Achi news desk-
Investment in film production in France rose 13.6% in 2023 to $1.45B (€1.34B), according to an annual report published by the country’s National Cinema Center (CNC) on Monday.
The NRW said $1.19B of the $1.45B investment came from French supporters, their third highest contribution after 2016 and 2021.
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The body, which oversees funding and support schemes across the cinema chain, registered 298 majority and minority French films in 2023, against 287 in 2022.
Within this figure, 236 were predominantly French productions, compared to 208 in 2022.
He said the 2023 figures suggest the French manufacturing sector has regained its pre-pandemic dynamism.
In a further sign of a return to pre-Covid-19 norms, the number of co-productions fell to 120, with 38 from different territories, against 144 in 2022, the highest level for a decade.
That last trend was attributed to productions traveling to avoid Covid restrictions and the financial crunch in 2022. The average for 2017 to 2019 was 119 co-productions.
In another trend, the NRW noted that 41.1% of productions were budgeted between $1.08M and $4.33M (€1-4M).
It also noted a rebound in so-called “films du milieu”, the term used for productions budgeted between $4.33M and $7.58M (€4-7M), accounting for 23.7% of feature productions against 15.9% in 2022.
The number of productions costing more than $21.67M (€20M) doubled to eight.
The features with bigger budgets spanned the programs of Matthieu Delaporte and Alexandre de La Patellière. The Count of Monte CristoAntonin Baudry’s De Gaulle Part 1 and 2Gilles Lellouche’s Beating HeartsJacques Audiard’s Emilia Perez, Mehdi Idir and Malade’s Grand Corps Mr. AznavourAudrey Diwan’s Emmanuelle and Benjamin Mousquet’s Chicken 2.
Sources of funding
In an analysis of funding sources, the NRW stated that state funding, spanning its own funding mechanisms as well as regional funds, rose by 23.4% to $102.3M (€93.3M) to cover approximately 8.3% of the investment in the majority of French productions.
Within this figure, he noted that his selective support reached $42.3M (€39M) in 2023, against $35.3M (€32.6M) in 2022.
Broadcasters and streamers invested $415M (€383.M) overall, with $356M (€328.9) of that amount going to majority French productions.
The NRW said investment increased across all these “broadcasters” with free-to-air private channels raising investment by 50.4% to $76M (€71M), pay TV groups by 43.1% to $252M (€233.5) and publishers by 29.8% to $86M (€79.4M.
The pay TV giant Canal+ was the main financier investing $166.9M (€154.1M) in film productions in 2023, and France 2 was the biggest free supporter with an investment of $52.3M (€48.3M).
The global streams Netflix, Disney +, Prime Video and HBOMax invested in 39 CNC registered films up to €48M, more than doubling their investment in 2022 from $24.9M (€23M) in 17 features.
Mandates across theatrical acquisitions, ancillary rights deals and international sales resulted in $119M (€109M) worth of investment for predominantly French films.
The country’s Sofica tax advantage funds raised another $35.2M (€32.5M) for French majority productions, an increase of 19.9% ​​on 2022 when they came in at $31.1M (€28.7M). Foreign investment increased 7.5% to $77M ($71).
Local producers were the first source of funding, partly through the country’s tax refund scheme, accounting for 38.8% of the investments in 2023, although the exact amount of their contribution had not yet been calculated.
In other findings, the NRW noted that a record 18 animated features were produced in 2023, compared to 12 in 2022, while the number of documentaries fell to 40 compared to 54 in 2022.
Looking at the gender data, the body noted that the proportion of films directed by female directors had fallen slightly.
It said 336 directors directed 298 features, compared to 315 in 2022. Within this, men accounted for 71.7% of directors and women 28.3%, against 69.3% and 30.7 in 2022.
Looking at the period 2004 and 2023, it said that women directed 25.7% of the NRW approved feature films, and 45.2% of the shorts.
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