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Industry / Market - France

Industry Report: European Policy

Disney+ signs agreements with French film and audiovisual organisations

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The US platform will invest 25% of its French-generated turnover in funding European and French films and series

Disney+ signs agreements with French film and audiovisual organisations

France’s film and TV organisations (represented by BLIC, BLOC and L’ARP) and Disney+ have inked a landmark funding and broadcasting agreement for French and European cinematic works, as well as films produced and distributed by Disney.

The deal will enable Disney+ subscribers to watch these movies nine months after their theatrical release, as against 17 months currently. In exchange, Disney+ commits to investing 25% of its net annual turnover generated in France to fund European and French films and series, for a period of three years. On the film side, this investment in purchasing and pre-purchasing, estimated at €115 million for filmic creation over three years, will finance a minimum of 70 movies over the period, and will cover a variety of genres and budgets.

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On the series side, AnimFrance, SATEV, SEDPA, SPI and USPA have also signed an initial agreement with the Disney group relating to the platform’s investment obligations stemming from the SMAD decree. The signatory French professional organisations have made the decision to support Disney’s willingness to advance its platform and shift it towards a model that will allow more room for films within what is essentially a series-based offering. An equal proportion, 25%, of the platform’s turnover has been officially confirmed for the first year, with a gradual ramp-up to reach 14% of obligations angled towards film and 11% angled towards series. As per the audiovisual agreement, Disney+ commits to dedicating 100% of its investment obligations in terms of audiovisual works to heritage works (fiction, animation and creative documentaries) starting from 2025, to maintain its 85% investment in works originally in the French language, to boost its involvement in independent production to 70% of its investment, and to dedicate 17% of its obligations to ensuring the diversity of audiovisual works (5% of which for creative documentary and 12% for animation). It is worth noting that this pact is the fourth to be inked between the trade unions of audiovisual producers and distributors, and the platforms belonging to US groups, following Prime Video, Netflix and AppleTV+.

(Translated from French)

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