tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84380917202226296592023-11-16T03:43:04.526-08:00Irish Film PortalNews, commentary & links relating to film & film-making in Ireland.
Content (c) Ted Sheehy, 2010- . Contact: TEDdotSheehyatGMAILdotCOM
<i>arrived via search engine? click on the blog title above to see the most recent entry</i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger237125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438091720222629659.post-61501355961107211852015-07-13T04:26:00.000-07:002015-07-13T04:26:03.832-07:00Marshmalloans & Tax Sweetners<div class="boxTitle" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: #eeeeee; border: 0px; color: #444444; cursor: default; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'Lucida Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 32px 5px 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; zoom: 1;">
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The numbers are staggering. You have to wonder, is Irish and EU production output worth the price of reduced social spending and producer lifestyles?<br /><br /><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 100%px;"><colgroup><col span="1" width="10%"></col><col span="1" width="10%"></col><col span="1" width="60%"></col><col span="1" width="20%"></col></colgroup><tbody style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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15.11.2013 </div>
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EN</div>
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Official Journal of the European Union</div>
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C 332/1</div>
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Communication from the Commission on State aid for films and other audiovisual works</div>
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2013/C 332/01</div>
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1. <span class="bold" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">INTRODUCTION</span></div>
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1.</div>
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Audiovisual works, particularly films, play an important role in shaping European identities. They reflect the cultural diversity of the different traditions and histories of the EU Member States and regions. Audiovisual works are both economic goods, offering important opportunities for the creation of wealth and employment, and cultural goods which mirror and shape our societies.</div>
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2.</div>
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Amongst audiovisual works, films still have a particular prominence, because of their cost of production and cultural importance. Film production budgets are substantially higher than for other audiovisual content, they are more frequently the subject of international co-production, and the duration of their exploitation life is longer. Films in particular face strong competition from outside Europe. On the other hand, there is little circulation of European audiovisual works outside their country of origin.</div>
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3.</div>
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This limited circulation results from the fragmentation of the European audiovisual sector into national or even regional markets. While this is related to Europe's linguistic and cultural diversity, proximity is also built into the public support for European audiovisual works, with which national, regional and local funding schemes subsidise many small production companies.</div>
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4.</div>
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It is generally accepted that aid is important to sustain European audiovisual production. It is difficult for film producers to obtain a sufficient level of upfront commercial backing to put together a financial package so that production projects can proceed. The high risk associated with their businesses and projects, together with the perceived lack of profitability of the sector, make it dependent on State aid. Left purely to the market, many of these films would not have been made because of a combination of the high investment required and the limited audience for European audiovisual works. In these circumstances, the fostering of audiovisual production by the Commission and the Member States have a role to ensure that their culture and creative capacity can be expressed and the diversity and richness of European culture reflected.</div>
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5.</div>
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MEDIA, the European Union's support programme for the film, television and new media industries, offers a variety of funding schemes, each targeting different areas of the audiovisual sector, including schemes for producers, distributors, sales agents, organisers of training courses, operators in new digital technologies, operators of video-on-demand (VoD) platforms, exhibitors and organisers of festivals, markets and promotional events. It encourages the circulation and promotion of European films with particular emphasis on non-national European films. These actions will be continued in the MEDIA Sub-programme within Creative Europe, the new European support programme for the cultural and creative sectors.</div>
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2. <span class="bold" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">WHY CONTROL STATE AID FOR FILMS AND OTHER AUDIOVISUAL WORKS?</span></div>
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6.</div>
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Member States implemented a wide range of support measures for the production of films, TV programmes and other audiovisual works. Altogether, Member States provide an estimated EUR 3 billion of film support per year<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntr1-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0001" id="ntc1-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0001" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">1</span>)</a>. This funding is provided through over 600 national, regional and local support schemes. The rationale behind these measures is based on both cultural and industrial considerations. They have the primary cultural aim of ensuring that the national and regional cultures and creative potential are expressed in the audiovisual media of film and television. On the other hand, they aim to generate the critical mass of activity that is required to create the dynamic for the development and consolidation of the industry through the creation of soundly based production undertakings and the development of a permanent pool of human skills and experience.</div>
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7.</div>
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With this support, the EU has become one of the largest producers of films in the world. The EU cinema industry produced 1 299 feature films in 2012 compared to 817 in the US (2011), or 1 255 in India (2011). In 2012, Europe counted 933,3 million cinema admissions<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntr2-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0002" id="ntc2-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0002" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">2</span>)</a>. In 2008, the European audiovisual market for filmed entertainment was valued at EUR 17 billion<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntr3-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0003" id="ntc3-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0003" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">3</span>)</a>. Over one million people are employed in the audiovisual sector in the European Union<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntr4-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0004" id="ntc4-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0004" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">4</span>)</a>.</div>
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8.</div>
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This makes film production and distribution not only a cultural but also a significant economic activity. Furthermore, film producers are active on an international level and audiovisual works are traded internationally. This means that such aid in the form of grants, tax incentives or other types of financial support is liable to affect trade between Member States. The producers and audiovisual works which receive such support are likely to have a financial and hence competitive advantage over those which do not. Consequently, such support may distort competition and is regarded as State aid pursuant to Article 107(1) TFEU. According to Article 108 TFEU the Commission is therefore obliged to assess the compatibility of aid to the audiovisual sector with the internal market, as it does with State aid measures in other sectors.</div>
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9.</div>
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In this context, it is important to stipulate that the Treaty recognises the utmost importance of promoting culture for the European Union and its Member States by incorporating culture among the Union's policies specifically referred to in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Article 167(2) TFEU provides that:</div>
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‘Action by the Union shall be aimed at encouraging cooperation between Member States and, if necessary, supporting and supplementing their action in the following areas:</div>
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[…]</div>
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—</div>
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artistic and literary creation, including in the audiovisual sector.’</div>
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<tr style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
10.</div>
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Article 167(4) TFEU provides that:</div>
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‘The Union shall take cultural aspects into account in its action under other provisions of the Treaties, in particular in order to respect and to promote the diversity of its cultures.’</div>
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11.</div>
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Article 107(1) TFEU prohibits aid granted by the State or through State resources, which distorts or threatens to distort competition and trade between Member States. However, the Commission may exempt certain State aid from this prohibition. One of these exemptions is Article 107(3)(d) TFEU for aid to promote culture, where such aid does not affect competition and trading conditions to an extent contrary to the common interest.</div>
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12.</div>
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The Treaty rules on State aid control acknowledge the specificities of culture and the economic activities related to it. Audiovisual aid contributes to the medium- to long-term sustainability of the European film and audiovisual sectors across all Member States and increases the cultural diversity of the choice of works available to European audiences.</div>
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13.</div>
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As Party to the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and the Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, the European Union, alongside the EU Member States, is committed to integrating the cultural dimension as a vital element in its policies.</div>
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3. <span class="bold" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">DEVELOPMENTS SINCE 2001</span></div>
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14.</div>
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The assessment criteria for State aid for the production of films and other audiovisual works were originally set out in the 2001 Cinema Communication<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntr5-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0005" id="ntc5-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0005" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">5</span>)</a>. The validity of these criteria was extended in 2004<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntr6-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0006" id="ntc6-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0006" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">6</span>)</a>, 2007<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntr7-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0007" id="ntc7-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0007" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">7</span>)</a> and 2009<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntr8-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0008" id="ntc8-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0008" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">8</span>)</a> and expired on 31 December 2012. This Communication pursues the main lines of the 2001 Communication, whilst responding to a number of trends which have emerged since 2001.</div>
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15.</div>
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The aid schemes approved by the Commission since the 2001 rules came into force show that Member States use a wide variety of aid mechanisms and conditions. Most schemes follow the model for which the assessment criteria of the 2001 Communication were designed, namely grants awarded to selected film productions, where the maximum aid is determined as a percentage of the production budget of the aid beneficiary. However, a growing number of Member States introduced schemes which define the aid amount as a percentage of the expenditure on production activity undertaken in the granting Member State only. These schemes are often designed in the form of a tax reduction or otherwise in a way which applies automatically to a film which fulfills certain criteria for its eligibility for aid. Compared to film funds which individually award support to single films upon application, these schemes with their automatic application allow film producers to factor in a foreseeable amount of funding already in the film planning and development phase.</div>
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16.</div>
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Regarding the scope of aided activities, some Member States also offer aid to activities other than film production. This includes aid to film distribution or to cinemas, for example to support rural cinemas or arthouse cinemas in general or to cover their renovation and modernisation, including their transition to digital projection. Some Member States support audiovisual projects which go beyond the traditional concept of film and TV productions, in particular interactive products like transmedia or games. In these cases, the Commission applied the criteria of the Cinema Communication as a reference to assess the necessity, proportionality and adequacy of the aid, whenever such aid was notified to it. The Commission also noted a competition among Member States to use State aid to attract inward investment from large-scale film production companies of third countries. These issues were not addressed in the 2001 Communication.</div>
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<tr style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
17.</div>
</td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
Already the 2001 Communication announced that the Commission would review the maximum level of territorial spending obligations in this sector permitted under the State aid rules. Territorial spending obligations in film-funding schemes require a certain part of the supported film budget to be spent in the Member State granting the aid. The 2004 extension identified territorial spending obligations in film funding schemes as an issue which needs to be further assessed in view of its compliance with the internal market principles of the Treaty. Case law of the Court of Justice, adopted since 2001 on the importance of the internal market with regard to rules on the origin of goods and services, also needs to be taken into account<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntr9-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0009" id="ntc9-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0009" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">9</span>)</a>.</div>
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18.</div>
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Also the application of the ‘cultural test’ has raised issues in practice. The compatibility of aid to film production is assessed under Article 107(3)(d) TFEU which provides for the possibility to grant aid ‘to promote culture’. The 2001 Communication required that the aid was directed towards a cultural product. However, the Commission’s detailed scrutiny of cultural criteria in film support schemes has been controversial with Member States, particularly in view of the subsidiarity principle.</div>
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19.</div>
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Accordingly, when extending the State aid assessment criteria of the 2001 Cinema Communication in 2009, the Commission noted the need for further reflection on the implications of these developments and a review of the assessment criteria.</div>
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4. <span class="bold" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">SPECIFIC CHANGES</span></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 100%px;"><colgroup><col span="1" width="4%"></col><col span="1" width="96%"></col></colgroup><tbody style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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20.</div>
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This Communication addresses the issues above and introduces amendments to the criteria of the 2001 Communication. In particular, it covers State aid for a wider scope of activities, highlights the principle of subsidiarity in the area of cultural policy and the respect of internal market principles, introduces a higher maximum aid intensity level for cross-border productions and caters for the protection of and access to film heritage. The Commission believes that these changes are necessary in view of the developments since 2001 and will help European works to be more competitive and pan-European in future.</div>
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4.1. <span class="bold" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Scope of activities</span></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 100%px;"><colgroup><col span="1" width="4%"></col><col span="1" width="96%"></col></colgroup><tbody style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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21.</div>
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Regarding the scope of activities to which this Communication applies, the State aid criteria of the 2001 Cinema Communication focused on the production of films. As noted, some Member States however offer also support for other related activities, such as scriptwriting, development, film distribution, or film promotion (including film festivals). The objective of protecting and promoting Europe's cultural diversity through audiovisual works can only be achieved if these works are seen by audiences. Aid to production alone risks stimulating the supply of audiovisual content without ensuring that the resulting audiovisual work is properly distributed and promoted. It is therefore appropriate that aid may cover all aspects of film creation, from story concept to delivery to the audience.</div>
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22.</div>
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Regarding aid to cinemas, usually the amounts involved are small, so that for example rural and arthouse cinemas should be sufficiently served by the levels of aid which fall under the <span class="italic" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">de minimis</span>Regulation<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntr10-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0010" id="ntc10-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0010" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">10</span>)</a>. However, if a Member State can justify that more support to cinemas is required, the aid will be assessed under the present Communication as aid to promote culture in the meaning of Article 107(3)(d) TFEU. Aid for cinemas promotes culture because the principle purpose of cinemas is the exhibition of the cultural product of film.</div>
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23.</div>
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Some Member States considered support to audiovisual projects which go beyond the traditional concept of film and TV productions. Transmedia storytelling (also known as multi-platform storytelling or cross-media storytelling) is the technique of telling stories across multiple platforms and formats using digital technologies, like films and games. Importantly, these pieces of content are linked together<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntr11-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0011" id="ntc11-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0011" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">11</span>)</a>. Since transmedia projects are inevitably linked to the production of a film, the film production component is considered to be an audiovisual work within the scope of this Communication.</div>
