As global platforms make greater inroad into the French market, local regulators could now push for a rise in transparency.
Since adhering to the EU’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive, original signatories Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ have significantly upped their investment in French film and television, with the three contributing €866 million ($906 million USD) from 2021 – 2023, per a new study published on Tuesday and presented in Paris.
With global SVOD expenditures now accounting for 20% of France’s National Film Board funding – marking a staggering increase from the 4% of 2019 – local authorities are eager to keep the wider directive in place, all while integrating newer players like Sony’s Crunchyroll, AppleTV+ Max.
Responding to concerns from local producer unions – who feel that negotiating without a fuller economic understanding levies them with an unfair disadvantage – administrators from France’s broadcasting regulatory authority (Arcom) are currently examining a legislative workaround to the trade secrets protections that keep streaming data opaque.
“Exceptions can be made when serving a public interest,” said Arcom’s Antoine Boilley at the Tuesday presentation. “[And] we believe that financing audiovisual and cinema creation constitutes a public interest in France.”
That Netflix has already agreed to share 2023 financial data gave the regulator reason for optimism as he called for a wider lift on the trade omertà, while the regulatory body also proposed an anti-inflationary and skill-shortage measure that would see SVOD services earmarking minimum portions of their annual obligations towards professional training programs.
Series orders accounted for the bulk of the €866 million spend, with the three streamers committing €703 million ($735 million) to TV fare and €163 million ($170 million) to features since 2021.
On the film front, the streamers often got in early, with pre-buys accounting for 79% of all investments. Such early involvement often had a knock-on effect on the very production, with SVOD-backed films averaging a budget of $9.1 million — nearly twice the industry standard.
CNC interim president Olivier Henrard found much to admire in this arrangement, pointing towards recent box-office champs like “Beating Hearts” and “Monsieur Aznavour” as examples of Netflix supported productions that could first flourish in the theatrical space.
As of late September, the 35 SVOD-backed films released since the decree went into effect averaged just above 300,000 admissions – here again marking a 44% increase from the national mean.
Indeed, the CNC chief was bullish about a new paradigm that bolstered traditional pay-tv and public broadcast funders without replacing them. While linear broadcasters could find new partners to finance ever more ambitious projects, international streamers could more easily access top-level casts and craftspeople tailored to their editorial strategies. To make that point, Henrard mentioned the AppleTV+ and France Television backed “Drops of God” – which had just won the International Emmy for best drama the night before.
“We are seeing the result of this acculturation,” said Henrard. “We don’t have two poles of creation that are turning their backs on each other. [Instead, we see more and more] cooperation schemes being set up.”
