MONITORING REPORT 2020
4.2 HIGH QUALITY, INNOVATIVE CONTENT MEDIA stands for high quality content which travels. To make sure that films and TV series do not remain at home, but are shared across Europe, MEDIA helps productions to appeal to audiences across borders. In 2020 MEDIA dedicated over 30% of its budget to the creation of quality content. On average, a European film which is a co-production is shown in cinemas in 4.4 countries, which is almost 2.5 times more than for a standalone production14. In the sector of high-end TV series this difference is also significant (on SVOD, series made within one country are available on average in 4.1 countries and co-produced series in 5.7 countries)15. This is why MEDIA pays special attention to supporting projects which are co-produced. In 2020, of all projects supported at the development stage, 88% were co-productions, 5 percentage points more than in the previous year. Development funding supports the crucial phase when a project is born. The key elements are brought together, including the financial partners, the script, the crew, cast and the distribution strategy. This helps determine if production should go ahead. In 2020 MEDIA financed the development of around 409 new film concepts, including 28 short films. The possibility of developing a short film, to be directed by a debutant director, is given to bigger production companies who apply for Slate Development funding (funding for several film concepts simultaneously). As producing a film by a beginner always entails a higher risk, MEDIA introduced this possibility in 2017 to
encourage producers and facilitate the breakthrough of freshly graduated directors. TV content remains the most popular form of culture and is a very dynamic area, reaching cross-border audiences with compelling, new types of stories. MEDIA contributes by supporting the production stage of high-end mini-series and documentaries by independent European producers, who are a pillar of diversity. Quality co-productions are prioritised, as they are an excellent way to scale up and build capacity at the European level by bringing together producers, scriptwriters and talent from different countries, making the broadcasters and VOD services more willing to pre-buy distribution rights. In 2019 almost EUR 16 million was made available to 46 TV works, with four projects being awarded the maximum grant of EUR 1 million. MEDIA also participated indirectly in cooperation with developing countries by supporting international co-production funds and working with film institutions in developing countries. Between 2014-2020 this MEDIA support contributed to the creation of 114 and the distribution of 83 co-productions between partners from the EU and developing countries. MEDIA also supports the development of videogames, one of its fastest growing segments (15% yearly)16. The support for video games is for developers working with storytelling: the story must be told or shown throughout the whole game and not only as an introduction or an ending to the game. Since 2014, a total of over EUR 24 million has been awarded to 210 projects.
14 Mapping Media Industries, Deloitte & KEA for EIF, p. 199 15 European high end fiction series: state of play and trends, EAO 2020 p. 20
16 Mapping Media Industries, Deloitte&KEA for EIF, p. XII
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