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24.</div>
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Conversely, although games may represent one of the fastest-growing form of mass media in the coming years, not all games necessarily qualify as audiovisual works or cultural products. They have other characteristics regarding production, distribution, marketing, and consumption than films. Therefore, the rules designed for film production cannot apply automatically to games. Furthermore, contrary to the film and television sector, the Commission does not have a critical mass of decisions on State aid to games. Consequently, this Communication does not cover aid granted to games. Any aid measures in support of games not meeting the conditions of the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER)<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntr12-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0012" id="ntc12-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0012" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">12</span>)</a> or the <span class="italic" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">de minimis</span> Regulation will continue to be addressed on a case-by-case basis. To the extent that the necessity of an aid scheme targeted at games which serve a cultural or educational purpose can be demonstrated, the Commission will apply the aid intensity criteria of this Communication by analogy.</div>
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4.2. <span class="bold" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Cultural criterion</span></div>
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25.</div>
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To be compatible with Article 107(3)(d) TFEU, aid to the audiovisual sector needs to promote culture. In line with the subsidiarity principle enshrined in Article 5 TEU, the definition of cultural activities is primarily a responsibility of the Member States. In assessing an audiovisual support scheme, the Commission acknowledges that its task is limited to verifying whether a Member State has a relevant, effective verification mechanism in place able to avoid manifest error. This would be achieved through the existence of either a cultural selection process to determine which audiovisual works should benefit from aid or a cultural profile to be fulfilled by all audiovisual works as a condition of the aid. In line with the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions of 2005<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntr13-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0013" id="ntc13-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0013" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">13</span>)</a>, the Commission notes that the fact that a film is commercial does not prevent it from being cultural.</div>
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26.</div>
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Linguistic diversity is an important element of cultural diversity; hence, defending and promoting the use of one or several of the languages of a Member State also serves the promotion of culture<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntr14-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0014" id="ntc14-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0014" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">14</span>)</a>. According to the well-established caselaw of the Court, both the promotion of a language of a Member State<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntr15-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0015" id="ntc15-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0015" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">15</span>)</a> and cultural policy<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntr16-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0016" id="ntc16-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0016" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">16</span>)</a> may constitute an overriding requirement relating to the general interest which justifies a restriction on the freedom to provide services. Therefore, Member States may require, as condition for the aid, inter alia, that the film is produced in a certain language, when it is established that this requirement is necessary and adequate to pursue a cultural objective in the audiovisual sector, which can also favour the freedom of expression of the different social, religious, philosophical or linguistic components which exist in a given region. The fact that such a criterion may constitute in practice an advantage for cinema production undertakings which work in the language covered by that criterion appears inherent to the objective pursued<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntr17-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0017" id="ntc17-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0017" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">17</span>)</a>.</div>
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4.3. <span class="bold" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Territorial spending obligations</span></div>
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27.</div>
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Obligations imposed by the authorities granting the aid on film producers to spend a certain part of the film production budget in a particular territory (territorial spending obligations) have been subject to particular attention since the Commission started looking into film support schemes. The 2001 Cinema Communication allowed Member States to require that up to 80 % of the entire film budget needed to be spent on their territory. The schemes which define the aid amount as a percentage of the expenditure on production activity undertaken in the granting Member State do try already by their design to draw as much production activity as possible to the aid granting Member State and contain an inherent element of territorialisation of expenditure. The Cinema Communication needs to take into account these different types of aid schemes now in place.</div>
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28.</div>
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Territorial spending obligations constitute a restriction of the internal market for audiovisual production. Therefore, the Commission commissioned an external study on territorial conditions imposed on audiovisual production which was completed in 2008<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntr18-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0018" id="ntc18-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0018" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">18</span>)</a>. As stated in the 2009 extension of the Cinema Communication, overall, the study was inconclusive: it could not judge whether or not the positive effects of territorial conditions outweighed the negative effects.</div>
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29.</div>
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However, the study found that the costs of film production seem to be higher in those countries which apply territorial conditions than in those which do not. The study also found that territorial conditions may cause some obstacles to co-productions and may make them less efficient. Overall, the study found that the more restrictive territorial spending obligations do not lead to sufficient positive effects to justify maintaining the current levels of restrictions. It also did not demonstrate the necessity of these conditions in view of the objectives pursued.</div>
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30.</div>
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A national measure which hampers the exercise of fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Treaty may only be acceptable when complying with several conditions: it has to pursue an overriding reason of general interest, it has to be suitable for securing the attainment of the objective which it pursues and must not go beyond what is necessary in order to attain it<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntr19-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0019" id="ntc19-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0019" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">19</span>)</a>. The specific characteristics of the film industry, in particular the extreme mobility of productions, and the promotion of cultural diversity and national culture and languages, may constitute an overriding requirement of general interest capable of justifying a restriction on the exercise of the fundamental freedoms. Therefore, the Commission continues to acknowledge that, to a certain extent, such conditions may be necessary to maintain a critical mass of infrastructure for film production in the Member State or region granting the aid.</div>
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31.</div>
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Hardly any Member States impose territorial spending obligations up to the ceiling of 80 % of the production budget allowed by the 2001 Communication. Several Member States do not have territorial spending obligations at all in their schemes. Many regional schemes are linked to the aid amount and require that 100 % or 150 % of this amount must or should be spent in the granting Member State, without being specific on the origin of the subcontracted services or the origin of goods used in the production. In some schemes, the producer receiving the aid is free to spend at least 20 % of the production budget outside that Member State. Certain Member States design the film aid as a percentage of just the local expenditure.</div>
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32.</div>
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The amount of expenditure which is subject to territorial spending obligations should at least be proportionate to the actual financial commitment of a Member State and not with the overall production budget. This was not necessarily the case with the territorial criterion of the 2001 Communication<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntr20-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0020" id="ntc20-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0020" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">20</span>)</a>.</div>
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33.</div>
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There are essentially two, distinct aid mechanisms applied by Member States awarding aid for film production:</div>
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aid awarded — for example by a selection panel — as direct grants, for example defined as a percentage of the production budget; and</div>
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aid awarded and defined as a proportion of the production expenditure in the granting Member State (e.g. a tax incentive).</div>
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34.</div>
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Paragraph 50 sets the limits for each mechanism within which the Commission can accept that a Member State is applying territorial spending obligations which could be still considered as necessary and proportionate to a cultural objective.</div>
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35.</div>
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In the case of aid awarded as grants, the maximum territorial spending obligation should be limited to 160 % of the aid amount. This corresponds to the previous ‘80 % of the production budget’ rule when the aid intensity reaches the general maximum stated in paragraph 52(2), namely 50 % of the production budget<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntr21-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0021" id="ntc21-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0021" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">21</span>)</a>.</div>
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36.</div>
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In the case of aid awarded as a percentage of the expenditure on production activity in the granting Member State, there is an incentive to spend more in the Member State to receive more aid. Limiting the eligible production activity to that which takes place in the Member State granting the aid is a territorial restriction. Consequently, to establish a limit which is comparable to the limit for grants, the maximum expenditure subject to territorial spending obligations is 80 % of the production budget.</div>
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<tr style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
37.</div>
</td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
In addition, under either mechanism, any scheme may have an eligibility criterion requiring a minimum level of production activity in the territory of the granting Member State. This level shall not exceed 50 % of the production budget.</div>
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<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 100%px;"><colgroup><col span="1" width="4%"></col><col span="1" width="96%"></col></colgroup><tbody style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
38.</div>
</td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
In any case, under EU law, Member States are under no obligation to impose territorial spending obligations.</div>
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4.4. <span class="bold" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Competition to attract major foreign productions</span></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 100%px;"><colgroup><col span="1" width="4%"></col><col span="1" width="96%"></col></colgroup><tbody style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
39.</div>
</td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
When the 2001 Cinema Communication was adopted, few Member States tried to use film aid to attract major foreign film projects to be produced in their territory. Since then, several Member States have introduced schemes with the objective to attract high profile productions to Europe, in global competition with the locations and facilities elsewhere, such as in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, or the United States. Contributors to the public consultations preceding the present Communication agreed that these productions were necessary to maintain a high-quality audiovisual infrastructure, to contribute to the employment of high class studio facilities, equipment and staff, and to contribute to transfer of technology, know-how and expertise. The partial employment of facilities by foreign productions would also help to have the capacities to realise high quality and high profile European productions.</div>
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<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 100%px;"><colgroup><col span="1" width="4%"></col><col span="1" width="96%"></col></colgroup><tbody style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
40.</div>
</td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
Regarding the possible effect on the European audiovisual sector, foreign production may have a lasting impact as it usually makes wide use of this local infrastructure and of local cast. Overall, this may thus have a positive effect on the national audiovisual sector. It should also be noted that many of the films which are considered to be major third country projects are in fact co-productions involving also European producers. Thereby, these subsidies would contribute also to the promotion of European audiovisual works and to sustaining facilities for national productions.</div>
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<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 100%px;"><colgroup><col span="1" width="4%"></col><col span="1" width="96%"></col></colgroup><tbody style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
41.</div>
</td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
Therefore, the Commission considers that such aid may in principle be compatible with Article 107(3)(d) TFEU as aid to promote culture under the same conditions as aid for European production. However, as the amounts of aid for major international productions can be very high, the Commission will monitor the further development of this type of aid to ensure that competition takes place primarily on the basis of quality and price, rather than on the basis of State aid.</div>
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4.5. <span class="bold" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Cross-border productions</span></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 100%px;"><colgroup><col span="1" width="4%"></col><col span="1" width="96%"></col></colgroup><tbody style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
42.</div>
</td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
Few European films are distributed outside their production territories. The likelihood that a European film is released in several Member States is higher in the case of co-productions involving producers from several countries. In view of the importance of co-operation of producers from different Member States for the production of European works which are seen across several Member States, the Commission considers that a higher aid intensity is justified for co-productions funded by more than one Member State and involving producers from more than one Member State.</div>
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4.6. <span class="bold" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Film heritage</span></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 100%px;"><colgroup><col span="1" width="4%"></col><col span="1" width="96%"></col></colgroup><tbody style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
43.</div>
</td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
Films should be collected, preserved and accessible for future generations for cultural and educational purposes<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntr22-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0022" id="ntc22-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0022" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">22</span>)</a>. The Education, Youth, Culture and Sports Council Conclusions on European film heritage of 18 November 2010<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntr23-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0023" id="ntc23-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0023" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">23</span>)</a> invited Member States to ensure that films that have been supported by State aid are deposited with a film heritage institution, together with all related material, where feasible, and the appropriate rights in relation to the preservation and cultural and non-commercial use of films and related material.</div>
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<tr style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
44.</div>
</td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
Some Member States have introduced the practice of paying the last instalment of the aid after the film heritage institution has certified the deposit of the aided film. This has proved to be an efficient instrument for enforcing the contractual deposit obligation.</div>
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<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 100%px;"><colgroup><col span="1" width="4%"></col><col span="1" width="96%"></col></colgroup><tbody style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
45.</div>
</td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
Some Member States have also introduced provisions in their grant agreements to allow the use of publicly funded films for specified purposes in the execution of the public interest missions of the film heritage institutions after an agreed period of time and provided that this does not interfere with the normal use of the film.</div>
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<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 100%px;"><colgroup><col span="1" width="4%"></col><col span="1" width="96%"></col></colgroup><tbody style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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46.</div>
</td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
Therefore, Member States should encourage and support producers to deposit a copy of the aided film in the film heritage institution designated by the funding body for preservation<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntr24-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0024" id="ntc24-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0024" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">24</span>)</a>, as well as for specified non-commercial use agreed with the right holder(s) in compliance with intellectual property rights and without prejudice to fair remuneration for the right holder(s) after an agreed period of time set in the grant agreement and such that this does not interfere with the normal use of the film.</div>
