06/02/2003

On 5 February IFCIC (Institute for film and cultural industry financing) announced it was implementing new safeguards to protect technical companies operating in the film and audiovisual industries. A special CNC fund will allow IFCIC to guarantee half of all loans issued to technical industry companies by banks, thus ensuring that the former avoid going under as they wait for due payment by distributors and production companies.
The move was decided on at the plenary meeting of the IFCIC board, presided over by Henri Paul, and effectively puts into place the proposals included in the Couveinhes Report that was presented to the French Minister for Culture, Jean-Jacques Aillagon, in November of last year. The news will be a relief to those who operate in the technical sector, as they often find themselves in dire financial straits given the length of time that passes between their providing a service to a production, and actually getting paid for it. Knowing that they are guaranteed by IFCIC, banks are likely to be more forthcoming when decidingo on whether to issue loans or, in jargon, when "moving credit".

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(Translated from French)