On 30 August, Hotel Excelsior’s Spazio Incontri hosted a presentation held by Eurimages programme manager and financial controller Thierry Hugot, and deputy executive director Enrico Vannucci. The Venice Production Bridge (VPB) event gave the two reps the opportunity to talk through the details of the fund’s new film marketing and audience development support scheme. The programme encourages producers and marketing professionals (including sales agents and distributors as well as marketing and communication agencies) to develop and implement joint distribution strategies at an early stage of production, in order to maximise each backed project’s circulation potential.

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Hugot revealed that, despite Eurimages’ main focus being on backing international co-productions, distribution remains key. After the old distribution scheme in place had been reviewed, the Eurimages team realised that it was having a rather limited impact and felt the need to forge stronger synergies between the co-production and distribution schemes.

For this new effort, the budget remains in the region of the previous scheme (€700,000-€1 million). A maximum of 15 titles per year will be in receipt of these grants. Eligible projects must have received a Eurimages co-production bursary and have a sales agent attached.

The grant will be handed out in the form of a non-repayable grant, with a cap of €50,000 per project. Eligible expenses, Vannucci and Hugot underscored, include the use of third-party service providers on the basis of quotes for activities directly linked to the distribution of the film – typically, audience design, digital marketing campaigns, creation of media assets, press and PR until the film’s first market presentation or festival premiere, localisation, and outreach and networking events. Predictably, in-house expenses are not supported, as the core idea is to make producers work with external marketing and communication specialists.

Executive producers are required to apply, and they are also the grants’ official beneficiaries. The first call will be published by the end of this summer, with a deadline for submitting applications set as 28 October. Funding decisions will be announced over the course of the first half of 2025.

Selection criteria include the presentation of a solid strategy to position, sell and distribute the film across the Eurimages member states and beyond; the involved companies’ track record; and the project’s coherence in terms of its financing and budget. “Diversity, gender equality, inclusion and environmental sustainability are encouraged, but these aren’t exclusion criteria per se,” Hugot pointed out.

The funds are handed out in two instalments: the first 60% is transferred upon signing the Eurimages agreement, with the remaining 40% after final reporting. Reporting duties include a narrative report informing the Strasbourg-based fund about the film’s distribution path and listing all relevant sales, circulation and admission figures, and a financial report made up of a final financing plan and a cost report certified by a chartered account, an auditor or a statutory auditor independent from the applicant’s production.

The implementation period kicks off on the first day of the official notification, and runs until three months after the day of the film’s first market or festival screening.

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