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5. <span class="bold" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">ASSESSING THE COMPATIBILITY OF THE AID</span></div>
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<tr style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
47.</div>
</td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
When it assesses aid for films and other audiovisual works, the Commission verifies on the basis of the above considerations.</div>
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—</div>
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First, whether the aid scheme respects the ‘general legality’ principle, i.e. the Commission must verify that the scheme does not contain clauses that would be contrary to provisions of the TFEU in fields other than State aid.</div>
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—</div>
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Secondly, whether the scheme fulfils the specific compatibility criteria for aid, set out below.</div>
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5.1. <span class="bold" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">General legality</span></div>
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48.</div>
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The Commission must first verify that the aid respects the ‘general legality’ principle and that the eligibility conditions and award criteria do not contain clauses contrary to the TFEU in fields other than State aid. This includes ensuring that the TFEU principles prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of nationality, free movement of goods, free movement of workers, freedom of establishment, freedom to provide services and freedom of movement of capital have been respected (Articles 18, 34, 36, 45, 49, 54, 56 and 63 TFEU). The Commission enforces these principles in conjunction with the application of competition rules when the provisions in breach of these principles are inseparable from the operation of the scheme.</div>
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49.</div>
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In compliance with the above principles, aid schemes must not, for example, reserve the aid exclusively for nationals; require beneficiaries to have the status of national undertaking established under national commercial law (undertakings established in one Member State and operating in another by means of a permanent branch or agency must be eligible for aid; furthermore the agency requirement should only be enforceable upon payment of the aid); or oblige foreign companies providing filmmaking services to circumvent the terms and conditions of Directive 96/71/EC with respect to their posted workers<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntr25-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0025" id="ntc25-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0025" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">25</span>)</a>.</div>
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50.</div>
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In view of the specific situation of the European film sector, film production support schemes may either:</div>
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require that up to 160 % of the aid amount awarded to the production of a given audiovisual work is spent in the territory granting the aid, or</div>
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calculate the aid amount awarded to the production of a given audiovisual work as a percentage of the expenditure on film production activities in the granting Member State, typically in case of support schemes in the form of tax incentives.</div>
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In both cases, Member States may require a minimum level of production activity in their territory for projects to be eligible for any aid. This level cannot, however, exceed 50 % of the overall production budget. In addition, the territorial linking shall in no case exceed 80 % of the overall production budget.</div>
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5.2. <span class="bold" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Specific assessment criteria under Article 107(3)(d) TFEU</span></div>
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51.</div>
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The objective for supporting the production of European audiovisual works and ensuring the existence of the infrastructure necessary for their production and exhibition is the shaping of European cultural identities and the enhancement of cultural diversity. Therefore, the purpose of the aid is the promotion of culture. Such aid may be compatible with the Treaty in accordance with Article 107(3)(d) TFEU. Undertakings in the film and TV programme production sector may also benefit from other aid types granted under Article 107(3)(a) and (c) TFEU (e.g. regional aid, aid for SME, Research and Development, training, or employment), within the maximum aid intensities in the case of cumulation of aid.</div>
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52.</div>
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In the case of schemes designed to support the scriptwriting, development, production, distribution and promotion of audiovisual works covered by this Communication, the Commission will examine the following criteria with reference to the audiovisual work which will benefit from the aid to assess whether the scheme is compatible with the Treaty under Article 107(3)(d) TFEU.</div>
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1.</div>
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The aid is directed to a cultural product. Each Member State ensures that the content of the aided production is cultural according to its own national criteria, through an effective verification process to avoid a manifest error: either through the selection of film proposals, for example by a panel or a person entrusted with the selection, or, in the absence of such a selection process, by establishing a list of cultural criteria against which each audiovisual work will be verified.</div>
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2.</div>
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The aid intensity must in principle be limited to 50 % of the production budget, with a view to stimulating normal commercial initiatives. The aid intensity for cross-border productions funded by more than one Member State and involving producers from more than one Member State may be up to 60 % of the production budget. Difficult audiovisual works<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntr26-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0026" id="ntc26-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0026" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">26</span>)</a> and co-productions involving countries from the DAC List of the OECD<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntr27-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0027" id="ntc27-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0027" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">27</span>)</a> are excluded from these limits. Films whose sole original version is in an official language of a Member State with a limited territory, population or language area may be regarded as difficult audiovisual works in this context.</div>
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3.</div>
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In principle, there is no limit for aid to scriptwriting or development. However, if the resulting script or project is ultimately made into a film, the costs of scriptwriting and development are subsequently included in the production budget and taken into account for calculating the maximum aid intensity for the audiovisual work as set out in sub-paragraph 2 above.</div>
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<tr style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
4.</div>
</td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
The costs of distributing and promoting audiovisual works which are eligible for production support may be supported with the same aid intensity as they were or could have been for their production.</div>
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<tr style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
5.</div>
</td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
Apart from scriptwriting, development, distribution or promotion, aid granted for specific production activities is not allowed. Consequently, the aid must not be reserved for individual parts of the production value chain. Any aid granted to the production of a specific audiovisual work should contribute to its overall budget. The producer should be free to choose the items of the budget that will be spent in other Member States. This is to ensure that the aid has a neutral incentive effect. The earmarking of aid to specific individual items of a film budget could turn such aid into a national preference to the sectors providing the specific aided items, which would be incompatible with the Treaty.</div>
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<tr style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
6.</div>
</td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
Member States should encourage and support producers to deposit a copy of the aided film in the film heritage institution designated by the funding body for preservation, as well as for specified non-commercial use agreed with the right holder(s) in compliance with intellectual property rights and without prejudice to fair remuneration for the right holder(s) after an agreed period of time set in the grant agreement and such that this does not interfere with the normal use of the film.</div>
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<tr style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
7.</div>
</td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
The aid is awarded in a transparent manner. Member States must publish at least the following information on a single website, or on a single website retrieving information from several websites: the full text of the approved aid scheme and its implementing provisions, the name of the aid beneficiary, the name and nature of the aided activity or project, the aid amount, and the aid intensity as a proportion of the total budget of the aided activity or project. Such information must be published online after the award decision has been taken, kept for at least 10 years and be available to the general public without restrictions<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntr28-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0028" id="ntc28-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0028" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">28</span>)</a>.</div>
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<tr style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
53.</div>
</td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
The modernisation of cinemas, including their digitisation, may be aided where the Member States can justify the necessity, proportionality and adequacy of such aid. On this basis, the Commission would assess whether the scheme is compatible with the Treaty under Article 107(3)(d) TFEU.</div>
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<tr style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
54.</div>
</td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
In determining whether the maximum aid intensity is respected, the total amount of public support measures of Member States for the aided activity or project shall be taken into account, regardless of whether that support is financed from local, regional, national or Union sources. However, funds awarded directly by EU programmes like MEDIA, without the involvement of Member States in the award decision, are not State resources. Therefore, their assistance does not count for the purposes of respecting the aid ceilings.</div>
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<div class="ti-grseq-1" id="d1e741-1-1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.3em; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-top: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
6. <span class="bold" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">APPROPRIATE MEASURES</span></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 100%px;"><colgroup><col span="1" width="4%"></col><col span="1" width="96%"></col></colgroup><tbody style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
55.</div>
</td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
The Commission proposes as appropriate measures for the purposes of Article 108(1) TFEU that Member States bring their existing schemes regarding film funding in line with this Communication within 2 years of its publication in the <span class="italic" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Official Journal of the European Union</span>. Member States should confirm to the Commission within one month of publication of this Communication in the Official Journal that they agree to the appropriate measures proposed. In the absence of any reply, the Commission will take it that the Member State concerned does not agree.</div>
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<div class="ti-grseq-1" id="d1e758-1-1" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.3em; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-top: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
7. <span class="bold" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">APPLICATION</span></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 100%px;"><colgroup><col span="1" width="4%"></col><col span="1" width="96%"></col></colgroup><tbody style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<tr style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
56.</div>
</td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
This Communication will be applied from the first day following its publication in the <span class="italic" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Official Journal of the European Union</span>.</div>
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<tr style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
57.</div>
</td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
The Commission will apply this Communication to all notified aid measures in respect of which it is called upon to take a decision after the Communication is published in the Official Journal, even where the aid measures were notified prior to that date.</div>
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<tr style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
58.</div>
</td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
In accordance with the Commission notice on the determination of the applicable rules for the assessment of unlawful State aid<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntr29-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0029" id="ntc29-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0029" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> (<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">29</span>)</a>, in the case of non-notified aid the Commission will apply:</div>
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<tr style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
(a)</div>
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this Communication, if the aid was granted after its publication in the <span class="italic" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Official Journal of the European Union</span>;</div>
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<tr style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
(b)</div>
</td><td colspan="1" rowspan="1" style="border: 1px solid white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 2px 2px 2px 5px; vertical-align: top;" valign="top"><div class="normal" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-top: 8px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
the 2001 Cinema Communication in all other cases.</div>
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<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntc1-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0001" id="ntr1-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0001" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">1</span>)</a> EUR 2,1 billion of support is provided annually by European film funds (http://www.obs.coe.int/about/oea/pr/fundingreport2011.html). According to the study into the economic and cultural impact of territorial conditions in film support schemes, a further, estimated EUR 1 billion is provided annually by Member States through film tax incentives (http://ec.europa.eu/avpolicy/info_centre/library/studies/index_en.htm#territorialisation).</div>
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<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntc2-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0002" id="ntr2-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0002" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">2</span>)</a> Source: <span class="italic" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Focus 2012 — World film market trends</span>, European Audiovisual Observatory, May 2012.</div>
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<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntc3-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0003" id="ntr3-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0003" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">3</span>)</a> PWC Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2009-2013, June 2009, p. 193.</div>
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<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntc4-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0004" id="ntr4-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0004" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">4</span>)</a> Study by KEA European Affairs, Multi-Territory Licensing of Audiovisual Works in the European Union, Final Report prepared for the European Commission, Directorate-General for the Information Society and Media, October 2010, p. 21 (http://www.keanet.eu/docs/mtl%20-%20full%20report%20en.pdf)</div>
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<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntc5-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0005" id="ntr5-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0005" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">5</span>)</a> Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on certain legal aspects relating to cinematographic and other audiovisual works (<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/AUTO/?uri=OJ:C:2002:043:TOC" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">OJ C 43, 16.2.2002, p. 6</a>).</div>
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<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntc6-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0006" id="ntr6-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0006" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">6</span>)</a> <a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/AUTO/?uri=OJ:C:2004:123:TOC" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">OJ C 123, 30.4.2004, p. 1</a>.</div>
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<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntc7-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0007" id="ntr7-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0007" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">7</span>)</a> <a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/AUTO/?uri=OJ:C:2007:134:TOC" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">OJ C 134, 16.6.2007, p. 5</a>.</div>
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<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntc8-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0008" id="ntr8-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0008" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">8</span>)</a> <a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/AUTO/?uri=OJ:C:2009:031:TOC" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">OJ C 31, 7.2.2009, p. 1</a>.</div>
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<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntc9-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0009" id="ntr9-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0009" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">9</span>)</a> In particular the Judgment of the Court of Justice of 10 March 2005 in Case Laboratoires Fournier (C-39/04), ECR 2005 I-2057.</div>
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<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntc10-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0010" id="ntr10-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0010" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">10</span>)</a> Commission Regulation (EC) No 1998/2006 of 15 December 2006 on the application of Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty to <span class="italic" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">de minimis</span> aid (<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/AUTO/?uri=OJ:L:2006:379:TOC" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">OJ L 379, 28.12.2006, p. 5</a>).</div>
