25/08/2005

Véronique Cayla, named on the 22nd June as the new director general of the National Film Centre (CNC) dedicated her summer as head of the institution by applying herself to the impact of the drop in audience figures in the theatres on the Fast Track Aid Fund for the cinema and audiovisual industry. Technical measures were decided upon, applicable from the 1st of September, in order to maintain the balance of accounts for 2006. The objective? To assure the smooth running of a financial redistribution system which allows French cinema to develop within a solid framework, as evidenced by the 39 % market share achieved by French films at the box office in 2005.

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The Fast Track Aid Fund from the CNC for the cinema and audiovisual industry, budgeted at 490 million euros for 2005 is governed by a system of taxation on the price of cinema seats (11 % of the ticket price – a contribution of 112 million euros), on the TV broadcasters (338 million gathered from advertising money, the TV license and subscriptions) and on video publishers (40 million euros, 2 % of sales). The drop this year in attendances in the theatres (- 9 % to - 12 % for the first quarter) therefore has a direct impact on the Fast Track Aid Fund with regard to cinema. The 2005 budget set aside 160,5 million euros, of which 75 millions euros would go to film producers, 20 million to distributors, 54 million to exhibitors and 8 million to video publishers. In total, the fund for cinema aid from the CNC is 254 million, including 94 million euros of Selective Aid.

The CNC has chosen to adjust the accounts for 2005 and 2006 principally by juggling with the digressive rate of return used to calculate Fast Track Aid. This rate (TSA) fixed, for example by the producers at 125 % up to 500 000 theatre admissions, 110 % up to 5 million admissions and 50 % beyond that, now stands at 105 %, 90 % and 40 %. Theatrical distributors and video companies will see their aid drop in the same manner. Several other technical measures complete the new plan, which will guarantee the smooth running of the system in 2006 without disrupting the aid structure for French cinema.

(Translated from French)