It must also be pointed out, however, that, even if funding for short films is tending upward, the proportion of short films in overall film funding is sinking. This goes especially for animated film, documentaries and the presence of short films on television. While short film received 18% of all grants for cinematic and audiovisual productions in 2001, today this share amounts to only 8.5%. The average amount of support is 14,500 €. However, the grants cover a broad range, from 7,250 € at the low end of the scale to a maximum of 45,000 €.

 

Almost all regions offer short film subsidies. This support includes screenplay, project development and production funding as well as postproduction grants. It has been possible up until now to sometimes combine two regional grants in order to finance a short film. This would entail, for example, shooting a film both in Paris and in the region that supported the film. Such gambits are becoming increasingly difficult, though.

 

As of this year, the CNC and the regions have joined forces to bolster regional support with the help of the so-called “1 for 2” system. If the region or département contributes 2 €, the state offers 1 € on top of that. The condition is that at least 15,000 € be granted (13 of the 23 regions award this minimum amount).

 

Some regional entities, such as the Poitou-Charentes or Ile-de-France regions or the Seine-Saint-Denis département, offer postproduction support (film scanning, production of prints, etc.). Although the funds involved here are not very substantial, they still allow a film to complete the necessary steps involved in postproduction.

 

The grants are minimal and often subject to special conditions. For the Poitou-Charentes region, for example, the film must have been shot in this region, must be finished and must have been invited to one of the “major” festivals such as Pantin (Côté Court), Clermont-Ferrand or Brest.

 

 

The flip side of regional support

 

In the meantime, some undesirable side effects of regional funding have come to light, which can be summarized as follows:

– The regions, rather than contributing just as much as before, rely instead on the CNC supplement. Hence, a region that used to contribute 30,000 €, will now set aside no more than 20,000 € and let the 50% contributed by the state promotion fund make up the rest, i.e. the 10,000 € needed to add up to 30,000 €.

– Local technicians are now hired more frequently, a rare commodity as France is very centralized and 3/4 of the production companies are based in Paris. These local technicians have thus usually been trained in television, an audiovisual medium that is totally different from short film in terms of exigencies and costs.

– Paying the necessary personnel leads to the contrary effect of undervaluation in the financing plans, since the costs are shifted primarily onto technical service staff – a problem found on all levels, which will be discussed in greater detail below.

 

 

The short film and television

 

As already mentioned at the beginning, the share of promotion funding provided by television stations makes up only 16% of the total. This is an absurdly low amount, especially since private stations represent the principal source of income for the finished films.

 

Here are some figures for short film on television in 2004:

Canal Plus: 49 purchases + 17 pre-purchases + 10 films from a collection + 104 foreign films purchased (budget: 690,000 €)

France 2: 15 purchases + 26 pre-purchases + 2 theme-based programmes (budget: 515,000 €

France 3: 37 purchases + 14 pre-purchases + 1 short film night + 17 foreign films purchased (410,000 €)

Arte (with the two shows Court Circuit and Medium): 31 purchases + 23 pre-purchases + 16 foreign films purchased (490,000 €)

 

The positive points:

– The differences between the programmers are so great that most films are able to find a place in the broadcasting scheme.

– A short film can be sold again to a cable station.

– Both the screenplay author and director can maintain copyrights.

 

200 French short films were purchased or pre-purchased in this manner, i.e. almost half of the films ended up receiving a registration number (n° de visa). Also important is that short films on television are seen by some 1/2 million viewers – usually in late-night slots (not counting the figures from Canal Plus).

 

Negative points:

– None of the televisions stations that broadcast via antenna buy short films.

- The stations refuse to consider any projects that have not received support from the regions or the CNC.

– The running time for the exclusive rights is too long (2 years).

- While average production costs have risen to four times the amount they were twenty years ago, purchasing and pre-purchasing prices have merely doubled.

– The price per minute is well under what is spent for a feature-length television film (around 5,000 € per minute). The amounts are quite low, although they have been adjusted to keep up with the rising demand attributable to new sales channels such as Video on Demand or mobile movies: they have gone from a range of 400 to 650 € per minute (50 to 120 € in the case of cable stations) up to 500 to 900 €.

 

 

Short film at festivals and in distribution

 

The festivals

 

At France’s 200 festivals, short films attract one million viewers each year. The biggest festival is the International Short Film Festival in Clermont-Ferrand (150,000 visitors), followed by Brest with 50,000 visitors.

One might almost say that the paradoxical principle of centralization that France values so highly is found here once again, only this time in Clermont!

 

Also disadvantageous is that at the festivals, unlike in Germany for example, no distinction is made between the films according to theme or other criteria. It can thus be concluded that, of the 400 registered films produced per year, 150 are selected by at least one festival and 30 to 50 take what amounts to a tour of France’s festival circuit.

 

The last negative point has to do with how the works are paid for. Although the festivals sell admission tickets, the money does not go to the copyright holders (the producers or directors) – except when the film is distributed by the Short Film Agency (Agence du court métrage, see below).