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<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntc11-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0011" id="ntr11-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0011" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">11</span>)</a> Not to be confused with traditional cross-platform media franchises, sequels or adaptations.</div>
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<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntc12-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0012" id="ntr12-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0012" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">12</span>)</a> Commission Regulation (EC) No 800/2008 of 6 August 2008 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the common market in application of Articles 87 and 88 of the Treaty (General Block Exemption Regulation) (<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/AUTO/?uri=OJ:L:2008:214:TOC" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">OJ L 214, 9.8.2008, p. 3</a>).</div>
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<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntc13-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0013" id="ntr13-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0013" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">13</span>)</a> The Convention states in Article 4(4): ‘Cultural activities, goods and services refers to those activities, goods and services, which … embody or convey cultural expressions, irrespective of the commercial value they may have. Cultural activities may be an end in themselves, or they may contribute to the production of cultural goods and services.’.</div>
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<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntc14-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0014" id="ntr14-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0014" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">14</span>)</a> Judgment of the Court of 5 March 2009, <span class="italic" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">UTECA</span>, Case C-222/07, paragraphs 27-33.</div>
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<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntc15-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0015" id="ntr15-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0015" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">15</span>)</a> Judgment of the Court of 13 December 2007, <span class="italic" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">United Pan-Europe Communications Belgium</span>, Case C-250/06, paragraph 43.</div>
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<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntc16-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0016" id="ntr16-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0016" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">16</span>)</a> Judgment of the Court of 28 October 1999, <span class="italic" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">ARD</span>, Case C-6/98, paragraph 50.</div>
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<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntc17-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0017" id="ntr17-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0017" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">17</span>)</a> Judgment of the Court of 5 March 2009, <span class="italic" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">UTECA</span>, Case C-222/07, paragraphs 34, 36.</div>
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<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntc18-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0018" id="ntr18-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0018" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">18</span>)</a> 2008 Study on the Economic and Cultural Impact, notably on Co-productions, of Territorialisation Clauses of state aid Schemes for Films and Audiovisual Productions (http://ec.europa.eu/avpolicy/docs/library/studies/territ/final_rep.pdf).</div>
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<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntc19-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0019" id="ntr19-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0019" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">19</span>)</a> Judgment UTECA, Case C-222/07, §25.</div>
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<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntc20-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0020" id="ntr20-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0020" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">20</span>)</a> For example: a producer is making a film with a budget of EUR 10 million and applies for aid to a scheme offering at most EUR 1 million per film. It is disproportionate to exclude the film from the scheme on the grounds that the producer does not expect to spend at least EUR 8 million of the production budget in the territory offering the aid.</div>
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<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntc21-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0021" id="ntr21-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0021" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">21</span>)</a> For example: a producer is making a film with a budget of EUR 10 million and applies for aid to a scheme offering at most EUR 1 million per film. The producer can only be expected to spend EUR 1,6 million of the production budget in the territory offering the aid. However, if the film budget had been EUR 2 million and received the maximum aid amount, the producer would face a territorial spending obligation corresponding to 80 % of the production budget.</div>
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<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntc22-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0022" id="ntr22-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0022" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">22</span>)</a> European Parliament and Council Recommendation on film heritage (<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/AUTO/?uri=OJ:L:2005:323:TOC" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">OJ L 323, 9.12.2005, p. 57</a>).</div>
<div class="note" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.8em; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-top: 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntc23-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0023" id="ntr23-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0023" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">23</span>)</a> <a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/AUTO/?uri=OJ:C:2010:324:TOC" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">OJ C 324, 1.12.2010, p. 1</a>.</div>
<div class="note" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.8em; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-top: 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntc24-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0024" id="ntr24-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0024" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">24</span>)</a> Film Heritage Institutions are designated by Member States in order to collect, preserve and make available film heritage for cultural and educational purposes. In application of the 2005 European Parliament and Council Recommendation on film heritage, Member States have listed their Film Heritage Institutions. The current list is available online (http://ec.europa.eu/avpolicy/docs/reg/cinema/institutions.pdf).</div>
<div class="note" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.8em; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-top: 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntc25-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0025" id="ntr25-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0025" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">25</span>)</a> Directive 96/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 1996 concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services (<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/AUTO/?uri=OJ:L:1997:018:TOC" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">OJ L 18, 21.1.1997, p. 1</a>).</div>
<div class="note" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.8em; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-top: 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntc26-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0026" id="ntr26-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0026" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">26</span>)</a> Such as short films, films by first-time and second-time directors, documentaries, or low budget or otherwise commercially difficult works. Under the subsidiarity principle, it is up to each Member State to establish a definition of difficult film according to national parameters.</div>
<div class="note" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.8em; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-top: 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntc27-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0027" id="ntr27-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0027" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">27</span>)</a> The DAC list shows all countries and territories eligible to receive official development assistance. These consist of all low and middle-income countries based on gross national income (GNI) per capita as published by the World Bank, with the exception of G8 members, EU members, and countries with a firm date for entry into the EU. The list also includes all of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) as defined by the United Nations (http://www.oecd.org/ document/45/0,3746,en_2649_34447_2093101_1_1_1_1,00.html)</div>
<div class="note" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.8em; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-top: 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntc28-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0028" id="ntr28-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0028" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">28</span>)</a> This information should be regularly updated (e.g. every six months) and shall be available in non-proprietary formats.</div>
<div class="note" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.8em; font-style: inherit; line-height: 1.3em; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-top: 4px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#ntc29-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0029" id="ntr29-C_2013332EN.01000101-E0029" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(<span class="super" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: super;">29</span>)</a> <a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/AUTO/?uri=OJ:C:2002:119:TOC" shape="rect" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">OJ C 119, 22.5.2002, p. 22</a>.</div>
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<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52013XC1115(01)#text" style="border: 0px; color: purple; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Top</a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438091720222629659.post-76075384034832078552015-01-21T07:57:00.000-08:002015-01-21T08:00:47.661-08:00Meanwhile, over on LinkedIn<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwsvFWGna7yj-r9oVCAaReDhpxHjdlumB_e2ouQFNCM80TrJ8r6Xo3X3EBP4m6gdn8dKD1JKhV71j8Nl_HOVGpoKR7a3geTqcaruV2a65aEQ9orn0UZP9qjgXJed_Z6Rib4MFsJbkeWCjg/s1600/2014-07-13+20.54.31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwsvFWGna7yj-r9oVCAaReDhpxHjdlumB_e2ouQFNCM80TrJ8r6Xo3X3EBP4m6gdn8dKD1JKhV71j8Nl_HOVGpoKR7a3geTqcaruV2a65aEQ9orn0UZP9qjgXJed_Z6Rib4MFsJbkeWCjg/s1600/2014-07-13+20.54.31.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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At this link... <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/film-production-food-ted-sheehy">Food Production & Film Production</a><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438091720222629659.post-67522527300920436192014-12-18T04:30:00.001-08:002014-12-18T04:30:29.452-08:00Ireland Box Office weekend 50<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNAUtHB-qI3Xw1oY1SHNKfOvMdiRvbAqmeF3U9ipDgyqqqIISiE2aI1TclzDyWOarsqx-9FxuQMzwy5T_IxZ3e8kYPsYaonMh7Lt7FGpkw6kc-ufQoCCuy4Q3EbIdL2nwnAfkwPsW99dSl/s1600/(c)IrishFilmPortal-2014Wk50BoxOff.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNAUtHB-qI3Xw1oY1SHNKfOvMdiRvbAqmeF3U9ipDgyqqqIISiE2aI1TclzDyWOarsqx-9FxuQMzwy5T_IxZ3e8kYPsYaonMh7Lt7FGpkw6kc-ufQoCCuy4Q3EbIdL2nwnAfkwPsW99dSl/s1600/(c)IrishFilmPortal-2014Wk50BoxOff.JPG" height="276" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438091720222629659.post-43154318836250102322014-12-15T07:16:00.002-08:002014-12-15T07:18:14.007-08:00Marsha MehranAnyone who remembers Marsha Mehran from her brief period as receptionist in FilmBase over a decade ago will have been deeply shocked by the circumstances of her sudden death in County Mayo in April this year. She was just thirty-six years old.<br />
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It was while Marsha was at FilmBase that she began the writing that would culminate in her debut novel, <i>Pomegranate Soup</i> (2005). An adaptation of this book was proposed by Matador Pictures in London with Kirsten Sheridan set to direct. Marsha's third novel, <i>The Margaret Thatcher School of Beauty</i> was published posthumously just two weeks ago.<br />
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An inquest was held in Castlebar in May and the verdict has been <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/coroner-s-court/open-verdict-in-inquest-into-iranian-author-s-death-in-co-mayo-1.2038312">reported today</a><br />
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Sincere condolences to Marsha's father, mother and brother. <br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438091720222629659.post-20970763030637186122014-08-26T16:13:00.002-07:002014-08-26T16:18:00.608-07:00A bit of history...Yesterday <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140825154915-49259072-thoughts-on-the-passing-of-albert-reynolds?trk=mp-reader-card">I was recalling</a> the late Albert Reynolds's <span class="st">involvement with the film industry back in the day... <i>The Film Production Industry in Ireland, Report to the Taoiseach, Mr. Albert Reynolds</i>, <i>T.D</i>. [Dec. 1992]. Then today I remembered these excerpts from accounts for the Film Board's 'hiatus years', 1987-1992. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8BGesF8RiJlguzhJsku6UV8mYTb3IftXBbNmpOBfa4d6aCphejElRxi-NXhx0W-dkQ7NZ1Uhh0mRb3qVEYuZlqni1LkOFwUKQO_bOGhr-jPXmd2u8oZu6I10Mmziz4m-E-jNyAcglJc1o/s1600/Irish+Film+Portal+IFB+Mk1a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8BGesF8RiJlguzhJsku6UV8mYTb3IftXBbNmpOBfa4d6aCphejElRxi-NXhx0W-dkQ7NZ1Uhh0mRb3qVEYuZlqni1LkOFwUKQO_bOGhr-jPXmd2u8oZu6I10Mmziz4m-E-jNyAcglJc1o/s1600/Irish+Film+Portal+IFB+Mk1a.JPG" height="223" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqFOJI4wym4wT6rFEjmnA14WY54BjRTxjo0abxOGkIuP8O2LwdC2gOHMqZIVX_MS5zToWO9rqjv_dUhl4IveIqRJ6wDx8CDeXrtbacv3tWDCbFw2JX_BPcj8bbhS2Q2cyJA3hUUWaGRD2u/s1600/Irish+Film+Portal+IFB+Mk1b.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqFOJI4wym4wT6rFEjmnA14WY54BjRTxjo0abxOGkIuP8O2LwdC2gOHMqZIVX_MS5zToWO9rqjv_dUhl4IveIqRJ6wDx8CDeXrtbacv3tWDCbFw2JX_BPcj8bbhS2Q2cyJA3hUUWaGRD2u/s1600/Irish+Film+Portal+IFB+Mk1b.JPG" height="223" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="st"></span>I wonder what such a list would look like today?<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438091720222629659.post-76232546821638693602014-04-06T07:31:00.001-07:002014-04-07T12:24:08.896-07:00The Irish Frock & Tuxedo Awards (IFTAs)I wasn't at last night's <b>I</b>rish <b>F</b>rock & <b>T</b>uxedo <b>A</b>ward<b>s</b>, although I have been an attendee in the past when asked to do jury duty on a few occasions (Best Short Frock, best new talent in a Frock or Tuxedo etc).<br />
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Nor did I see the televised (<i>as live</i>) version of the show on RTÉ last night. If Twitterland is any measure then it was not a success. At all. Much talk of inadequate stage management and a complete disregard among chattering attendees for what was happening on the stage.<br />
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This should not come as a surprise. It's been a feature of the awards ceremony that has been becoming more evident each year.<br />
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But don't forget, these are people who know how to be quiet on set. In fact not just quiet, but absolutely and completely silent. No rustling papers, no stepping on a creaky part of the stage, no whispering to the crew or cast member beside you. If a 2nd AD says "Quiet on set!" even the mightiest ego will be stopped in their tracks, silenced.<br />
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So, what's going on? I believe it's a demonstration of complete disrespect for and lack of faith in the whole IFTA process. It's not about the presenters, award winners or fellow professionals, it's an unspoken determination to turn a charade into a knees-up and thumb the nose at the organisers.<br />
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If the event is to survive this year's nadir the 'Academy' will have to take ownership of the entire process and lay down some standards of transparency and accountability. Otherwise the IFTAs party is over.<br />
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(<a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/media/rt%C3%A9-broadcast-of-iftas-a-badly-produced-shambles-1.1752338">another view... Irish Times 7 April</a>)<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438091720222629659.post-71280822849431051922014-03-27T09:45:00.001-07:002014-03-27T10:11:22.575-07:00Required reading...Some required reading...<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://estudiosirlandeses.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/TheYearinIrishFilmandTV2013.pdf"><b>Irish Film and TV Review 2013</b></a>.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Introduction </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Roddy Flynn, Tony Tracy</span></span><br />
<div data-angle="0" data-canvas-width="151.65392614513684" data-font-name="Times" dir="ltr" style="font-family: serif; left: 118.24px; top: 386.347px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.10696, 1);">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>The Concrete Manifestations of Emotional Eternity in Brendan Muldowney’s Love Eternal</b> (2013) </span></span></div>
<div data-angle="0" data-canvas-width="125.33993857392502" data-font-name="Times" dir="ltr" style="font-family: serif; left: 541.92px; top: 404.073px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.942406, 1);">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Barry Monaghan</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Pilgrim Hill </b>(Gerard Barrett 2012)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Laura Canning </span></span></div>
<div data-angle="0" data-canvas-width="159.25056712683372" data-font-name="Times" dir="ltr" style="font-family: serif; left: 272.639px; top: 486.187px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.08334, 1);">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>The Last Days on Mars</b> (Ruari Robinson, 2013) </span></span></div>
<div data-angle="0" data-canvas-width="133.07964082484622" data-font-name="Times" dir="ltr" style="font-family: serif; left: 530.72px; top: 503.753px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.943827, 1);">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Roddy Flynn </span></span></div>
<div data-angle="0" data-canvas-width="284.82950237841237" data-font-name="Times" dir="ltr" style="font-family: serif; left: 169.28px; top: 536.107px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.10829, 1);">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Amber, Screenworks and the production of culture</b></span></span></div>
<div data-angle="0" data-canvas-width="125.55962624896641" data-font-name="Times" dir="ltr" style="font-family: serif; left: 538.239px; top: 553.673px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.944057, 1);">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dennis Murphy</span></span></div>
<div data-angle="0" data-canvas-width="150.13050398136062" data-font-name="Times" dir="ltr" style="font-family: serif; left: 118.24px; top: 603.947px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.05726, 1);">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>I wanna destroy the passer by: Nihilism, Narcissism and Authority in Love/Hate Series Four</b></span></span> </div>
<div data-angle="0" data-canvas-width="136.53995921943695" data-font-name="Times" dir="ltr" style="font-family: serif; left: 530.72px; top: 621.513px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.941655, 1);">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Angela Nagle </span></span></div>
<div data-angle="0" data-canvas-width="283.7300372475699" data-font-name="Times" dir="ltr" style="font-family: serif; left: 118.24px; top: 653.867px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(1.11705, 1);">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>New Voices in Irish Experimental Cinema</b> </span></span></div>
