France’s film industry will be insulated from future public budget cuts as the country’s National Cinema Commission (CNC) and its tax rebates will be maintained at current funding levels.
Under the new budget presented by Prime Minister Michel Barnier, the Film Commission will continue to tap into its diverse revenue stream, which is collected from taxes on theater admissions, alongside linear broadcasters, streaming services and telecommunications providers. , all of which will be reinjected into the film field. Under the Barnier plan, CNC will instead pay a lump sum of €450 million taken from CNC’s savings, so it is unlikely to have an impact on ongoing operations.
The levy will be introduced as part of the chancellor’s wider austerity budget, which aims to cut annual spending by 60 billion euros ($65.5 billion). The full budget currently being submitted is likely to evolve once it is submitted to the French National Assembly and Senate ahead of final promulgation in December.
“Our main mission was to avoid a reduction in the tax cap and the tax refund scheme, as both are essential for our industry,” said CNC Interim Chairman Olivier Henlard. spoke. variety. “If we reduce tax rebates, France will be left in the bud and the facilities that the France 2030 plan would have funded will be left empty.”
“We need to tell the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance, who wrote the budget, that our budget is completely self-funded, so it doesn’t cost the government a dime, so we need to keep a good and efficient system in place. We had the money,” Henrad says.
In fact, the brunt of the levy will come from pandemic-era subsidies, leaving the film commission’s day-to-day operations untouched.
“Our contributions to the national budget have no operational effect,” Henrad said. “Morally and politically, we are simply returning money that the state has made exceptionally available to us to deal with the crisis.”
Many in French industry were concerned about deeper cuts. At the opening of TSF Paris Backlot last week, Henraard was joined by film director Cédric Klapisch and Emily in Paris line producer Raphaël Benoliel, who focused specifically on France’s tax refund system. However, they lobbied Culture Minister Rashida Dati for further protection.
The minister struck a positive tone, according to a source familiar with the conversation, although his boss, French President Emmanuel Macron, echoed similar sentiments.
In fact, in an exclusive interview, variety Earlier this week, President Macron gave the CNC a vote of confidence, praising the film commission’s “extraordinary work” and adding: “I am attached to this model.”
“We have always had films that have survived great crises, but that is not the case everywhere in Europe,” Macron said. “This creative biodiversity is so important because there can’t be just one model, there can’t be just one audience, and there are many different ways of explaining and seeing the world.”
