Review of the Cinema Communication

Introduction
On 14 March 2012, the Commission launched the second public consultation of its review of the Cinema Communication by publishing its draft text of the 2012 Communication. This was the latest step of a review of the criteria used to apply EU state aid rules to Member States' financial support for making and distributing films. The Commission's first round of public consultation was launched in June 2011 on the basis of an issues paper.

Draft Communication
The draft Communication text has been published in all languages on the public consultation web page. The text is reproduced on this wiki to facilitate future editing.

Contributions
The contributions received during the second public consultation are being added on the following pages, divided between the type of contributor:

{Citizens' contributions} {Public authority contributions} {Registered organisation contributions} {Unregistered organisation contributions}

The contributions for the first round of public consultation can be found here.

Related developments/articles

 * 9 Jul 2010 - The new Czech film production rebate vs the Hungarian one - "For many years, the members of the Czech film industry have demanded the introduction of a state refund programme to respond to the increasing competition from other Central-European countries (Hungary in particular)."
 * 28 Feb 2011 - Actor Gareth Reeves on NZ film tax incentives and Lord of the Rings - "... the main parts were protected for American actors and New Zealand actors got to be monsters, elves and things like that."
 * 31 May 2011 - The European Strategy: Send money to the US (Part Un) - "... the EU acts under a basic misapprehension in regard to IP policy. ... it acts like an IP exporter in the audiovisual and software fields, when it in fact is an IP importer and might be better served by the IP importer’s traditional posture of low IP protection and enforcement. In practice, this misapprehension means that European IP policy essentially pursues the interests of the US and its IP exporting film, music, and software industries."
 * 2 Jul 2011 - The modern movie-making movement (Free, 100-page book) - "Independent filmmaking is changing. To help you survive and thrive, ten of the world’s most prominent filmmaker thought leaders have come together to share modern filmmaking ideas."
 * 27 Jul 2011 - Direct-to-fan marketing for Sundance Artist Services - "Here’s the problem I see: Filmmakers have been taught to be wholesalers, not retailers. Film-makers make films — so the teaching goes — and then it is the job of distributors to market and distribute films. … It’s time to stop calling the best-case, long-shot, home-run option "the model"."
 * 4 Aug 2011 - Vue in discussion with studios to relax windows - "UK cinema chain Vue is in talks with the US studios to relax the theatrical window at certain times of the year."
 * 5 Aug 2011 - Moving Indie distribution forward - "We do not want to feed the habit, enable unrealistic expectations. If you spent too much on making your film, if your expectations are unreasonable, if you are not committed to being educated about both film and engaging audiences, ... please go home."
 * 8 Aug 2011 - Hollywood, take a lesson from Nollywood - "This is never going to be a threat to the slick Hollywood film industry with its multimillion-dollar budgets, but what we have here is an industry that has taken advantage of the opportunity offered by Internet distribution and digital technologies and run with it"
 * 10 Aug 2011 - Don't remake Baby into a corner - "... for a film like a Dirty Dancing remake to work, it needs to engage that teenage cinemagoing audience, and convincing 13-year-old girl in 2012 to go to the cinema because a 40-year-old loved the film decades ago isn’t going to do that."
 * 13 Aug 2011 - Dogwoof Films: Who needs cinemas anyway? - "... Dogwoof ... recruits “ambassadors” ... for their films who will agree to screen them in their local communities ... . "Unfortunately, [cinemas] can’t and don’t show many of our films. Yet we have direct demand from consumers to watch them, so we came up with the ambassador scheme to cater for the lack of cinema bookings."
 * 15 Aug 2011 - Harry Potter and The 3D Crossroads - "... only roughly a third of people saw [Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2] in 3D. What this means is we’ve come to a critical 3D crossroads and the Hollywood studios in particular and filmmakers and exhibitors to a certain extent, have to rethink everything."
 * 16 Aug 2011 - Filming starts in Glasgow for Brad Pitt zombie movie - "An open casting was held last month to recruit local people to star as zombie extras. Although shot in Glasgow, the film is set in Philadelphia, so false shop fronts will be brought in and American cars will take to the city's streets. Glasgow City Council said the positive impact of the production on the local economy is likely to be in excess of £2m."
 * 16 Aug 2011 - Comment le CSA veut tuer la concurrence sur le marché de la VOD - "La question centrale soulevée par le Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel de la France concerne la place de l'éditeur de VOD dans la chaîne de valeur audiovisuelle."
 * 22 Aug 2011 - Pop-up cinemas: top 10 tips for creating your own - "Whether it's films on fridges or Cannes in a van, site-specific screenings are proving a summer hit. Here, the mavericks behind the magic tell us how to get in on the show."
 * 25 Aug 2011 - 10 ways in which I would release Bomb It today - "... we are still in very early experimental times and the tools, techniques and strategies continue to evolve. ... We should have taken at least a third of our budget for Bomb It
 * 25 Aug 2011 - EESC Opinion on Commission's digital era Communication - "The Communication concentrates narrowly on the digitisation of cinemas rather than more generally on European cinema and on audiovisual policy in a digital world. Digitisation is a far more complex phenomenon than the mere substitution of equipment."
 * 26 Aug 2011 - Chinese productions shooting in France up tenfold - "China is now one of the most important nations in terms of production spend in France ... . Over the last 12 months, Chinese productions have spent roughly five million euro here.”
 * 27 Aug 2011 - Way, way beyond the multiplex - "Internet interaction, far from driving young people further into fictive culs-de-sac in their bedrooms, as was once prophesied, is making them go out, team up, and demand more from stagnant art forms."
 * 27 Aug 2011 - 'Monetizing digital content' (30-min presentation by Gerd Leonhard) - "Today the competition is no longer about distribution, it's about attention. ... We're becoming people of the screen ... who are not the same people as the people of the book."