<div data-angle="0" data-canvas-width="117.81992328210643" data-font-name="Times" dir="ltr" style="font-family: serif; left: 549.44px; top: 671.433px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.942559, 1);">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Donal Foreman</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div data-angle="0" data-canvas-width="117.81992328210643" data-font-name="Times" dir="ltr" style="font-family: serif; left: 549.44px; top: 671.433px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.942559, 1);">
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">And separately (but related)...</span></span></div>
<div data-angle="0" data-canvas-width="117.81992328210643" data-font-name="Times" dir="ltr" style="font-family: serif; left: 549.44px; top: 671.433px; transform-origin: 0% 0% 0px; transform: rotate(0deg) scale(0.942559, 1);">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">The dispensation for those foreign 'Artistes' eligible for payment from the new tax credit being brought in next year - <a href="http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/bills28/acts/2013/a4113.pdf">Finance (No. 2) Act 2013</a> - see <a href="http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/bills28/acts/2013/a4113.pdf#page=45&zoom=auto,85.1,163.7">Section 25</a> 'Film Withholding Tax'</span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438091720222629659.post-83637553741092941272014-03-05T07:26:00.000-08:002014-03-05T07:27:03.076-08:00FiguresAlways handy to get a look at what's happening to cinema audiences at home and elsewhere in Europe. This chart was prepared by the European Audiovisual Observatory for a press conference at the Berlinale. Their regular complete overview of 2013 will be presented at Cannes in May.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMOl4YY8E4Sj3XuXO0PbwJIpbR1hPGRQSz-aMiAYm_GhMWhfboRvVXPmSl0RVmhEP7dqs7Hwzoq_RUfga9yfJjCFerQ1A8T3tIwC0vANdCHlC-2wWJsXicIq-07LEZWoh6-KlWXmsaXy0f/s1600/EurAudObservBerlinale2014-Table_en.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMOl4YY8E4Sj3XuXO0PbwJIpbR1hPGRQSz-aMiAYm_GhMWhfboRvVXPmSl0RVmhEP7dqs7Hwzoq_RUfga9yfJjCFerQ1A8T3tIwC0vANdCHlC-2wWJsXicIq-07LEZWoh6-KlWXmsaXy0f/s1600/EurAudObservBerlinale2014-Table_en.png" height="294" width="320" /></a></div>
I did enquire what 'NC' denotes (as regards Ireland and Belgium) and was told "<span class="text">NC signifies 'not communicated' ie we didn't get these figures." Further information on numbers of national titles etc. can be found <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/redirect?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eobs%2Ecoe%2Eint%2Fshop%2Fyearbook%2F-%2Fasset_publisher%2Fip2J%2Fcontent%2Fyearbook-2013-volume-2&urlhash=33Os&_t=tracking_disc">here</a>.</span><br />
<span class="text"><br /></span>
<span class="text">As regards the current state of Irish cinemagoing I suspect admission numbers have been sliding for the last few years. </span>It's difficult to be certain of this because several contributory factors have impacted the collection of Ireland-only data. Theres the growth in importance of new entrants in the UK distribution market; the increasing number of non-film screenings (opera, theatre etc) with figures hard if not impossible to get (while these aren't movies they do have an important bearing on the market); and the knowledge that a lot of non-mainstream, one-off screenings are taking place in arts venues, 'pop-up' venues, and at festivals for all of which there is little or no data.<br />
<br />
Another factor in terms of evaluating market trends here is that it is nigh impossible to obtain reliable figures for the newer services competing for the cinema audience. Even where films have been released at the same time theatrically and online (VOD), and/or on a platform such as Sky Box Office, the figures have never been published. Figures for VOD services in Ireland are effectively below the radar and I would guess that adequate service provision and take up is largely limited to densely populated urban areas. And the traditional feature film DVD rental/purchase market seems to have collapsed except<br />
for the Christmas trade and cheap back-catalogue titles but, again, figures for the Irish market are very hard to come by.<br />
<br />
Anecdotally there is at the very least a plateau in total BO revenues here since 2011 - I would guess there's actually been a drop of about 10% in the gross before tweaking for price changes and inflation. One<br />
would also have to look at the demographics - who is going the cinema, and when - to see if there the nature of the admissions (and not just the over-all numbers) is having an effect on total box office earnings.<br />
Also, since 2008, there has been significant unemployment and/or emigration in the 18-25 age cohort which may be a factor in any fall in admission numbers.<br />
<br />
There are those in the industry who are, in my opinion, too ready to blame illegal downloading for a drop-off in Irish cinema attendance. The truth is that Ireland is behind significantly on high-speed broadband roll-out and that the infrastructure is not yet capable of supporting anything like universal legal (VOD) or illegal downloading.<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438091720222629659.post-78844275991279187772013-12-17T19:20:00.000-08:002014-03-05T07:08:27.170-08:00'Is glas iad na cnoic i bhfad uainn'<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]-->This is a talk I gave during the year at the 'Dialogues Through Literature' event in Ballinamore, Co. Leitrim. If you can stick with it you'll get to the film bit eventually. The talk is intended to question of the drift in our policy assumptions, and the loss of audiences, rather than as a call for some sort of prescriptive, chauvinistic approach.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Local / Place </b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
When I was contacted about taking part in this event I had no idea that it had been
initiated by and was being held at the local GAA club here in Ballinamore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not really a GAA man, being originally
from Limerick – heartland of Munster rugby
– and having spent most of my formative years and working life in Dublin. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wondered, thinking about
‘the local’ and ‘place’, if there might be a bigger divide to cross than the
Shannon at Drumsna when I made my way here from home amongst ‘the
Rossies’ in north Roscommon.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
I may have had
this anxiety because we live at a time in Ireland – in the realm of what
passes for public discourse, at any rate – when what separates us is amplified to
such an extent that it suppresses what unites us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Divisions are fomented between urban and
rural, between old and young, between ‘up there’ and ‘down here’, and, most of
all - between ‘them’ and ‘us’, however and by whom ‘them’ and ‘us’ may be
defined.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
Perhaps this is part
of a national preoccupation with ‘who’ we are and ‘where’ we come
from.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if this is how we ground our
sense of ourselves then the danger is that it all too easily may become a barrier
between us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
I live now in
the townland of Cuilmore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our nearest
neighbours live in the townland of Creta, on the other side of a hedge and
ditch that almost certainly predate our house, itself around 200 years
old.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, although our neighbours live less
than 150 metres away they have a different address. They are from a different
place.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
That said, we
have more in common with our neighbours than the boundary between us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just as my having been raised and schooled at
the heart of Dublin 4 might be, as they say, ‘a long way from here’, I can at
least tell you that I grew up on the same road and went to the same national
school as the captain of the 1994 Leitrim Connacht
Championship-winning football team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
grew up in number 22, I grew up in number 46, albeit fifteen years ahead of
him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
It is, I think we
can all agree, a small country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once
while on holiday in my teens, slouching along on my own into the centre of Limerick city, I was stopped by a complete stranger on O’Connell Avenue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“You must be one of the Sheehys,” he
said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Which are you?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although I saw myself as a Dubliner on
holiday it seems I was in fact in my native place.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
But others knew
that better than I did myself. Or had they the right to claim me? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a callow teenager I felt I’d been ‘placed’
in the sense of being identified or labeled – a feeling that at my age was more
than semantically close to feeling being ‘put in my place’, or to the social
convention of ‘knowing one’s place’.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
If we do have at
once both a simple and a complicated relationship with place in real life, then
our relationship with our own place as it is imagined is arguably even more
complex.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
The first film I
saw as a child that showed me the place I was living was a film called <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rooney</b> which I saw on black and white
television sometime towards the end of the 1960s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a story about the love life and travails
of a Dublin
bin-man, filmed in 1957. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It even includes
footage of the 1957 All-Ireland Hurling Final between Kilkenny and Waterford because the lead
character wins an all-Ireland medal during the course of the film.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
Not only was <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rooney</b> filmed on roads like the one I
lived on, but the bin truck in the film was the same as the one that collected
our rubbish every Monday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, to top it
all, one of the bin crew hefting the bins was played by the actor Noel Purcell
– you might have seen him in the 1962 <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Mutiny
on the Bounty</b> with Marlon Brando – who lived just up the road from our
house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It amazed me then that a film
could be made about people and places that were so familiar to me in real life.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
Two decades
later, and now writing about film, I tracked down <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rooney</b> again and made an unexpected discovery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t really a Dublin, or even an Irish story at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was based on a book with the same title by
Catherine Cookson, published in 1956, and set in the writer’s birthplace, South
Shields, Newcastle-on-Tyne in north east England.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Needless to say, Catherine Cookson’s
protagonist didn’t go anywhere near Croke
Park, let alone win an all-Ireland
hurling medal.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
So where did
this leave me?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt somehow that I had
been duped – that this Irish film wasn’t in fact an Irish film at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But then isn’t it the function of every
fiction film to dupe its audience, to have them believe that something that is
not true, might be true?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To make a place
– be it our own place, or a foreign place, or a futuristic place, or an alien place
– believable?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To construct a fiction so
powerful that the screen, or the page, cannot contain it?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
The answers here
are undoubtedly Yes, Yes and Yes, but there remains a compelling, if
recessive anxiety involving the soul and the captured image when the story
being told, the pictures that represent us, is close to the place we know as
home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The functional reasons for Rooney
being filmed in Ireland and
adapted as an Irish story are fairly simple – there was a financial inducement
for British film producers to come to Ireland to make films in the late
1950s and early 1960s, just as there is today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But the result then as now was a number of Irish films that were Irish
in every respect except for their authorship.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
There is a
memorable line at the bottom of the first page of the first chapter of Dermot
Healy’s memoir, ‘<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Bend for Home’</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He writes, <i><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">“It’s in a neighbour’s house fiction begins.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a great line, and all the better for
being open to various interpretations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One
interpretation being perhaps that our neighbours make up stories about us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, if it <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">is</b> our lives that give rise to our neighbours’ fictions, whether
they are 150 metres away, or several thousand miles away, might we begin to
think they were bad neighbours?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Might we
begin to assert our right to tell our own stories?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Might we in turn make up stories about them,
or might we begin to tell stories for them rather than for ourselves?</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
This year a film, ‘<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Jimmy’s Hall’</b>, is being
made about one of Leitrim’s historical figures, the politically radical James
Gralton.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He built a dance hall at
Effernagh, not far from Carrick-on-Shannon, in the 1920s, and challenged the
religious and political authorities of the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The hall was shot at and later firebombed and razed to the ground and, although
an Irish citizen, Gralton was deported in 1932. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He died a doorman in Manhattan in 1945.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
The film is directed by Ken Loach – who made ‘<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The
Wind that Shakes the Barley</b>’ in County
Cork some years back –
and it will be produced by the same companies responsible for that film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like as not this will be identified as an
Irish film, a film very much of Leitrim and dramatising a historically
important story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, and without
doubting the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bona fides</i> of all
involved, I can’t help but feel again that recessive anxiety involving the soul
and the captured image.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
Is this a form
of cultural sleight of hand or are all our stories fair game for whoever wants
to discover them or make them up? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will
Ken Loach’s version of historical Leitrim be any different, any less accurate
or any less sensitive to local nuance than that created by an Irish director?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
If an Irish
story is essentially a product that may be told by anyone, then is it
any wonder that films like ‘<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Leap Year</b>’
get made, or the earlier ‘<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Waking Ned</b>’
which didn’t even film in Ireland, they went the whole hog and faked it on the
Isle of Man.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
More seriously,
one has to wonder why historical Irish stories like the Gralton project are not
being brought to production by Irish writers and directors. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why is it that they seem mostly to be engaged
in telling stories that have much of the particularity of their origins reduced
so that they become ersatz Anglo-American films.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And do I sense also that many Irish writers
of genre fiction are now writing stories ‘for the international market’ that
are set outside Ireland?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
If this is a
trend, then should we be worried that our collective imagination is losing the
spark it found in the traditional geographical space we think of as ‘local’? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That it has exchanged the universality of what
is local and slipped or shifted into a globalised cultural ‘place’ where the
reference points are those places to which we have for so long escaped in our
imaginations that they now seem as much or more like home than home itself?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
This might
explain how it is that Irish films are pretty much foreign to Irish cinema
audiences. <span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New York and
LA are more familiar than, say, Galway on an
Irish cinema screen.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is as if
the metaphorical mirror that we hold up to life twists uncontrollably in our
hands, allowing us to see in it only the oblique reflection of others, and less
and less often ourselves.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
We are left then
with Wilde’s dictum, that "Life imitates art far more than art imitates
Life". <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately the art we imitate
in our lives in this age seems increasingly less likely to be our own art.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
It has to be said,
too, that the creative process does not take place in a vacuum, it takes place
in a context that has a bearing not just on the author’s subject material but
that also influences the commercial decision-making of intermediary businesses between
authors in all mediums and their audiences. This is a world in which
consolidation, contraction and new economies of scale make it harder and
harder for niche films and niche books to find audiences. Or, even when
those audiences can be discovered, there may be insufficient
financial return to the writers and film makers to enable them to
continue writing and making films.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
Right now it is difficult
now to see how things will work out. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>We have to hope that new
and distinctive voices and willing audiences will be able to find each other,
even as this dramatic change is underway. Better still that we find new, active and participatory ways in which authors
and audiences can encounter and relate to each other ‘in the moment’, ‘live’, at local events
such as this, and in places such as this.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438091720222629659.post-36185883226413921282013-08-24T04:51:00.003-07:002013-08-24T06:38:18.502-07:00"They order these things differently in France."The Guardian reports <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/23/francois-hollande-french-film-industry-row">today </a>on film industry labour relations issues currently coming to a head in France where the government of Francois Hollande is set to introduce measures to improve the basic pay and working conditions of crews employed in French film production.<br />
<br />
Producers are up in arms, claiming a cost burden the local industry cannot support. This amid allegations of gross exploitation of workers, particularly those at entry level who work long hours for little pay in the hopes of gaining experience and a foothold in the business.<br />
<br />
One wonders what they would make in France of the situation that reportedly arose here over the last year, where crew and service providers to a production were offered a mere 20c in the Euro for what they were owed.<br />
<br />
As I heard it, the usual threats could be smelt under the table over which, metaphorically, this deal was offered. That is - bite the bullet and there'll be more work sent your way; go public and you might be seen as a troublemaker.<br />
<br />
I wonder would an Irish producer think of offering their doctor, their dentist, their architect, or their plumber 20c in the Euro, and hint that they might find work hard to come by if they didn't accept the offer? I think the truth is that producers, everywhere, do what they can get away with. It's actually up to state funding sources to insist on basic levels of equity, for the health of the industry as a whole.<br />
<br />
The wider backdrop in Europe is that there is an enormous amount of public money directed into production which would not take place if that money stopped flowing. Yet, despite its public sector origins, and the industry's almost complete dependance on it, the disposition of the funding is nowhere near as transparent as it should be.<br />