 

 

Unifrance

 

Unifrance is an association subsidized by the CNC, among others, with the goal of spreading French cinema beyond the country’s borders, whether feature-length or short film. As far as short film is concerned, the association works on the principle of membership, which entails the following benefits:

- free shipping of preview DVDs to over 400 festivals worldwide at which Unifrance is accredited

– free shipping of films selected by the festivals

– the option to travel to some festivals abroad in order to represent the selected film in person

– the opportunity to appear on the “Short cuts” DVD released twice a year by Unifrance and sent free of charge to television buyers

– receipt of current lists of festivals and foreign buyers

– subtitle financing for films selected by a committee or by certain festivals

 

 

The Short Film Agency (L’Agence du court métrage)

 

France’s Short Film Agency was founded in 1983 and has since developed many different strategies for promoting short film. The agency’s activities generate some 1 million euros of income every year through programming, sales to television, and rights sales. The work of the Short Film Agency is based on an archive of 10,000 prints, which are joined by 400 new titles each year.

 

L’Agence du court métrage at a glance:

- Non-exclusive distribution of short films (2,700 titles): The Short Film Agency itself does not sell any distribution rights. Instead, it intervenes in the name of the rights holder and lends films under conditions that have previously been set.

– The agency takes care of all distribution concerns, such as planning, shipping, return and inspection of the print, invoicing and accounts receivable. The proceeds are then paid to the rights holder – with a deduction of 17% commission.

- Short films are brought to the cinema via the RADI network, with 300 cinemas participating. A yearly subscription lets cinemas choose and screen one or more short films each week from a list of 250 titles (see also the News section). 

– Print production and maintenance

- Short film database

– Fostering increased exposure of medium-length films

– Visual education measures at secondary schools

– Other activities: “Une mémoire en court” short film programmes, further training (workshops for cinema programmers), publisher of DVD “le travail du film”

– Collaboration in a federation of various European short film agencies; publishes a guide to the short film distribution structures in Europe.

 

 

Concluding remarks

 

What is positive about the current situation in France?

 

There is an “intimate” connection with the cinema here that does not exist elsewhere.

The pool of living demonstration material, e.g. DVDs of short films by “dwarfs who started small”

Acknowledgement of the need to give short films exposure and recognition of the short form as a unique audiovisual art medium that is worth protecting

Fresh blood through new technologies that make their debut primarily in short films (since they are less expensive to produce)

The way production and distribution of short films is organized in France enables the creation of a progressive selection system.

 

 

And what is negative about the French short film scene?

 

Patronage and sponsoring have developed poorly.

A bad relationship between short and feature-length film. Unlike in the Anglo-Saxon cultures, in France power is often vested in a group of people and companies who do not want to see new competition come onto the scene. The short form encounters this problem less frequently, but it does exist sometimes.

More and more short film producers are knocking on the doors of service providers from abroad (for example in Belgium, Poland, Rumania, the Czech Republic, etc.), while at the same time profiting from funds supplied by French institutions and the public sector.

Increasing undermining of the service providers’ price margins.

The institutionalization of short film in France. Recognized organizations support short film today in France: the Short Film Agency with its distribution service, the independent producers’ trade union, the Maison du Film Court, the Carrefour des festivals, etc. These different organizations have come together to form the ROC (Regroupement des Organisations du Court – Coalition of Short Film Organizations) with the aim of promoting short film by means of interdisciplinary exchange. At the same time, this kind of institutionalization paradoxically stifles the introduction of new forms of film and new production methods.

The growing support offered for short film by the CNC, the regional entities and television has the tendency to create a two-track system, which already existed before, but is now becoming more entrenched. On the one hand there are companies that receive funding and which are able to maintain a certain volume, and on the other hand there are those who have to wait for one or two successes before they can ascend to the top ranks. As long as these smaller firms do not receive any backing, they live in a quasi-illegal state.

 

More and more film production companies that have managed to achieve a growing level of financing and of production complexity but have not yet really crossed this threshold are tempted by the adventure of an international co-production. However, since the Frenchman is not customarily a polyglot, he has the tendency to ally himself with French-speaking countries (Switzerland, Belgium, Canada). The co-productions hence sail in the direction the wind is blowing. I believe it would be interesting for German productions instead to profit from the money available to French production companies so that both could enjoy mutual growth. Rather like things were in the early days of the European Community!

 

Ron Dyens

(filmmaker, Sacrebleu Productions Paris)

Contact: www.sacrebleuprod.com

 

Note: This text is based on a talk Ron Dyens gave at the 2nd Babelsberg Short Film Workshop, held at the “Konrad Wolf” Film & Television Academy (Potsdam-Babelsberg) on the occasion of the German Short Film Award 2006.

Translated from the original French into German by Saskia Walker

Lecture manuscript revised by Reinhard W. Wolf

Translated into English by Jenny Taylor-Gaida