 * 30 Aug 2011 - How would you use all 30 new platforms available for direct film distribution - "We are awash in wonderful opportunities. ... The great news is that never before have we had so many opportunities in [distribution, marketing, social &amp; financing]."
 * 31 Aug 2011 - Why a Producer of Marketing and Distribution? - "There is still a strong belief in the independent film world that filmmakers are only responsible for creating the film – someone else will take care of distribution and marketing. For a very few filmmakers this might still happen.  But for the vast majority of filmmakers ... it won’t."
 * 1 Sep 2011 - What are a Producer of Marketing and Distribution's responsibilities? - "This list should indicate how it would be difficult, if not impossible, to expect existing traditional crew categories to accomplish or even coordinate the work outlined above."
 * 4 Sep 2011 - The European Strategy: Send money to the US (Part Deux) - "Struggling to adopt the fragile economics of Hollywood blockbusters ... is a risky bet that should probably be left entirely to the commercial sector. Leading the way in strengthening digital enforcement seems like an especially bad choice in this context since its short term effect is just to send money the US."
 * 14 Sep 2011 - Selling your film without selling your soul - "Case studies in hybrid, DIY and P2P independent distribution by the Film Collaborative, Jon Reiss &amp; Sheri Candler." (eBook - Free download until 1 October)
 * 21 Sep 2011 - EU approves Canary Islands 1% corporate tax for film producers - "Major producers are already starting to take note of these incentives and the fact that the islands offer impressive landscapes from subtropical forests to desert landscapes. Warner Bros shot both Clash Of The Titans films on the islands and Paramount’s comedy project Finchley Dreams, starring Sacha Baron Cohen, recently shot on the Canary Island of Fuertaventura."
 * 21 Sep 2011 - Comparative study of the of tax incentives to attract audiovisual productions - "... une étude comparative du fonctionnement des systèmes d’incitation fiscale à la production cinématographique et audiovisuelle en Europe (Belgique, Luxembourg, Allemagne, Irlande, Hongrie et Royaume- Uni) et au Canada."
 * 22 Sep 2011 - Why the US studios are struggling with Asian production - "In a region where filmmaking is fast and furious, rather than subject to long periods of development and risk analysis, the US method of making films has struggled to take root. ... A common error made by the studios is that they often use their in-country distribution people to head up their local-language production activities instead working with development and production executives."
 * 27 Sep 2011 - The European Strategy - The Curse of Harry Potter (Part three) - "[Territorial conditions have] become a vehicle for competition among EU member countries to attract Hollywood productions–a race that in this instance the EC views as a destructive competition to ... send money to the US. ...as a matter of cultural policy, it’s not clear why states should subsidize large commercial productions at all."
 * 30 Sep 2011 - Hollywood's New Math: no need for studio walls in leaner times - "Paramount is shifting its DVD, digital and television licensing operations under a new umbrella division, christened Home Media Distribution, ... . Earlier this month, Disney consolided its lucrative toys arm with home entertainment into a single division ... so that one team will interact with Wal-Mart and other big retailers on studio DVDs, plush toys and games."
 * 4 Oct 2011 - ECJ ruling against Premier League in rights case - "The European Union’s top court on Tuesday struck down geographical barriers to television broadcasting, saying channels that own the rights to show soccer matches cannot stop viewers from watching the games on rival channels based in other countries. ... Territorial exclusivity is “contrary to the freedom to provide services and cannot be justified either in light of the objective of protecting intellectual property rights or by the objective of encouraging the public to attend football stadiums,” the court said."
 * 5 Oct 2011 - MIPCOM keynotes stress risk and innovation as keys to success - "We think everything starts with the consumer. They’re not focused on windows or on what schedule they can watch something or on which device. ... Piracy really is not the bigger issue for our company or for our library. It’s been lack of exploitation, just not getting it out there. Most consumers at some point in their life don’t want to pirate. The way to then react to that is to offer legitimate, great service for them to access it. We’re going to see a lot more demand because of that. Our driver is more market-based versus piracy.”
 * 10 Oct 2011 - Europa Distribution warns that opening territorial rights threatens minimum guarantees - "“Distributors invest a lot of money in production through minimum guarantees but if we’re no longer guaranteed all rights in our territories why would we put up big MGs? If exclusive VOD rights aren’t included in a deal, for example, we should pay a smaller MG.” ... experts say [last week's ECJ ruling] could influence how TV and film rights are sold."
 * 11 Oct 2011 - New Zealand lowers spend threshold for film fund - "The [New Zealand] government says the continuing global and local recession has prompted the action, which will mean that films that spend US$1.96m (NZ$2.5m) on qualifying costs in New Zealand can now get back 40% of those costs if all the rules are met. Previously the threshold was US$3.13m (NZ$4m)."
 * 28 Dec 2011 - I'll tell you why movie revenue is dropping - "The myth that small-town moviegoers don't like "art movies" is undercut by Netflix's viewing results; the third most popular movie on Dec. 28 on Netflix was "Certified Copy," by the Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami. You've heard of him? In fourth place--French director Alain Corneau's "Love Crime." In fifth, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"--but the subtitled Swedish version."
 * 29 Dec 2011 - Croatia introduced 20% cash rebate for film production costs in Croatia - "The results came soon: the second season of HBO's popular fantasy series Game of Thrones was filmed in Croatia in September and October 2011 in Dubrovnik and marks the return of big international productions to the country."
 * 11 Jan 2012 - Cameron's comments draw dismay ahead of UK Film Policy Review - "The British Film Commission also welcomed Cameron’s remarks. “It is reassuring to hear the government understands the role big budget, international movies shooting in the UK plays in building a world-class skilled workforce, while boosting the UK economy,” Iain Smith, BFC Chair, said in a statement."
 * 8 Mar 2012 - Keys to a successful film launch - Part 1 - "With at least 35,000 feature films on the film festival circuit every year, by some estimates, very few films are going to premiere at one of the top 5 film festivals. When that happens, filmmakers need to decide what is the best launch for their film." - Tribeca Future of Film
 * 14 Mar 2012 - EC launches public consultation on rules for state film support schemes - "The European Commission publishes 12-page draft Cinema Communication which “intends to create a level playing field between member states and to encourage cross-border productions.”" - Screen Daily
 * 14 Mar 2012 - Europe rethinks film subsidies - "The European Commission has proposed caps on how much public subsidy money can be used to tempt foreign film production to the region. The aim is to prevent European countries from using subsidies to compete among themselves for prestigious Hollywood projects." - Variety