<br />
Producers, their advisors and other intermediaries account for an overly large proportion of the public spend before the output ever reaches the screen and, increasingly, European films are the poorer for it. Arguably the tail is wagging the dog. More and more it's looking like this cannot go on forever.<br />
<br />
We're experiencing a production boom here at the moment. The time might never be better for finally working out the long-standing industrial relations issues and introducing the kind of transparency (not dodgy statistics) that lets everyone one know, in the absence of commercial self-sustainability, where public money is going.<br />
<br />
As the French union representative quoted in the Guardian article puts it, <i>we shouldn't have to choose between the social rights of technicians, workers, directors, artists and films' very existence</i>.<br />
<br />
PS<br />
Also from the Guardian today <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/aug/24/landscape-lies-blockbuster-tax-scam">this story </a>about one of the infamous tax-dodge film frauds caught by revenue officials in the UK. This line from screenwriter Paul Knight stands out... <i>But nothing in Knight's criminal past prepared him for the shady world
of British film, he says. "Now I'm in an industry that seems to have
even more crooks in it."</i> Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438091720222629659.post-18665900183011070722013-05-22T04:20:00.001-07:002013-05-29T04:18:11.867-07:00Guth Gafa 2013<br />
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<![endif]--><span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">On the invitation of the organisers I was at a film festival by the sea over last weekend. <span style="color: #3d85c6;"><u>T</u></span><a href="http://www.guthgafa.com/">his
one</a>, not <a href="http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en.html">that one</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> While it's certainly true that there are film festivals taking place all over the globe at the same time nearly every day of the year, it is possible that relatively few take place while Cannes lays out its red carpet in much the same way that the devil laid the world at the prophet's feet.</span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Every May the chorus of makers - vastly outnumbered by a </span></span><span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">circus </span></span><span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">of meretricious camp followers - takes to the Croisette in what may be the biggest con-trick in a 'business' so inured to trickery that it has largely lost the ability to distinguish the purpose of a deal from the deal itself.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Do you ever wonder who pays for Cannes? Think about it for a minute. Follow the money all the way back. Think of the thousands of people, their hotels and apartments, their yachts and their suites, their flights and their food, their coffee and their alcohol, their brochures and their advertising, their phones and their laptops. Who covers those expenses, all of that overhead?</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">I may be somewhat eccentric but I think of it all as a cost on the people at the front end of film-making, the people who wait for the light. It is part of the reason why money seldom comes back and replenishes the pot.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">The cost of Cannes (and Toronto, and Berlin, and Sundance, and Rotterdam, and Venice... and... and dare I say it, the Radisson Film Fleadh) is eventually and inevitably attributed to the cost of sales or overhead and netted-off income from whatever source. It is not a sustainable paradigm.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">At the Guth Gafa Festival over the weekend, in one of the northernmost villages in Ireland, one could palpably feel the vortex that is Cannes sucking attention to itself, from the very periphery of Europe to the bling-encrusted shore of the Mediterranean.</span></span><span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> We are come a long way from the intervention by Louis Malle and others in 1968. </span></span><span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> If European policy in the audiovisual sector has been captured by the chimera of 'scale' then Cannes is its celebratory moment, if not its apotheosis. </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">But 'scale', as a measure of success, disregards the correlative concentration of public resources - the greater dependency of the bigger few at a cost to the smaller many. Not only therefore is it not sustainable, it is also a barrier to diversity and to new entrants.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">But perhaps these thoughts are off subject, or 'off topic' as we say in the online world? I don't think so. In the world of film festival organisation and in film-making itself the debate will always come to the issues of resources and editorial freedom.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">At Guth Gafa, where I </span></span><span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">moderated a panel discussion on the future of the feature documentary, it seemed to me that ever-reducing resources together with editorial and creative compromises (mostly made to suit broadcasters' notions of their audiences' tastes) would together ensure </span></span><span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">a very brief future for</span></span><span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> the feature documentary.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Or, if the feature documentary does survive it will do so at no little personal cost to those who persist with the ambition to tell stories that are not merely reducible to the 'beats' and 'hooks' of their narrative content but are themselves works of creative endeavour.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Of the funding provision for documentary in Ireland it has to be said that it includes a number of uncomfortable bedfellows, each inclined to see only their own interest rather than the greater good which might be attained if they could take a more holistic perspective. Perhaps this is a little unfair to the Arts Council whose Reel Art scheme may be the model for best funding practice in this area.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">The Film Board seems to take a scatter-gun approach and is, arguably, in a period of financial and editorial transition; the BAI is hostage to broadcasters (albeit not just the more constrained local players); and those local players - RTÉ, TG4, BBC NI, TV3 - are all (to a matter of degree) hostage in turn to their schedulers. So much so that, forty years hence, one wonders what they will have created of lasting archival worth from our present time.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">When it comes to funding the feature documentary, and then finding outlets for it, there is little point in treating it as if it were a manufacturer's product. It is instead one of the many forms of creative endeavour which spring from the human need to tell each other stories. Some are more interesting than others, some are better told than others, some - the best - keep us spellbound and tell us things about ourselves.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">That industries and empires have risen to mediate - or make a buck - between the maker and their audience is of little matter. In any case, many of these industries and empires are now failing. The idea that the work is only validated by a publisher's (aka a sales agent's, a broadcaster's, a film agency's, or a distributor's...) willingness to bring it to an audience was a false idea to begin with. Even as they pose on the Croisette these gatekeepers are in as much trouble as ever they have been.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">The challenge now for the originators of work is not to demonstrate adaptability - haven't they always - but to enhance their inherent adaptivity.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">This is not just subtle wordplay. It expresses the idea that the originators of work need to switch from responding to circumstances to reinterpreting those circumstances. As an example, film-makers might start to re-think the inevitable conditionality of the funding they receive. Instead they might begin to consider what conditions they might impose for their acceptance of that funding.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">To this observer, then, the means to secure the future of the feature documentary lies not in adaptability - meaning, colloquially, being forever on the back foot - but in the adoption of adaptive reasoning and behaviour as a <i>collective</i> response to how things are.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Give it a minute. Think about it.</span></span><span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> It is, after all, the applicant who justifies the funder's existence.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">-</span><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">with thanks to David, Neasa and the crew at Guth Gafa, and to the many film-makers I met there</span>.</i> </span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438091720222629659.post-43842549808630806372013-04-30T03:07:00.000-07:002013-05-02T02:28:15.088-07:00Xtra... Xtra...News broke yesterday afternoon that Xtra-Vision has come to the brink once again, just two years since it was last saved from oblivion. While the usual bug-bears (aka hares) have been raised it's fair to say that the writing's been on the wall for the home entertainment rental sector for some years now. The talk of illegal downloading sounds like the mutterings of an ostrich with its head buried six feet under.<br />
<br />
LoveFilm, Netflix, Sky and a myriad other legal, easier and cumulatively cheaper sources of feature films and box-sets are conveniently overlooked in this pointless finger-pointing. As I discovered myself this week, while sitting at the kitchen table, even a brand new but rare-ish back catalogue UK title from an Irish director can be got from Ebay, for the price of a rental.<br />
<br />
Added to this litany of woes the local supermarkets and chain stores are, legitimately, carrying plenty of titles at dump-bin prices. For anything else there's Amazon or, if you're in one of the cities, a specialist video outlet where the staff know their Ozus from their Oshimas.<br />
<br />
The last time I passed an open Xtra-vision outlet it looked like a sort of seedy sweet shop that sold some videos and games over the counter. I read that the majority of its business now, going into receivership, is in consumer electronics, an already hugely competitive retail market for which the writing's on the wall for bricks and mortar businesses.<br />
<br />
None of this will bring any solace to Xtra-vision's 1,000 staff, on both sides of the border, or to the folks who rescued the business just two years ago and renegotiated lower rents with the landlords of viable outlets. To this passerby, at least, the rescue didn't appear to rejuvenate or re-launch the thirty-four year-old brand that rode the VCR wave with huge success.<br />
<br />
VCRs have now been dumped, recycled and fly-tipped by the million. DVD players are headed for the same fate. Even the life of Blu-ray, the format's great hope, can be described as terminal.<br />
<br />
So much for show, it's always been business.<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438091720222629659.post-69294714091259089692013-04-25T05:39:00.002-07:002013-04-27T14:32:30.742-07:00Above us only sky...<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]-->...some afterthoughts about <i>What Richard Did</i>.<br />
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<br />
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><br /></span></div>
<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">Let me first
offer the proviso that film reviewing invariably expresses some degree of receptivity and
projection on the part of the reviewer. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Too
much receptivity and objective critical distance is lost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Too much projection and the response will be
more about the critic than the film itself. [I might add, belatedly, that not enough of either and one should consider finding another line of work.]</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">This post
is about <i>What Richard Did</i> and what I believe has been missing from most of the commentary I
have read about the film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What follows
flows, seven months after seeing the film, from personal receptivity and projection, in what I hope are balanced
proportions.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">Given the
real-life events <i>What Richard Did</i> draws upon it is understandable, in Ireland
at least, that much of what has been written about the film has addressed its verisimilitude</span><span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"><span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"> – </span>
its believability, and the true-to-life quality of the performances and the
social milieu created on screen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was
judged – invariably favourably and with every justification – on its rendering
of the circumstances that led to an unpremeditated act with fatal consequences.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">That said, and
as much as the film<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> <i>is</i></b> about that
act, the film is also about what Richard, and those closest to him, did <i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">not</b></i> do – confess to the authorities so
that the law might take its course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The fulcrum for this twist, for considering this failure to act as the moral issue and focus of the film, is provided by the moment of raw, blinding
torment expressed at the funeral by the dead boy’s mother, played by Gabrielle
Reidy.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">That so
many reviewers of the film neglect or elide this moment is in part a response,
I think, to the resolutely restrained and observational tone of the film up to
that point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The mother’s reaction, a
totally uninhibited show of emotional devastation and anger in the face of the closed
ranks in the pews before her, is as discomfiting to the film’s audience as it
must be to those at the funeral service.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">She seems
out of place in this film.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She’s over
the top.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We wish she’d shut up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Better still, could she take her grief
somewhere else so that we, the audience, can indulge our collusion with handsome,
well-got Richard’s escape from a charge of manslaughter?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He didn’t mean it, after all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And anyway, who are we to judge?</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">Truth be
told, in the real world outside the cinema – precisely where <i>What Richard Did</i>
has its origins – any of us may be called upon for jury service at any time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a court, unlike on a cinema screen, a
person is either guilty or innocent and pleas of mitigation are not heard until
after the verdict is given by us, the jurors.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">But back to
that moment at the funeral.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is, if
memory serves, a classic example of what’s known in the theatre as a Brechtian
device, or the ‘distancing effect’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
is a crucial part of the dramaturgy of <i>What Richard Did</i> that has escaped the
notice of most commentary I have read on the film. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It reflects, moreover, a series of courageous
steps in the writing, in the performance (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Brava!</i>,
Ms Reidy) and in the edit, because the audience does not want to be shifted
from the forgiving empathy they have with Richard and his failure to ‘own up’ to his guilt,
itself an act of omission.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">The intention
of the distancing effect in drama is to raise consciousness in the audience, to
cause them to reflect, to step back into themselves while they are being
entertained.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is, to say the least, a
tricky device to use in film-making because we, the audience, enter the cinema
with the expectation, perhaps even the intention that we be carried along by
the action in such a way that we escape the reflection that dogs us in our
day-to-day lives.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">Perhaps it’s
just me – I grew up in Dublin 4, I went to one of those schools, I camped down in Brittas Bay, I did
the teenage drinking in the nether regions of southside Dublin – but the moment
<i>What Richard Did</i> coalesced as a piece of cinema was in those later, seemingly
purposeless shots of suburban skies, framed between passing trees from an
invisible vehicle. That was when and how the film expressed the silent reaction to the mother's grief. It is, arguably, the only time the film shows its own point of view.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">It occurs
to me that this use of the image is what separates Lenny Abrahamson from the
vast majority of Irish film makers, no matter how celebrated or successful they
may be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These others are really dramatists or
storytellers; film just happens to be a medium they use.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They could as easily write books or make theatre. Abrahamson, it seems to me, is simply a film-maker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He explores moral questions and cinema is his
natural medium for those explorations.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">Months
after seeing the film, and for all the echoes of its adolescent noise, <i>What
Richard Did</i>’s real resonance comes from the reflective breathing space offered
by those few </span><span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;"> late </span><span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">sequences of the skies over south Dublin, together with a line that
floated in unasked from somewhere else – ‘above us only sky’.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IE" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-IE;">Once I
recalled the source of the line it came to me that it wasn’t just the sky
itself but the correlative meanings of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ lyric that had
brought it to mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A world free of nation
and religion does not mean a world free of individual culpability and conscience, although
it may seem that way in Dublin’s
tree-lined suburbia south of the Liffey.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438091720222629659.post-201561537778230242013-04-18T06:43:00.003-07:002013-04-18T06:43:26.966-07:00Johnny Ferguson, RIPIf there was an Irish prize going for dogged determination as a screenwriter then Johnny Ferguson should have been presented with one years ago. He is one of the very, very few Irish writers of screenplays - I'm excluding writer/directors - to have their work produced and travel successfully. After a short illness Johnny has now left this world for another where, no doubt, he'll be hired to do <a href="http://www.poetryireland.ie/publications/guest-blog/?author=18">endless re-writes</a> of St Peter's welcoming words at the pearly gates.<br />
<br />
God rest him, and condolences to his family.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438091720222629659.post-88142409714821154712013-02-18T06:46:00.005-08:002013-02-18T06:51:11.515-08:00Section 20 - Finance Act 2013Here is the full - highly technical - text of Section 20 of the Finance Act 2013, which is intended to introduce a new mechanism for funding film production in Ireland by way of a tax credit scheme. It seems closely modeled on its UK equivalent although it is being brought in as amending legislation for the Section 481 regime already on the books.<br />
<br />
Some notable points that bear further investigation and commentary include the 32% production funding delivery target (up from roughly 28%); regulations around spend, production company location, production and distribution company inter-relationships; and the regulations regarding compliance. Other issues for discussion will turn on whether the scheme will actually function as a 'credit' (rebate) fund or as a direct payment fund from Revenue because the companies utilising the scheme will mostly not have sufficient tax liabilities against which to claim the tax credit.<br />
<br />
Apologies for any layout and typo issues - I'll correct them in due course. <br />
<br />
<br />
Finance Bill 2013<br />
