Organised by Unifrance, German Films and the German-French Cinema Academy, the 21st French-German Film Meetings gathered more than 200 professionals from the two countries on 10 and 11 October at the Goethe-Institut Paris. On the menu of conversations around the main current topics concerning the cinematic and audiovisual industry, the question of the evolution of production with streaming platforms was most captivating, in part via the analysis by Isabelle Degeorges who heads Gaumont Télévision France.

"There has been a radical change in the last two or three years. The platforms are commissioning fewer projects, sometimes even cancelling them, and the writers’ strike was ultimately salutary for them. A few years ago, we expected a rise in commission for local and international series, but that did not happen. In France, we are protected by investment obligations (editor’s note: since the transposition of the SMA directive – read the news), but now the platforms are concentrating their commissions on a few projects, and on the others, only commit here are there (in order to respect their investment obligations) with co-financing from other broadcasters. On one side, there are the series and film that are rather well financed, and on the other, the rise of low-cost projects. It remains to be seen how all this will evolve, because while we have solid TV actors in France, there could however be some issues in the United States. Because the platforms do not have screening schedules to fill and the entire planet works for six clients who do not need to broadcast new series every day". A trend confirmed by Andreas Bareiss (Gaumont Germany) who mentioned the worry of German producers in a new context divided between low-cost productions, two or three big productions per year, and a very complicated in-between. 

This current climate of uncertainty settles in the context of the complex consolidation of platforms. Says Isabelle Degeorges, "Netflix is the only platform that has shown that it has an economic model, even if it is in a lot of debt. The others rushed on, believing that it was a golden goose, but they arrived years later and had to revise their ambitions. Amazon has divided its investment by two compared to how it was two or three years ago, while at Disney we sense a fear of the future because of more global issues; at HBO, the purchase by Discovery is shaking things up, and Apple is producing little but has maintained the same budget levels."

As recalled by Olivier Henrard, director general of the CNC, when opening the Film Meetings, the contribution of platforms to the financing of French production is already in place and investment obligations amount to €300 M for 2022 (of a total in France of €1,5 M in obligations). However, in Germany, the complex Lander system is slowing down the transposition of the SMA directive, as recognised by Peter Dinges of the FFA. But emerging more globally from this debate, is the fact that while the platforms are indeed a path for growth, they are not the Eldorado imagined a few years ago. A story to be continued… 

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