27/06/2008

This past week has seen several major events that affect French film, directly or indirectly, starting with the plan to ban advertising on state television channels (see news). The project has been further advanced by the intervention of President Nicolas Sarkozy, following the work of the Copé Commission.

Advertising will thus disappear from public TV after 8 pm as of January 1, 2009 and definitively as of 2012. This radical change will be financed by a 0.9% tax on the turnover of telecom and Internet operators (an annual income estimated at €380m) and taxation on the advertising revenues of private television networks (€80m). Moreover, Sarkozy wants to directly appoint the head of France Télévisions.

All these announcements have met with disapproval, particularly the financial proposal, which offers no guarantee of stability in terms of amounts. This could rebound negatively on investments made by public TV channels in pre-sales and co-production of French films.

On the technical side of the film industry, Tarak Ben Ammar (Quinta Industries) made the surprise announcement that he has withdrawn from the buyout of Eclair laboratories (of which he is already a 43% shareholder). The acquisition would have enabled Quinta – who own the laboratory’s competitor in France (LTC) – to achieve a monopolistic merger and offer an alternative in Europe to Deluxe and Technicolor.

Citing uncertainties related to "market changes and economic circumstances" and delays in the examination of the merger by the competition authorities, Ben Ammar has decided to re-examine, at the end of 2008, the possibility of a merger that would put an end to the price wars between French laboratories.

Meanwhile, the National Film Centre (CNC) yesterday held a second meeting of professionals who were asked to reflect on the points made in the highly critical report by the Club des 13 (see news), which analysed the dysfunctions of the French film sector. Bringing together all representatives of the French film industry (except API), the working group are for the moment focusing on writing and production, before they tackle the issues of distribution, exhibition and exportation in the autumn.

This behind-the-scenes upheaval has not prevented business from carrying on as usual with the 24th edition of the Fête du cinéma (June 29-July 1) this weekend. Organised by the National Federation of French Cinemas, the event enables viewers to see any film for €2, once they have purchased a normal cinema ticket (at full or reduced price). The UGC and MK2 networks will extend the offer until Wednesday, July 2.

(Translated from French)