Section 20 refocuses the delivery mechanism for film relief. Arising from the amendments provided for in this section, Film Relief will not be available to investors in qualifying films. Instead a payable tax credit of 32 per cent will be paid directly to a Producer Company. The tax credit will reduce the corporation tax of the qualifying period in respect of which the return filing date immediately precedes the application for a film certificate. Where the tax credit exceeds the tax due for the qualifying period (as reduced by the tax paid), the tax credit will be a payable credit. The section provides for the extension of the scheme to 31 December 2020 and is contingent on EU approval. Commencement is accordingly subject to a Ministerial Order.<br />
<br />
Amendment of section 481 (relief for investment in films) of Principal Act.<br />
<br />
20.—(1) The Principal Act is amended in section 481—<br />
(a) in subsection (1) by deleting the definition of ‘‘allowable investor company’’,<br />
(b) in subsection (1) by substituting the following for the definition of ‘‘film’’: ‘‘ ‘film’ means— (a) a film of a kind which is included within the categories of films eligible for certification by the Revenue Commissioners under subsection (2A), as specified in regulations made under subsection (2E), and (b) as respects every film, a film which is produced— (i) on a commercial basis with a view to the realisation of profit, and (ii) wholly or mainly for exhibition to the public in cinemas or by means of broadcast, but does not include a film made for exhibition as an advertising programme or as a commercial;’’,<br />
(c) in subsection (1) by substituting the following for the definition of ‘‘the Minister’’: ‘‘ ‘the Minister’ means the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht;’’,<br />
(d) in subsection (1) by deleting the definition of ‘‘qualifying individual’’,<br />
(e) in subsection (1) by substituting the following for the definition of ‘‘qualifying period’’: ‘‘ ‘qualifying period’, in relation to a film corporation tax credit specified in a film certificate, means— (a) the accounting period of the producer com pany, in respect of which the specified return date for the chargeable period, within the meaning of section 959A, immediately precedes the date the application referred to in subsection (2A)(a) was made, or (b) where the accounting period referred to in paragraph (a) is a period of less than 12 months, the period— (i) commencing on the date on which the most recently commenced accounting period, which commences on or before the date which is 12 months before the end of the accounting period referred to in paragraph (a) commences, and (ii) ending on the date the accounting period referred to in paragraph (a) ends, and references in subsection (3) to corporation tax and corporation tax paid shall be construed accordingly;’’,<br />
(f) in subsection (1) by deleting the definition of ‘‘relevant deduction’’,<br />
(g) in subsection (1) by deleting the definition of ‘‘relevant investment’’,<br />
(h) in subsection (1) by deleting the definition of ‘‘specified relevant person’’, 20<br />
(i) in subsection (1) by inserting the following definitions: ‘‘ ‘broadcast’ and ‘broadcaster’ have the meanings assigned to them by section 2 of the Broadcasting Act 2009; ‘film corporation tax credit’, in relation to a qualifying film, means an amount equal to 32 per cent of the lowest of— (a) the eligible expenditure amount, (b) 80 per cent of the total cost of production of the film, and (c) €50,000,000; ‘producer company’, in relation to a film corporation tax credit specified in a film certificate, means a company that— (a) is resident in the State, or is resident in an EEA State other than the State and carries on business in the State through a branch or agency, (b) commencing not later than the time the qualifying period commences, carries on a trade 40 of producing films— (i) on a commercial basis with a view to the realisation of profit, and (ii) that are wholly or principally for exhibition to the public in cinemas or by means of broadcast,<br />
(c) is not a company, or a company connected to a company— (i) that is a broadcaster, or (ii) in the case of— (I) a company, whose business consists wholly or mainly, or (II) a company connected to another company, where the aggregate of the activities carried on by the company and every company to which it is connected, consists wholly or mainly, of transmitting films on the internet, (d) holds all of the shares in the qualifying company, and (e) has delivered to the Collector-General, on or before the specified return date, a return, in accordance with section 959I, in respect of— (i) the accounting period referred to in paragraph (a) of the definition of ‘qualifying period’, or (ii) each accounting period ending in the qualifying period, referred to in paragraph (b) of that definition, as the case may be; ‘specified amount’ has the meaning given to it by subsection (3)(b); ‘specified relevant person’ means a person who is a director or secretary of the producer company at any time during the period commencing when the qualifying period commences and ending 12 months after the date the compliance report referred to in subparagraph (iii) of subsection (2C)(d)(iii) is provided to the Revenue Commissioners;’’,<br />
(j) in subsection (2)— (i) in paragraph (a) by substituting ‘‘producer company’’ for ‘‘qualifying company’’ in each place, and (ii) by deleting paragraph (c),<br />
(k) in subsection (2A) by substituting ‘‘producer company’’ for ‘‘qualifying company’’ in each place in paragraph (a),<br />
(l) in subsection (2A) by substituting the following for paragraph (b): ‘‘(b) The Revenue Commissioners shall not issue a certificate under paragraph (a) if— (i) they have not been given authorisation to do so by the Minister under subsection (2)(a), (ii) the producer company, the qualifying company and each person who is either 5 the beneficial owner of, or able directly or indirectly to control, more than 15 percent of the ordinary share capital of the producer company or the qualifying company, as the case may be, is not in compliance with all the obligations imposed by the Tax Acts, the Capital Gains Tax Acts or the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 in relation to— (I) the payments or remittances of taxes, interest or penalties required to be paid or remitted under those Acts, (II) the delivery of returns, and (III) requests to supply to an inspector accounts of, or other information 20 about, any business carried on, by the producer company, the qualifying company or person, as the case may be, or iii) the eligible expenditure amount is less than €200,000.’’,<br />
(m) in subsection (2A) by substituting ‘‘producer company’’ for ‘‘qualifying company’’ in each place in paragraphs (c), (e) and (f), <br />
(n) in subsection (2A)(g) by substituting the following for subparagraph (i): ‘‘(i) in relation to the quantum of the specified amount, and the timing and manner of a payment of the specified amount,’’, <br />
(o) in subsection (2A)(g) by substituting the following for subparagraph (iii): ‘‘(iii) in relation to the amount of the film corporation tax credit by which the producer company’s corporation tax is to be reduced,’’, 40<br />
(p) in subsection (2A)(g) by inserting ‘‘(in this section referred to as the eligible expenditure amount)’’ after ‘‘film’’ where it first occurs in subparagraph (iv),<br />
(q) in subsection (2A) by substituting ‘‘producer company’’ for ‘‘qualifying company’’ in each place in paragraph (h), 45<br />
(r) in subsection (2B) by substituting ‘‘producer company’’ for ‘‘qualifying company’’ in each place,<br />
(s) in subsection (2C) by substituting ‘‘producer company’’ for ‘‘qualifying company’’ in each place (other than in paragraphs (b) and (c)),<br />
(t) in subsection (2C)(b) by inserting ‘‘or the qualifying company’’ after ‘‘company’’,<br />
(u) in subsection (2C)(c)— (i) by inserting ‘‘the producer company,’’ before ‘‘the qualifying company’’ where it first occurs, (ii) by inserting ‘‘the producer company or’’ before ‘‘the qualifying company’’ where it last occurs, and (iii) by substituting ‘‘producer company or the qualifying company’’ for ‘‘company’’ in subparagraph (i),<br />
(v) in subsection (2C) by deleting ‘‘and’’ before paragraph (e),<br />
(w) in subsection (2C) by substituting the following for paragraph (e): ‘‘(e) if the company ceases to carry on the trade referred to in paragraph (b) of the definition of ‘‘producer company’’, before a time which is 12 months after the date the compliance report referred to in subsection (2C)(d)(iii) is provided to the Revenue Commissioners,’’,<br />
(x) in subsection (2C) by inserting the following after paragraph (e): ‘‘(f) if the company disposes of its shares in the qualifying company before a time which is 12 months after the date the compliance report referred to in subsection (2C)(d)(iii) is provided to the Revenue Commissioners, (g) unless the company— (i) enters into a contract with the qualifying company in relation to the production and distribution of the qualifying film, and (ii) provides an amount not less than the specified amount to the qualifying company, and (h) unless an amount not less than the eligible expenditure amount is expended by the qualifying company wholly and exclusively on the production of the qualifying film as specified in a condition in a film certificate, in accordance with subsection (2A)(g)(iv).’’,<br />
(y) in subsection (2CA)(b) by substituting the following for subparagraph (i): ‘‘(i) the arrangements relate to the filming of part of a film in a territory other than a territory referred to in clause (I) or (II) of subsection (2C)(b)(i),’’,<br />
(z) in subsection (2CA)(b) by substituting ‘‘the producer company’’ for ‘‘the qualifying company’’ in subparagraph (ii),<br />
(aa) in subsection (2CA)(b) by substituting the following for subparagraph (iii): ‘‘(iii) the producer company demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Revenue Commissioners that it can provide, if requested, sufficient records to enable the Revenue Commissioners to verify, in the case of filming in a territory, the amount of each item of expenditure on the production of the qualifying film expended in the territory, whether expended by the producer company or by any other person,’’,<br />
(ab) by substituting the following for subsection (2D): ‘‘(2D) Where the producer company or the qualifying company fails to comply with any of the provisions of this section or fails to fulfil any condition specified in a certificate issued to the producer company under paragraph (a) of subsection (2A), the Revenue Commissioners may, by notice in writing, revoke the certificate.’’,<br />
(ac) in subsection (2E)— (i) by substituting ‘‘a producer company and a qualifying company’’ for ‘‘a qualifying company’’ in paragraph (d), (ii) by substituting ‘‘producer company’’ for ‘‘qualifying company’’ in each place in paragraphs (f) and (l), (iii) by deleting ‘‘and’’ in paragraph (m), and (iv) by substituting ‘‘film, and’’ for ‘‘film.’’ in paragraph (n),<br />
(ad) in subsection (2E) by inserting the following after paragraph (n): ‘‘(o) governing when the specified amount may be paid by the Revenue Commissioners to the producer company.’’, <br />
(ae) in subsection (2F) by substituting ‘‘producer company’’ for ‘‘qualifying company’’,<br />
(af) by substituting the following for subsection (3): ‘‘(3) (a) Where the Revenue Commissioners have— (i) issued a film certificate to a producer company, in accordance with subsection (2A)(a), and (ii) specified an amount of a film corporation tax credit in the certificate, the corporation tax of the company for the qualifying period, shall, subject to subsection (2A)(g)(iii), be reduced by so much of an amount equal to the film corporation tax credit specified in the film certificate as does not exceed that corporation tax and where the qualifying period is a period referred to in paragraph (b) of the definition of ‘qualifying period’, the corporation tax of an earlier accounting period shall be reduced in priority to the corporation tax of a later accounting period. (b) Subject to subsection (3C), where the Revenue Commissioners have specified a film corporation tax credit in a film certificate and the amount of the credit exceeds the corporation tax of the qualifying period, as reduced by the corporation tax paid by the company in respect of that period but before any reduction under paragraph (a), the excess (in this section referred to as the ‘specified amount’) shall be paid to the producer company by the Revenue Commissioners. (c) The specified amount shall be paid by the Revenue Commissioners to the film producer company not later than the date specified in the film certificate issued to the company, which shall not be earlier than the date set out in the regulations made under subsection (2E).’’,<br />
(ag) by inserting the following after subsection (3): ‘‘(3A) (a) Any amount payable by the Revenue Commissioners to the company by virtue of subsection (3)(b) shall be deemed to be an overpayment of corporation tax, for the purposes only of section 960H(2). (b) Any claim in respect of a specified amount shall be deemed for the purposes of section 1077E to be a claim in connection with a credit and, for the purposes of determining an amount in accordance with section 1077E(11) or 1077E(12), a reference to an amount of tax that would have been payable for the relevant periods by the person concerned shall be read as if it were a reference to a specified amount. (c) Where the Revenue Commissioners have paid a specified amount to a producer company and it is subsequently found that all or part of the amount is not as authorised by this section (in this section referred to as the ‘unauthorised amount’), then— (i) the company, (ii) any director of the company, or (iii) any person referred to in subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (b) of subsection (2A), may be charged to tax under Case IV of Schedule D for the accounting period, or year of assessment, as the case may be, in respect of which the payment was made, in an amount equal to— (I) in the case of a company, 4 times, 10 and (II) in the case of an individual, one hundred forty-firsts, of so much of the specified amount as is not so authorised. (d) The circumstances in which an unauthorised amount arises shall include any circumstances where the amount was paid in accordance with paragraph (b) of subsection (3) and— (i) the Revenue Commissioners revoke a certificate issued under subsection (2A)(a), or (ii) the producer company or the qualifying company— (I) fails to satisfy or comply with any condition or obligation required by this section or regulations made under this section, (II) fails to satisfy or comply with any condition or obligation specified in a film certificate, including a condition to complete, deliver, exhibit or make available for exhibition the qualifying film by a time specified in a film certificate, or (III) at any time on or before the time referred to in subsection (2C)(e) fails to comply with any of the obligations referred to in subsection (2A)(b)(ii). (e) Where in accordance with paragraph (c) an inspector makes an assessment in respect of a specified amount, the amount so charged shall for the purposes of section 1080 be deemed to be tax due and payable and shall carry interest as determined in accordance with subsection (2)(c) of section 1080 as if a reference to the date when the tax became due and payable were a reference to the date the amount was paid by the Revenue Commissioners. (3B) (a) The amount which is provided by the producer company to the qualifying company in accordance with subparagraph (ii) of subsection (2C)(g) shall not— (i) be a sum which may be deducted in computing the profits or gains to be charged to tax under Case I of Schedule D and shall not otherwise reduce the income of the producer company, (ii) subject to subsection (3), reduce the corporation tax of the producer company, (iii) be provided in a manner which is wholly or partly for the purpose of, or in connection with, securing a tax advantage, or (iv) be income of the qualifying company for any tax purpose. (b) A failure by the qualifying company to repay any part of the amount referred to in paragraph (a) to the producer company shall not be a sum which may be deducted in computing the profits or gains of the producer company to be charged to tax under Case I of Schedule D and shall not otherwise reduce the income of the producer company. (c) Notwithstanding sections 411 and 616, the producer and the qualifying company shall be deemed not to be members of the same group of companies for the purposes of— (i) section 411, or (ii) except for the purposes of section 626, section 616. (d) A loss, for the purposes of section 546, shall not be treated as arising on the disposal by the producer company of shares in the qualifying company. (e) Section 626B shall be deemed not to apply to the disposal by the producer company of shares in the qualifying company. (f) For the purposes of section 538(2), the value of the shares held by the producer company in the qualifying company, shall not, at any time, be negligible. (3C) The Revenue Commissioners shall not pay a specified amount to a producer company in respect of a film certificate issued after 31 December 2020.’’, and<br />
(ah) by deleting subsections (4) to (22).<br />
<br />
(2) This section shall come into operation on such day or days as the Minister for Finance may by order or orders appoint and different days may be appointed for different purposes or different provisions.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438091720222629659.post-53707969715564492842013-01-28T04:56:00.003-08:002013-01-28T08:16:40.714-08:00Éamon de Buitléar - RIP<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAyYK-b89JMwTKl6HpfSQLMwwtrEPjm1jkZD0B1WnRJb5DYj_UeWblQXgD8PKDjVNMdyRET6R2gtOflHqlwd48LII91l63q5NLDZj4EGh4b2pWh8uUrMTG4iBlbXdRYN4wKHOuAgGGG8kY/s1600/%C3%89deB-Sceillig+Bheag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAyYK-b89JMwTKl6HpfSQLMwwtrEPjm1jkZD0B1WnRJb5DYj_UeWblQXgD8PKDjVNMdyRET6R2gtOflHqlwd48LII91l63q5NLDZj4EGh4b2pWh8uUrMTG4iBlbXdRYN4wKHOuAgGGG8kY/s320/%C3%89deB-Sceillig+Bheag.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Éamon de Buitléar filming gannets on Sceillig Bheag c. 1978</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo: from The Irish Wildlife Book, 1979.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br />
</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">The death has taken place in Wicklow of</span> </span><a href="http://www.eamondebuitlear.com/">Éamon de Buitléar</a>, filmmaker, naturalist, musician, and eminent custodian of our heritage.<br />
<br />
The expression 'independent filmmaker' has become a devalued brand these days, a sort of catch-all flag of convenience. When it first came into use it was as a declaration of intent by filmmakers to originate and create their own work. In Ireland, in the 1960s and 1970s, independent filmmakers were rarer than hens' teeth.<br />
<br />
It's fair to say that most Irish filmmakers working independently in drama and documentary over those two decades have been given their due recognition. But some others - perhaps Paddy Carey, Gerrit van Gelderen, David Shaw Smith and <a href="http://www.rte.ie/tv50/essays/eamondebuitlear.html">Éamon de Buitléar</a> among them - are still due greater acknowledgement.<br />
<br />
They, and often their families alongside them, worked for pennies on very hard-got commissions from RTÉ and other semi-state organisations. They became expert in forms of filmmaking that no-one else was attempting in Ireland at the time. They were their own producers, directors, scriptwriters, cameramen, editors and narrators. They may even have processed their own footage from time to time. They were very often frustrated by funding issues, they were frugal by necessity, and they were unbelievably patient.<br />
<br />
If it is a filmmaker's job to convey something to audiences through their work then Éamon de Buitléar did something enormously important - he conveyed his own love for and curiosity about the Irish natural world to at least three generations of Irish television viewers, this writer included.<br />
<br />
A couple of years ago I came across a dead pine marten at the side of the road near the house here and was reminded immediately of Éamon de Buitléar's work. I had heard him many years previously talking about the difficulty of capturing footage of pine martens in the wild. At the time they were one of our rarest mammals and there were very few left in the country.<br />
<br />
Back then one of the few places they might be filmed was in the Burren in County Clare. De Buitléar had spent weeks hunkered down in hazel scrub in order to film the elusive creatures, almost to the point of despair it seemed, before eventually getting some usable material.<br />
<br />
I heard subsequently from relatives in the area that a wildlife film crew had been looking for pine martens but that they hadn't told them that a family of the animals were living in their old cottage, because they intended to do it up!<br />
<br />
The anecdote illustrates the inevitable tensions between conservation and development, and the greater historical context of human interaction with the natural world in Ireland which Éamon de Buitléar did so much to bring to public consciousness.<br />
<br />
The valediction from 'An tOileánach' is rarely as deserved as it is for Éamon de Buitléar, truly <i>ní bheidh a leithéid arís ann</i>.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438091720222629659.post-29781914715449091652013-01-15T03:16:00.000-08:002013-01-15T03:44:07.188-08:00A serious question about 3DThis post is different to others on this blog. Although it does relate to a cinema-going experience in Ireland it might have occurred anywhere in the world.<br />
<br />
I say <em>might</em> because I am writing about an incident which took place in 2011, in Ireland, which may, repeat, <strong><em>may</em></strong> be connected to the cinema visit that immediately preceded it. <br />