 * 15 Mar 2012 - Cinéma Bruxelles veut réviser les aides - "La Commission européenne souhaite revoir les critères d’attribution des 3 milliards d’euros d’aide au cinéma. Elle considère qu’une trop grande part va dans les superproductions américaines en Europe." - Les Échos


 * 15 Mar 2012 - Europe proposes subsidy cap - "US Studios send a lot of VFX work to the UK to take advantage of artificial pricing because of a 25% government rebate. Animation studios like Illumination Entertainment send their work to France to take advantage of a 20% rebate. Now this is a proposal that isn’t set in stone and won’t go into effect until 2015. However studios have to plan in advance where post-production work will be done and this will probably be taken into account. If it does, mark my words: watch how fast the VFX industry leaves. When huge subsidies were passed in Canada and the UK it was as though projects were lost overnight in California. The studios will place pressure on the UK facilities to send work to locations that offer huge subsidies like Canada or perhaps even Louisiana." - VFX Soldier blog post See also subsequent comments on the article.
 * 23 Mar 2012 - We don't want everything for free. We just want everything - "Recently, I gave a Sita Sings the Blues  talk to a roomful of 15-to-17-year-olds. ... I asked them how they would choose to support artists they liked (once they had some disposable income) ..." - TechDirt
 * 23 Mar 2012 - Movie theaters: The last unconnected screen - "We are in the midst of a vast transformation driven by the Internet that is radically changing how we view visual entertainment. Every screen we use daily, be it a phone, a computer, a tablet or a TV is hooked up (or about to be hooked up) to a high speed data network that sends us moving images. ... Yet there is one screen that is not getting connected, where there is little innovation and where the future is being delayed. ... I am, of course, referring to the last screen to be connected to the Internet—the screen at your local movie theater." - Tribeca Future of Film
 * 24 Mar 2012 - State film incentive wars: what is the exit strategy for "Anytown"? - "How on earth states expect to build film industry infrastructure by funding productions instead of infrastructure is beyond me. Productions use infrastructure, they don’t build it.  This not to suggest any state should invest in infrastructure.  They shouldn’t.  All of the talk about “building” a new industry needs to stop." - Stop Runaway Production
 * 26 Mar 2012 - Film subsidies are a flop - "So Michigan spent more money than the film incentives created in economic activity. Does that sound like a good deal to anyone except those who are financing the films? It certainly seems there are much more efficient ways for the state to bolster economic activity than spending $37.5 million to generate $21.1 million." - Maryland Public Policy Institute blog
 * 3 Apr 2012 - Spanish film suffers worst of funding cuts - "El Fondo de Protección a la Cinematografía -de donde salen las ayudas a la producción- ha caído un 35%, de 76 millones a 49, como adelantó este periódico en la edición impresa de hoy. El Instituto de de Cinematografía y las Artes Audiovisuales pierde otro preocupante 35,4% (de 106 millones a 68,86 millones)." - El Pais