MEDIA project to be presented in Athens
Media Desk Hellas, the Greek branch of the MEDIA program from the European Commission, is organizing a one-day awareness event on April 17 in Athens about the new «MEDIA 2007» program, which aims at strengthening the European audiovisual industry. MEDIA 2007 is the new European Union program that will devote -755 million over the 2007-2013 period to bolstering the European film industry. The new program’s application began in January 2007. About 65 percent of that budget will contribute to expanding the circulation of European movies in other countries, both in Europe and across the world. The program also facilitates access to funding, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises, and increases the use of digital technologies, making Europe’s audiovisual sector more competitive. The funding from MEDIA 2007 is focused on the phases before and after film production, with a budget spread across the following fronts: – Training: Scriptwriting techniques, economic, financial management, digital technologies (7 percent). – Development: Single projects, catalogs, new talent, co-productions, other financing (20 percent). – Distribution: Distributors, sales agents, broadcasters, cinema exhibitors, digitizing works (55 percent). – Promotion: Market access, festivals, common events, heritage (9 percent). – Lateral action to make it easier for SMEs to access funding and to encourage the presence of European films on digital platforms (5 percent). – Pilot projects embracing new technologies, such as digital technologies for film development, production and distribution (4 percent). By making the distribution of European works a clear priority in the new program, MEDIA is seeking to improve the market share of European films shown in member states other than the one in which they were produced and raise the visibility of Europe’s diverse cultures on the world stage. Such financial support for the film industry has had a strong knock-on effect in terms of investment in the sector. During the programs that preceded MEDIA 2007, each euro of Community funding generated about -6 in private investment from industry. The new program will be presented at the local MEDIA Day event by Aviva Silver, Head of the MEDIA program, and Constantinos Daskalakis, the director of MEDIA in the EU’s Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA).