<br />
In short, some 30 minutes after attending a public screening of a mainstream film in 3D the person with whom I watched the film experienced a full-blown seizure. This person had never previously experienced a seizure.<br />
<br />
I have waited more than a year to write about it in order that other possible causes or correlative factors could be ruled out. This person has not experienced a seizure since, nor have they gone to a 3D screening in the intervening period. <br />
<br />
On being brought immediately by ambulance to hospital, with the usual A&E examination, bloodwork and tests being done, no immediate cause was found for the seizure. On subsequent consultant referral and MRI scanning no underlying cause was found for the seizure. The cause of the seizure is, as yet, unexplained.<br />
<br />
I will add, in case it's relevant, that the person ordinarily wears glasses with strong corrective lenses. The 3D glasses supplied at the screening were manufactured by Omnex Pro Film Ltd.<br />
<br />
Since the connection between the seizure and the screening remains unproven I am not going to name either the film or the cinema - although that might serve to clarify the particular 3D process(es) experienced at the time.<br />
<br />
So, to the question... Is there any evidence linking abnormal brain activity, up to and including seizure, with 3D cinema viewing, in even a tiny number of instances?<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438091720222629659.post-2537632934017433942012-12-07T04:33:00.001-08:002012-12-07T07:12:29.026-08:00Film Board capital funding, 2013In looking for the total allocation for 2013 (capital + current funding) for the IFB I missed the table setting out the Department's capital provision for the year ahead.<br />
<br />
The amount estimated for the IFB for next year is €11.898m, down from €13.150m this year. That's a reduction of approximately 10% in funding for development, production, short film schemes and training.<br />
<br />
An additional €500,000 in capital is expected to come from recoupment but this is an educated guess rather than definitive. The same amount was expected in 2012 but the amount given as the outturn for the year is actually €370,000. This represents one year's recoupment on some €200m of funding.<br />
<br />
The budget allocation for current spending in 2013 may not have been published yet but I believe that the agency's staffing changes and cuts will probably accommodate any reduction on the €2.54m made available in 2012. However, there is a danger that as the capital provision comes down the current budget may begin to appear disproportionate - a widespread issue across the public service as programmes are cut and administration begins to look top heavy.<br />
<br />
There has been a 41% decrease in the IFB's capital funding since 2008:<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">2013 €11.89million</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">2012 €13.15million</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">2011 €16.00million</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">2010 €16.50million</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">2009 €18.81million<br />2008 €20.00million</span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Note: there may have been additonal supplementary capital made available in 2008 and 2009, possibly allocated under the 'International Production' heading.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438091720222629659.post-50645070501057414122012-12-06T03:37:00.000-08:002012-12-07T03:25:44.165-08:00A new dispensation for the industry?Compulsory reading. On a quick overview it seems as if a lot of the spin around the tax break has been de-bunked, at last.<br />
<br />
<strong><em><a href="http://taxpolicy.gov.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/2012-12-04_film-relief_economic-impact-assessment_final-report_final.pdf">Economic Impact Assessment of Section 481 Film Relief</a></em></strong><br />
<strong>December 2012, Dept. of Finance.</strong><br />
<br />
"<em>However maintaining Section 481 in its current format does not appear to be sustainable. The scheme as currently operated fails a cost benefit analysis, has a high level of inefficiency in terms of leakage and is inequitable due to its reliance on high income individuals which itself is inconsistent with Government commitments to ‘cap or abolish tax shelters which benefit very high income earners’</em>."<br />
<br />
And on the proposed introduction of a tax credit model (with a Revenue-policed early pay-out for producers)...<br />
<br />
"<em>If such a model were in place in 2011, it would have resulted in a 32% exchequer saving. Based on the same level of qualifying expenditure this would have reduced the exchequer cost from €46.5m to €32m as the rate of relief would have been at 28% (in line with the producer benefit) rather than 41% (at the investor’s marginal income tax rate). This saving would also have improved the outcome of the cost benefit analysis</em>."<br />
<br />
And here's the question floating like a pink elephant in the room - against what taxes will production companies be able to raise levels of funding in 2016 equivalent to those now pouring from the Section 481 tap?<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">PS - still no official word on the IFB's capital and current budget for 2013, despite press releases from the Minister and IFB Chair welcoming the moves on Section 481. The Department's budget for the total Arts, Culture & Film section is €107.24m (-5% on 2012) of which it has announced that €60.7m (-3% on 2012) is for the Arts Council. "<em>This is the maximum possible funding that I can allocate to the Arts Council for next year, and is below the average reduction that I have had to apply across the board in my Department</em>."</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438091720222629659.post-9537801162478672012-12-05T06:56:00.004-08:002012-12-06T03:55:34.083-08:00Tis the season......to be budgeting... and it seems Christmas may have come a little early for the, <em>ahem,</em> hard-pressed film and tv producers who depend 100% on Section 481. (a bit of irony here).<br />
The relief is to be extended. More later on the detail.<br />
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From Minister Noonan's speech...<br />
<strong><em>Film Industry </em></strong><br />
<strong><em>This year, my Department carried out an Economic Impact Assessment of the current Film Tax Relief Scheme widely known as Section 481. In light of the Report’s findings, which I have published today, and after consultation with Minister Deenihan, and the film and TV industry in Ireland, I propose to:</em></strong><br />
<strong><em> - extend the Film Tax Relief Scheme to 2020; </em></strong><br />
<strong><em> - reform the operation of the scheme, by moving to a tax credit model in 2016, so as to ensure better value for tax payers money and eliminate the need for high income investors to provide the funding for the scheme; and </em></strong><br />
<strong><em>- enhance the scheme so as to make Ireland even more attractive for foreign film and TV productions. </em></strong><br />
<strong><em>These changes will rectify the anomaly by which investors received a disproportionate amount of the tax relief as opposed to the funds going to production.</em></strong><br />
<strong><em>These measures are designed to create additional jobs in the film industry.</em></strong><br />
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This change of direction is not before time. Not one of the <a href="http://taxpolicy.gov.ie/consultations/consultation-on-film-relief/">responses to the consultation</a>, including that of the IFB, recommended a switch to a tax credit scheme or a better return for the taxpayer or increased funds going on the screen.<br />
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No definitive word yet on the IFB's budget for 2013. That detail will be announced by Minister Deenihan whose Arts, Culture and Film budget is down 5%. This may hide a bigger cut in capital (c. 10%) which might impact the IFB's funding. The IFB brought in €370,000 in recouped (external) capital this year and a figure of €500,000 has been estimated for next year.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438091720222629659.post-19995415576779358342012-09-05T09:11:00.001-07:002012-09-05T09:11:16.143-07:00Irish titles at the London Film Festival<br />
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The 56<sup>th</sup> BFI London Film Festival has sent me a release to say that this year’s programme includes
13 films from Ireland, part of a worldwide selection of <b>
</b>225 feature films and 111<b> </b>shorts from more than 65 countries.<br />
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The Irish features being screened are - </div>
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<i>Pilgrim Hill</i>, dir. Gerard Barrett</div>
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<i>Silence</i>, dir. Pat Collins</div>
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<i>What Richard Did</i>, dir. Lenny Abrahamson</div>
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<i>Citadel</i>, dir. Ciarán Foy (Co-production with UK)</div>
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<i>Good Vibrations</i>, dir. Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn (Co-production with UK)</div>
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<i>Kelly + Victor</i>, dir. Kieran Evans (Co-production with UK)</div>
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<i>Legends of Valahalla - Thor</i> (HETJUR VALHALLAR - ÞÓR), dir. Óskar Jónasson (Co-production with Iceland and Germany)</div>
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<i>Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God</i>, dir. Alex Gibney (Co-production with USA)</div>
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<i>The Perverts Guide to Ideology</i>, dir. Sophie Fiennes (Co-production with UK)</div>
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<i>The Road: A Story of Life and Death</i>, dir. Marc Isaacs (Co-production with UK)
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<i>The Summit</i>, dir. Nick Ryan (Co-production with Switzerland)</div>
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The two Irish shorts being screened are<i> - </i></div>
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<i>The Boy in the Bubble</i>, dir. Kealan O'Rourke, and <i>Foxes</i>, dir. Lorcan Finnegan.</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438091720222629659.post-75072710697506219842012-08-28T03:51:00.001-07:002012-08-28T03:52:46.498-07:00On film, journalism, and the order of things...Some essential reading, every bit as true of the 'micro' level of governance as it is of the level of the macro geopolitical order.<br />
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<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/26/compliance-authority-failure">http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/26/compliance-authority-failure</a><br />
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and<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.salon.com/2012/04/08/u_s_filmmaker_repeatedly_detained_at_border/">http://www.salon.com/2012/04/08/u_s_filmmaker_repeatedly_detained_at_border/</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438091720222629659.post-42965351544548097792012-08-17T04:29:00.001-07:002012-08-17T07:42:36.415-07:00Whos, Whys and Wherefores<div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: black; text-align: center;">
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Looking at the origin of some recent traffic I discovered that someone nominated Irish Film Portal for the 2012 Blog Awards, in the 'Best Blog of a Journalist' category. When I say 'someone' you may take it from me that I didn't nominate the blog myself, nor do I know who did the nominating.<br />
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I have never tried to publicise Irish Film Portal, so whatever following it has generated over the last few years has come about organically, so to speak. I don't 'tag' or 'label' posts and I've not done the whole facebook viral thing, although it has been suggested to me. Nevertheless, the number of page views has passed the 60,000 mark and they're not all Ciarán Hinds or Gabriel Byrne <strike>stalkers</strike> fans looking for the latest news.<br />
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So what <b><i>is</i></b> Irish Film Portal about?<br />
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It's about the culture of Irish film culture. It asks why we - the Irish people - assign millions of Euros to film and TV drama production each year, what we expect to result from our generosity, and what the actual outcome is.<br />
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The only reason I'm doing the asking is because no one else is doing it. Instead there is a wall of PR called 'news' which is circulated and endlessly repeated until it calcifies in the archives. Hardly anyone asks any meaningful questions from an objective position, reflecting on the cultural outcomes of state policy.<br />
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Most of what is written about film in Ireland or elsewhere is concerned with profiling and reviewing the tide of films produced and released each year. There is little space given for one of the most basic questions - <b><i>why</i></b>?<br />
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Why do we have funding policies for film? Why did those production companies go bankrupt? Why were those directors fired? Why was this project not funded? Why were these other productions funded? Why do we reduce the amount of money for the Film Board while the tax break can cost us any amount over €50 million each year? Why does the total public cost of the tax break not go into the films it funds? Why do Irish audiences not go to Irish films? Why are Irish film and TV production companies so dependent on public subsidy? Why do Irish producers earn very generous fees from production and hardly anything from sales? [Would the 'industry' not be more functional if producers had to earn their money at the 'back end'?] Why are industrial relations so appalling and work practices so outmoded. <br />
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Our Section 481 tax break allows high earners to save 41% of their tax liability on €50,000 of their income in any calendar year. So, they get to keep €20,500 that would otherwise have gone into the exchequer to pay for public services. TM Productions/VK Productions series <i>The Vikings</i>, for instance, has raised approximately €22,348,484 in Section 481 funding this year. The <i>quid pro quo</i> for the loss to the exchequer of approximately €9,162,878 in tax revenue is the spin off to the economy, although only €6,257,576 of the tax revenue foregone is likely to actually go into the production.<br />
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However, while <i>The Vikings</i> 'Irish' spend may be reckoned at €22,348,484, the official definition of 'Irish' spend includes payments to all EU-based cast and crew as well as spend on Irish employees, goods, and services. That said, there are ways around the required 'Irish' spend on goods and services. Does a service qualify as Irish spend if, for example, an Irish company contracted by the production gets some of the work done in the UK by a sub-contractor?<br />
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Here's a current example, from the film processors <a href="http://www.deluxesoho.co.uk/news/?p=82">Deluxe Soho in London</a> (my emphasis in bold) - <i>Deluxe Soho are delighted to announce the launch of our newest film stock and processing package, Film First. Created exclusively for the Republic of Ireland, Film First is a new processed paid film stock delivery service run in conjunction with Fuji Motion Picture. Available as both 16mm and 35mm packages, Film First makes shooting on Film financially and logistically viable for all productions shooting in the Republic of Ireland. <b>The price of the Film First package includes film stock, processing and return delivery with just one invoice, in Euros, issued through Fujifilm Ireland keeping the spend 100% Irish.</b> All film originated projects are eligible for the deal and the turnaround times are swift, with an order of 2,000 feet or more being returned within 24 hours and smaller consignments of less than 2,000 feet taking just 48 hours.The price for 35mm stock is 50 Cents per foot (200 Euros per 400ft roll or 500 Euros per 1000ft roll), with 16mm film costing 40 Cents per foot (160 Euros per 400ft roll). Visit <a href="http://www.thinkfilmfirst.com/index.php">Film First</a> for further information.</i><br />
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I have no doubt that these arrangements conform with the letter of the regulations, and will have been fully checked with the Revenue Commissioners by Screen Scene, Windmill Lane, Fuji and couriers Aerly Bird - the Irish parties to the scheme. And I have little doubt that they conform with moves at a European level to de-territorialise the spending requirements of national funding regimes for film.<br />
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But where is the public discussion about this movement of funds from the Irish exchequer to a business outside the jurisdiction. Are the business interests of the participant companies the same as the wider public interest? Why doesn't Deluxe set up a lab in Dublin if it wants our money? (Ok, that's rhetorical, I know film processing is fast becoming archaic). What has changed since the Revenue Commissioners came down hard on sub-contracting arrangements entered into by the Concorde Anois Studio on productions for which Merlin Films had raised millions in Section 481 funding?<br />
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Irish Film Portal poses these seemingly quixotic questions. Occasionally there are also answers.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438091720222629659.post-87338370744275723272012-08-08T05:24:00.000-07:002012-08-08T05:24:21.754-07:00Magma Films - in liquidationWhat follows is the three-page "Estimated Statement of Affairs" circulated to creditors at the Magma European Scripting House Ltd (t/a Magma Films) creditors meeting a week ago on July 31st. The accuracy of the unsigned estimated statement of affairs was contested by some creditors at the meeting. The company has not filed accounts beyond the year ending 31 December 2008.<br />
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The listing of secured and unsecured creditors does not include loans totaling €3 million from the Irish Film Board because, I am told, they are 'non-recourse' loans that are only repayable from revenue deriving from IFB-supported production and development assets. Therefore, any income flowing from those assets is not available in the first instance to the company's liquidator in order to discharge the company's debts to creditors. My own impression, having attended the meeting, is that this was not made clear to creditors.<br />
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To summarise, Magma Films owes €3 million to the IFB which is repayable only from film, TV and certain intellectual property revenues. Magma Films has a further €5 million in debts made up of preferential creditors, secured creditors, trade and other creditors, and director and shareholder loans.<br />
<br />
The company appointed Eugene McMahon of Mazars Tierney, Galway, as liquidator. Mazars are auditors to a related company, <a href="http://irishfilmportal.blogspot.ie/2011/09/abbeygate_14.html">Abbeygate Productions Limited</a>, which is the special purpose vehicle company through which Section 481 funding was raised with Anglo Irish Bank in 2007 for an animation series, <i>Simsala Grimm II</i>. Transactions between MESH Ltd and Abbeygate Productions Ltd continued into 2011.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8438091720222629659.post-12395263469000114492012-07-23T06:42:00.001-07:002012-07-25T12:21:55.469-07:00Magma Creditors to meet in GalwayMagma European Scripting House Ltd (which traded as Magma Films) has called a <a href="http://www.insolvencyjournal.ie/notices/12-07-23/Magma_European_Scripting_House_Limited.aspx">meeting of creditors</a> for July 31st at 10.30am at the Carlton Hotel, Dublin Road, Galway. The intention of the directors (sic) of the company is to put it into liquidation.<br />
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Presumably a comprehensive statement of the company's affairs will be presented, with a detailed account of all amounts owed by the company and a full listing and valuation of all company assets retained or disposed of since the company's last accounts were provided to the year end 31/12/2008.<br />
<br />
Creditors will also be paying close attention to transactions between MESH Ltd/Magma Films and related companies in Ireland, the UK and Germany, particularly where those transactions relate to the assignment of rights or shareholdings.<br />
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It will be particularly interesting to learn of the status of the multiple charges registered against the company by Anglo Irish Bank/IBRC, Millimages SA, the Irish Film Board, and Northern Ireland Screen.<br />
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UPDATE<br />
I'm working on an expanded story about this for this weekend - any and all leads, comment, and factual information much appreciated.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2