08/11/2002

Huge debts and production delays are causing problems for the French film and audiovisual industry according to the findings of the “Couveinhas Report”, that was presented this week to French minister for CNC web site.
Commissioned by Aillagon’s predecessor, Catherine Tasca, the Couveinhas Report set alarm bells ringing and pointed the finger at: “huge debts incurred by almost all companies”, “substantial increases in labour costs”, “a drastic reduction in the advertising market”, “numerous bankruptcies”, “extremely critical situations in the digital TV and advertising markets”.
However, the film sector appears to be the least damaged by this sorry state of affairs. The only exception is the ‘Etalonnage’ sector where supply is much higher than demand. The fact that so many productions are made in foreign locations (around 25 per cent of all French productions) only makes things worse. According to Pierre Couveinhas, this is “all the more serious since the productions we analysed receive substantial funds from French institutions”.
Couvenhais concludes his report by making a number of useful suggestions as to how the Minister can resolve these problems.

(Translated from French)