Call for proposals — EACEA/25/12 — MEDIA 2007 — Development, distribution, promotion and training — Support for the transnational distribution of European films — The ‘automatic’ scheme 2013
Date: 2012-12-20
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: audiovisual communications policy, film industry, invitation to tender








C_2012394EN.01003701.xml










20.12.2012   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 394/37





CALL FOR PROPOSALS — EACEA/25/12
MEDIA 2007 — Development, distribution, promotion and training
Support for the transnational distribution of European films
The ‘automatic’ scheme 2013
2012/C 394/14
1.   Objectives and description

This notice of a call for proposals is based on Decision No 1718/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 November 2006 concerning the implementation of a programme of support for the European audiovisual sector (MEDIA 2007).
One of the objectives of the programme is to encourage and support the wider transnational distribution of recent European films by providing funds to distributors, based upon their performance on the market, for further reinvestment in new non-national European films.
The scheme also aims to encourage the development of links between the production and distribution sectors thus improving the market share of European films and the competitiveness of European companies.
The Commission's proposal relative to the Creative Europe Programme has not yet been adopted by the European Legislator. However, in order to enable a timely implementation of this programme after its adoption by the European Legislator and in order to allow the potential beneficiaries of Union support to prepare their proposals at the earliest date, the Agency has decided to publish this call for proposals.
This call for proposals does not involve the legal responsibility of the Agency. It can be cancelled and other types of call for proposals may be launched, with appropriate deadlines.
More generally, the implementation of this call for proposals is subject to the following condition:






—


adoption of the work programme relating to the Creative Europe Programme after referral to the programme committee.




2.   Eligible applicants

This notice is aimed at European companies specialised in the theatrical distribution of European works and whose activities contribute to the attainment of the above objectives of the MEDIA programme as described in the Council Decision.
Applicants must be established in one of the following countries:






—


the 27 countries of the European Union,










—


the EEA countries, Switzerland and Croatia,










—


Bosnia and Herzegovina (under the condition of the finalisation of the negotiation process and the formalisation of the participation of this country to the MEDIA programme).




3.   Eligible actions

The ‘automatic’ support scheme works in two phases:






—


Generation of a potential Fund, proportional to the number of paying admission tickets sold for non-domestic European films in States participating in the Programme during the reference year (2012), up to a fixed ceiling per film and adjusted for each country.
Group or club screenings where an individual ticket price is not levied will not be eligible. All admissions should be covered by the relevant national reporting and verification systems which enable the National Authority to certify them. EACEA reserves the right to reject applications where it is not satisfied that all of the conditions have been met.










—


Reinvestment of the potential Fund: thus generated by each company, the Fund must be reinvested in three modules (three types of action) by 1st October 2014:






1.


the co-production of non-national European films;










2.


the acquisition of distribution rights, for example by means of minimum guarantees, of non-national European films; and/or in










3.


editing costs (prints, dubbing and subtitling), promotion costs and publicity costs for non-national European films.








For the film to be eligible its first copyright must not have been established before 2009.

Action type 1 & 2:

The maximum duration of the actions is 30 months, from 1st October 2013 until 1st April 2016.

Action type 3:

The maximum duration of the actions is 42 months, from 1st April 2013 until 1st October 2016.
Reinvestment applications must be sent to the Agency by the deadlines set out in the table below.








Module


Dates of the project


Deadline for presentation of the reinvestment project


Period of eligibility of costs










1.


Co-production






The co-production contract may be signed at the earliest on 1 October 2013


Within three months of the signature of the co-production contract and no later than 1 October 2014


From 1 October 2013 until 1 April 2016










2.


Minimum guarantee






The distribution contract/ license agreement may be signed at the earliest on 1 October 2013


Within three months of the signature of the distribution contract/license agreement (Deal Memo or Long Form Agreement are both accepted) and no later than 1 October 2014


From 1 October 2013 until 1 April 2016










3.


P&A costs






The first theatrical release of the film in the territory may take place at the earliest on 1 October 2013 and at the latest on 1 October 2015


At the latest on the day of the first theatrical release of the film in the territory and no later than 1 October 2014


From 1 April 2013 until 1 October 2016




4.   Award criteria

A potential Fund will be attributed to eligible European distribution companies on the basis of the admissions achieved by the European non-national films distributed by the applicant in the reference year (2012).
The potential Fund will be calculated based upon a fixed amount per eligible entry. Shall the sum of generated funds exceed EUR 20 M under this call, each potential fund will be reduced proportionally. This reduction will not have the effect of lowering the amount of the potential fund below the minimum availability thresholds indicated in the Guidelines.
The support will take the form of a potential Fund (the ‘Fund’) available to distributors for further investments in recent non-national European films.
The Fund can be reinvested:






1.


In the production of new non-national European films (i.e. films not yet completed at the date of application for reinvestment);










2.


In the meeting of Minimum Distribution Guarantees for recent non-national European films;










3.


In the meeting of distribution costs i.e. P&A (promotion and advertising) for recent non-national European films.




5.   Budget

The total budget available is EUR 20 442 675
The financial contribution awarded is a subsidy. The financial support from the Commission cannot exceed 40 %, 50 % or 60 % of the total eligible costs depending on the nationality of the film and the territory of distribution (see Guidelines). There is no maximum amount.
The Agency reserves the right not to allocate all the funds available.
6.   Deadline for submission of applications

Proposals for the ‘generation’ of a potential Fund must be sent (postmark date) on 30 April 2013.

Proposals for the ‘reinvestment’ of the potential Fund must be sent (postmark date) within the deadline set out for each module in the above table, and no later than 1 October 2014.

Proposals must be sent to the following address:





Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA)




MEDIA Programme — BOUR 3/66




Avenue du Bourget/Bourgetlaan 1




1140 Bruxelles/Brussel




BELGIQUE/BELGIË




The official application forms must be used and duly signed by the person entitled to enter into legally binding commitments on behalf of the applicant organisation.
The application package containing all the application forms and the Annexes, as detailed in the guidelines, must clearly mention:

MEDIA programme — Distribution EACEA/25/12 — Automatic cinema

Applications sent by fax or email will be rejected.
7.   Full details

The guidelines together with the application forms can be found at the following Internet address:
http://ec.europa.eu/culture/media/programme/distrib/schemes/auto/index_en.htm
Applications must be submitted on the forms provided and contain all the information and Annexes requested.